The dreadful news recently from the Philippines about the floods that are wreaking such havoc on the country — especially the Manila area — call to mind another rain-induced disaster that struck the country in the summer of 1972.  In both the current disaster and the one from 37 years ago the island of Luzon literally sank beneath the waves.  At times  then – and I bet now –   it was impossible to tell where Manila Bay stopped and the flooded mainland began.  The only way we had to describe adequately the situation to those not there was to use the phrase “biblical proportions.”    There was one difference between then and now, however.  The current situation hit the country almost overnight as unimaginable amounts of rain fell in a short period of time.  The earlier flood grew slowly as rain fell –  literally — for forty days, thereby making the phrase  ’of biblical proportions’ even more fitting.

At the end of forty days the island was deep under water, crops had been ruined, paved roads had disolved into lumps of black sand (unpaved ones disappeared entirely), shanty towns had been washed away, much of the food supply had been damaged or lost, sanitation was demoted to the status of an unneeded luxury, outbreaks of disease threatened, and the government ground to a halt.  One day towards the end of the rain I started to walk the three miles from home to the Peace Corps office (my jeep had no roads to run on) and had to turn back when the water reached mid-thigh level and even I knew it was a dumb thing to attempt.

Then, just in time, the sun came out and a plane load of Peace Corps volunteers landed at newly re-functioning Manila International Airport.   They were supposed to break up into their respective groups and begin training.  But in this case it became a matter of first-things-first.  A large number of the new arrivals were gathered together into a make-shift group and assigned to a joint Filipino/American disaster relief program.  USAID, the American Army, the Filipino army and air force, and several NGOs cooperated in a massive relief effort that brought food, clothing, shelter, medical help, and a host of other supplies by helicopter,  truck, sea-going vessel, and any thing else that worked to barrios in outlying areas throughout Luzon.  The work was exhausting, dirty, seemingly endless, and even at times dangerous, but in the end disaster was averted, the volunteers went back to training, and the dry season began anew.

Not surprisingly, the volunteers who particiapated in this unplanned opportunity look back on it to this day as the most satisfying part of their Peace Corps work experience.

I would happily welcome anyone who participated in that exercise to share memories with us all.

The recent death of Norman Borlaug, the ‘father’ of the Green Revolution, brought to mind one of the driving forces behind Peace Corps agricultural programming beginning in the late 1960s.  Borlaug’s pioneering work was originally in wheat, but later branched out to include  rice and corn as well.

His ‘miracle rice’ promised a far better future for the Philippines and the many other countries dependent upon rice as a food staple.  His secret was two-fold: develop a plant that could make maximum use of chemical fertilizer, pesticide, and water to produce a great quantity of grain, and - vitally important - a stalk that was strong enough to keep the massive head upright in the sun.

Peace Corps Volunteers learning to plant “miracle rice”

The Department of Agriculture in the Philippines readily accepted the Peace Corps’ offer of Volunteers to be trained as extension agents at the world famous Los Baños agricultural development station on the island of Luzon.  When they, and hundreds of Filipino associates, took the new techniques to the field the results were astonishing.  Yields doubled and tripled, double cropping became the norm, the worldwide famine predicted in the early 60s never happened.  Surely this was an accomplishment to be cherished and praised.

Yet, as Borlaug’s obituaries made clear, it wasn’t long before critics, especially from the developed world, began to condemn the use of chemicals because of environmental damage, and to lament the financial burdens placed on poor farmers who now had to buy the chemicals.  There was even the suggestion the whole thing was a plot by the chemical companies!  I have to wonder if those guys were ever missed a meal?

Fortunately wiser heads prevailed.  In the end Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work, and, as current estimates suggest, several hundred million people did not starve to death.

I am told that the next generation of ‘miracle’ crops is in the laboratories now.  When they emerge, Peace Corps volunteers can help out once again.