“I Have One More Hour of Power and Many Miles of Communication to Go”: Lessons Learned from Community Research Interrupted by Climate Crises

Abstract

The Ang Pagtanom og Binhi Project is a University–Community partnership and community-based participatory research project exploring the health benefits of food sovereignty practices in the Philippines. In late 2021, in the midst of data collection, Super Typhoon Odette made landfall in the Philippines causing massive environmental and structural devastation. In the aftermath of the storm, community partners in the Philippines and members of the research team in the United States shared photos, texts, and updates. These messages included descriptions of structural and environmental damage caused by the storm and stories of mutual aid efforts and actions taken by individuals and small organizations, each highlighting connections between food sovereignty efforts in the Philippines and the impacts of climate change. Due to the richness of the stories, the interconnectedness between these conversations and the research topic, and the alignment within the theoretical foundations of the project, the researchers understood that these communications should be included as data. With feedback from the Community Advisory Board, the Research and Design Team amended project protocols, research questions, and consent forms to incorporate this emergent data. This manuscript describes the process that the team undertook and some of the lessons learned by taking this approach.

1. Introduction

Thanks for the prayers and well wishes. Thankfully, at home we are safe. The winds were ferocious. Only one broken window. Typhoon Odette (Rai) left Cebu around 10 p.m. last night, dropped by a couple more islands, is now in open sea heading for Palawan, most of it a beautiful still pristine island. Hoping she is losing steam. (T. Ruelas, personal communication, 17 December 2021).

Food access and health inequities have been connected through global public health research and made increasingly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Global food sovereignty movements, defined by resistance to capitalist and colonial control of food production and land access, emphasize reconnection to traditional and Indigenous ways of knowing, and holistic understandings of connections between food and health. In the Philippines, these practices have been led by smallholder farmers who have fought to gain access to locally produced and regionally appropriate organic seeds through seed saving processes, and who are creating food sharing and market access. As climate change continues to ravage communities in the global south, including in the Philippines, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the approaches to food sovereignty and the efficacy of the framework(s).

In collaboration with a U.S. and Philippine-based food sovereignty NGO, the Ang Pagtanom og Binhi [Binhi] Project is a University–Community partnership that explores the health implications of food sovereignty movements in the Philippines. The Binhi Project is a culturally rooted research project utilizing CBPR methods to engage local and Indigenous Filipinos in discussions about food sovereignty practices and their connections to health and well-being (Alvarez et al. 2022). Beginning in May 2020 and officially launching in August 2021, members of the Binhi Project Research and Design team had been in close communication throughout the Fall of 2021. Despite the global lockdown due to COVID-19 that prohibited international travel, the team recruited a robust Community Advisory Board (CAB) (n = 10) of Philippine nationals, and three groups of cultural practitioners and community food providers (n = 15) who engaged in focus group discussions (FGDs) about the health implications of their work. Early findings pointed to the social, cultural, economic, and health impacts of food sovereignty practices in the Philippines, particularly during a global pandemic, and the importance of including Indigenous perspectives (Alvarez et al. 2022). The themes illuminate challenges and opportunities for supporting culture, health, and traditional practices through food sovereignty movements, and emphasize the importance of including Indigenous People’s voices in this work. After the focus groups were completed at the end of November 2021, the Research and Design team met to schedule interviews with several key informants who had not been able to engage in the focus group discussions. There was great momentum for the work, and the participants and practitioners involved in the CAB were eager to spend more time delving into the data.

When Super Typhoon Odette (internationally known as Rai) made landfall in the Philippines in 2021, the Binhi project Research and Design team members were in communication using several digital messaging applications to share updates about project partners, photos of the damage, and descriptions of aid efforts. Through careful consideration and intentional engagement with community partners and rooted in theories of community-engaged and Indigenist practice, the Research and Design team decided that these messages, updates, and descriptions of the typhoon were relevant to our project work. These communications were incorporated into the research design of the project as examples of emergent, community-led, and Indigenist sources of data. This decision impacted the Binhi Project on numerous levels and was a significant turning point in understanding the political and environmental urgency of this work. The inclusion of these data required methodological adjustments, protocol revisions, new consent documents, and a broader understanding of what it means to listen to the voices of lived experience. Further, these data forced the realities of living with climate crisis and food insecurity into the forefront of this research project, reminding us of the importance of these efforts. This manuscript will provide an overview of the ways these data were included as well as some of the lessons learned from this process.

2. The Binhi Project Approach and Research Design

Four core theories and models of practice guide the Binhi project: Community-based participatory research (CBPR), food sovereignty, Indigenous food sovereignty, and storytelling. CBPR encourages contributions of culturally supported knowledge and interventions, indigenous theories as well as community advocacy within research and intervention design (Wallerstein and Duran 2010). Food sovereignty movements—and Indigenous food sovereignty, in particular—provide frameworks for holistic, culture-centered approaches to health through food security, economic justice, and environmental resilience and place emphasis on the cultural responsibilities and relationships that Indigenous people have with food, plants, and the environment around them (Anderson 2018; Coté 2016). Storytelling has been demonstrated as a health information practice in culturally grounded prevention programs that helps participants apply the health practices to their own lives and cultural contexts (Carter et al. 1999). Indigenous communities place significant importance on oral tradition as a cultural pedagogical tool and it is increasingly used to promote health and wellness in Indigenous communities (Hodge et al. 2002).

In addition to these frameworks, we explored several other complementary approaches to help better define a revised research approach that could incorporate the Typhoon-related data. Indigenist research (Rigney 1999) is informed by principles of resistance, political integrity, and the privileging of Indigenous voices (p. 116). Rigney calls for research to support localized personal, cultural, political, and community-based challenges that Indigenous communities are facing and urges researchers to center the lived experiences of those community members. Beltrán has discussed the ways that digital technologies have influenced the ways to gather, share, and archive storytelling related to health practices in Indigenous communities (Beltrán et al. 2014; Beltrán and Begun 2014), and has urged researchers to consider more expansive methodologies and technologies. Finally, adrienne maree brown’s emergent strategy (Brown 2017) suggests that “there is a conversation in the room that only these people at this moment can have”, (p. 42). The texts, photos, and messages that were sent during Typhoon Odette/Rai were unique sources of insight that were particular to the time, place, and people involved in the conversation, and were important to listen to. Ultimately, the Research and Design Team agreed that Indigenist, digital, and emergent stories had been generated in response to this environmental crisis, and the inclusion of these data was readily aligned with the theoretical and methodological foundations of the research project.

How these data would impact or be integrated into the research design was another aspect of significant discussion. The Binhi Project design utilized a culturally grounded approach that was co-developed by the Research and Design Team. Informed by the growth cycle of the adlai, an endemic plant in the Philippines, the design team integrated arts-based and culture-based frameworks to actualize the research project (Alvarez et al. 2022). Each phase within the life cycle of the adlai was aligned with the stages of the community and research work, ranging from forming the CAB and initial project planning (“planting”), to conductive interviews and listening sessions (“growing”), to presentations of results (“harvesting”). Grounding the work in this cycle acknowledged the generative, iterative approach to each stage of the research, and provided locally relevant context to the stages of the work.

As the Research and Design Team worked to envision the inclusion of the typhoon response data, we discussed potential revisions to the project cycle. Adding Typhoon Odette/Rai as an explicit step in the cycle as well as marking the decision to include the emergent data helped to capture our revised approach. In discussions with the Research and Design Team, several members talked about the role that “thrashing” or “slashing” plays in a plant’s lifecycle. The team acknowledged that the “thrashing” that the community experienced contributed to the identification of specific needs related to food sovereignty and food justice, and that the “honoring” of that data generated new ideas for solutions to these (and other) concerns. Figure 1 shows the reimagined Binhi project cycle.

In our project notes, we captured several important questions: (1) Is there a way we tell the story of the typhoon in the overarching process of our research project? How does this align with our overall methodology? (2) What effect will this have on the research and our work? Additional responsibilities? (3) What is the relevance and connection between typhoon data and research on health and food? [Research and Design Team Meeting Notes, 3 February 2022]. With these questions as a guide, we began the process of understanding and exploring how to utilize the messages that were shared in response to Typhoon Odette/Rai as data for the Binhi Project. In the following sections, we will describe the approach that the Research and Design Team took to answer these guiding questions and to integrate these emergent data into our overall project.

3. Typhoon Odette/Rai

On 16 December 2021, Super Typhoon Odette (known internationally as Typhoon Rai) made landfall in the central Visayas and Mindanao regions of the Philippine islands, causing the second-most damage in Philippine history (UNHCR Philippines 2021) and disrupting thousands of farms and crops. Odette/Rai intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 5 typhoon in only 24 h, an increasingly common occurrence due to the impacts of climate change (Center for Disaster Philanthropy, CDP 2021), creating disastrous conditions. Death, displacement, and destruction of infrastructure including telecommunications and electricity were central concerns for relief agencies, and the damage including fishing and agricultural losses was estimated at USD 459 million (CDP 2021).

On the afternoon of Odette/Rai’s landfall, the Executive Director of the U.S.-based NGO messaged the members of the Research and Design Team to check in on their well-being, which initiated a long string of communication over the next several weeks. The Research and Design team began to receive communications from community partners (friends, colleagues) throughout the Philippines who were already into the early morning hours of the second day of the storm. Photos, texts, updates, and aid requests arrived on our messaging apps with information and on-the-ground reports about the impacts of Typhoon Odette/Rai. There were report-outs about well-being and experiences during the storm: “Thank you for your well wishes… Odette was a doozy. Now that it is lighter out assessment of situation will be easier”, (T.R., Signal Thread, 17 December 2021). A CAB member reflected on what the storm sounded like in the northern region where he lived, “we knew it was really very strong because the wind—there was no rain—but the wind was really terrible. It was like the end of the world in my place, like the end of the world”, (C.R., CAB Meeting, 23 February 2022). Another described the sounds and shaking that came with the winds. “The wind is strong and we experienced rain. We heard the erring [eerie] whistle of the typhoon. We felt the shake of the ground. I couldn’t imagine how it is like to those situated on hard hit areas”, (H.P., Twist channel, 21 December 2021).

When the Binhi Project Research and Design Team next convened, it had been seven weeks since Typhoon Odette/Rai had hit, and many community members were still significantly impacted by the damage. Finding times to schedule the follow-up stakeholder interviews for the Binhi Project had been waylaid by the disaster response work. The principal investigator (PI) of the project suggested that the interviews were not the appropriate use of time or resources for the community members, and the team agreed. Instead, the team discussed and reflected upon the conversations and updates that had been shared throughout the initial typhoon recovery.

In communications using Signal, a digital messaging app, stories were shared that depicted powerful and diverse aspects of this experience inclusive of numerous aspects of food sovereignty and health. Core themes from the messages were reflected upon and included details about water, seeds, food, and infrastructure needs among the community members; individual and community actions in response to these needs; and recommendations for preparations to make for the next typhoon and suggestions for future organizational work to respond to those needs. In one message, partially represented in the title of this article, our colleague described needing to end our conversations in order to conserve her electricity, despite the positive emotional benefits of the communication: “Alas I have one more hour of power and many miles of communication to go. As always great chatting with you. Soulful.” 11:50 a.m. (T.R., Signal Thread, 19 December 2021).

The team discussed the potential implications of including these stories, photos, and messages as emergent and community-centered artifacts that could be treated as data for the project. Unanimous agreement that the stories and photos should be included in our research led to a logistical discussion about how (and if, and why) to make that work.

4. Methods

Once the team had clearly articulated the ways these new data would complement and strengthen the Binhi project, as well as envisioning how the data fit within our overall project design, we needed to explore what additional responsibilities and considerations might emerge. For example, there were participants who contributed to the data about the typhoon response who had not been a part of our initial consent process to engage in the research project. We had not proposed including photos or texts in our data collection process, nor had we anticipated asking questions specifically related to climate/environmental justice. To address these considerations, the PI decided to submit revisions to the project protocol that had been previously approved by the University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and to convene the CAB to discuss the changes.

Several amendments to the project protocol were required by the IRB, including revisions to the study design, methodology, and changes to the confidentiality/privacy of subjects as well as the rationale and risk assessment of these proposed changes. The amendment request described the alignment with the theoretical and methodological foundations of the research, which center community voice and Indigenist practices. The amendment also compares the emergent data to photovoice data, where community members document their experiences through photos with the intention of critical reflection and policy change (Wang and Burris 1997). An excerpt from the revised Human Research Protection Review Form describing the rationale for the change reads:

These data address many of the issues that we are discussing in our interviews and focus groups and were created by the participants to document the community efforts and needs. We want to respect and honor the labor that already went into telling those stories, documenting the needs, identifying the strengths, rather than ask the individuals to re-tell those reflections in an interview format. We believe this is rooted in our theoretical foundations and aligns with our research ethic. We also think that it helps us respond to the emergent, environmental needs of the communities more directly by rooting the research so directly in their words. The photos offer a new dimension to the research, providing visual cues and sources that we can use to build from in our future conversations with participants. As examples of photovoice data, these images allow the participants to identify important images and tell the stories through their own perspectives. (PI, IRB Amendment Request, 15 February 2021)

In addition to aligning with the intentions and objectives of the original research design, the data from the typhoon response introduced new, arts-based methods to the project that have the potential to deepen the analysis and shape new findings related to food sovereignty and the environment.

However, since the texts and photos were sent/received prior to these IRB revisions and were not originally intended to be part of the research project, they were identified as secondary data for the purposes of the research project. The community partners who contributed photos and texts were invited to consent for the materials to be included as data sources and were invited to edit, redact, or withdraw any of the messages from the overall dataset. The consent forms were amended to include language as follows:

If you agree to be in this research… your text message contributions about the typhoon relief efforts will be included as a data source and/or the photos that you contributed will be included as a data source. You may decide to redact any part of the photo or text messages that you sent. (PI, IRB Amendment Request, 25 February 2021)

Within weeks, the IRB approved the amended materials, and the project retained exempt status, enabling the research team to finalize consent from our community partners to integrate the data.

Simultaneously, the Research and Design team prepared to meet with the CAB to share an update about the project and to discuss the proposal to include the typhoon relief stories as data for the project. The PI described the ways that the texts and photos were “data for this project because they are the stories of the seeds, soil, and water” and that we wanted to “listen to those parts of the story with intentional ears” (PI, CAB Meeting notes, 22 February 2022). The members of the CAB were asked to provide feedback on whether or not to include the texts and photos as data for the project, and if they thought that the typhoon response was connected to their work in food sovereignty. The CAB responded with a resounding: YES! “Is food sovereignty connected? Of course! There is no typhoon response without food and food sovereignty”, (C.R., CAB member).

Several CAB members made connections between the typhoon and the dangers of climate change as well as the exhaustion, frustration, and concern they feel about the community’s ability to continue to survive through these disasters.

How long can we be resilient? It’s difficult. How can we rebuild every time we experience this? When I share it with colleagues, they are unaware. It makes me feel like why are we the ones that are experiencing and have to go through the effects of climate change? How long can we be resilient towards this climate change? (J.N., CAB member)

Many described the particular risk that Filipinos face due to their Global Climate Risk status and the regular exposure to weather-related losses. “Every year they have 5–10 disasters that happen with plants and everything. Being resilient hasn’t been easy”, (M.B., CAB member). Others made clear connections to the work of food sovereignty and the impacts of climate change on Indigenous communities: “We need to reflect more on the future of food sovereignty in relation to climate change because many Indigenous communities are facing this today”. (C.R., CAB member)

There was also clear agreement that the texts and photos should be included in the research. One CAB member shared that it felt critical to call attention to the disaster and the disaster recovery work that is being carried out in the communities:

We have to understand the importance of being a witness to the natural disasters and everything that has been happening. All resources had been destroyed during the typhoon and everyone was on volunteer mode. They all helped out with everything, supporting each other to adapt a community and create a good community environment. (T.R., CAB member)

The same participant talked about the ways that some of the photos might help to tell a different part of the story, depicting hope amidst the disaster: “The community of gardeners shared photos of pots that survived. Showing us life [goes] along with destruction. There is something there that could really be wonderful”, (T.R., CAB member).

An important additional theme that several CAB members identified were the components of mutual aid described in the texts and photos that are rooted in Indigenous and cultural Filipino values. “Indigenous people are really contributing with food sovereignty whenever we are hit with natural disasters. It is a way for us to connect with everyone”, (L.G., CAB member). Another CAB member described a core Filipino value of helping others and the ways that the community response to the typhoon is representative of that: “Bayanihan! Ayudan! Pahinungód! Coming together for mutual aid. The story being told from that lens is important” (K.H., CAB member). Additional themes and findings from this discussion will be presented in greater detail in a manuscript in preparation.

5. Results: Communications During and After the Storm

The following section includes the texts and photos shared with the Research and Design Team in the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Odette/Rai. In reviewing these data, several themes emerged. There were messages describing and discussing the structural and environmental damages caused by the storm; there were concerns about public health and stories of mutual aid; there were almost mystic examples of survivance and protection; and, there were discussions about long-term solutions to living through climate crises. Each theme is described more fully below.

5.1. Structural and Environmental Damages

As communications were restored across the Visayas, more and more project partners began reporting to one another about how they fared in the storm. There were screenshots of reports from the local government about what structural needs were expected in the wake of the disaster:

From the CDN Digital Facebook page: “JUST IN: Lawyer Gerry Carrillo, head of Cebu City Disaster Council, said they were informed by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) that it will take a month for the power supply in Central Visayas to return to normal.” (K.H., Signal thread, 18 December 2021).

Many shared updates about the structural and environmental damage that was sustained in the typhoon:

Many are still without power, and communication lines are down. I am checking in with farmer communities especially down South where the storm hit the worst. Also, many of the houses in the city have lost their roofs and walls. (T.R., Signal thread, 16 December 2021)

There were also updates about the impact on local food supplies “Crops grown and for seed savings are: corn—native, eggplant, peanut, squash, tomato. All are washed out due to the typhoon wind and rain”, (H.P., Twist channel, 20 December 2021. When it was safe enough to enter buildings, there were photos sent of the destruction. (See Figure 2).

5.2. Public Health and Mutual Aid

Other messages described public health and sustainability concerns. Plans for organized local relief efforts with individuals and agency partners were developed:

I continue to send messages to our [partner] farmers. No word. I feel the most urgent need is drinking water. Water suppliers are unable to pump because they too have no electricity to draw it. Hope the power for them is being addressed first. Resiliency? Sustainability? (T.R., Signal thread, 18 December 2021)

Regular updates about the access to and the prices of water and gasoline were shared. “1 gallon water is up from 20 to 70 pesos,” (T.R., Signal thread, 20 December 2021). “Are the roads open? The city is running out of drinking water diay [Cebuano word, “for real” or “really”.]. Groceries don’t have food. A couple friends of mine have said it feels apocalyptic right now in Cebu City”, (K.H., Signal thread, 18 December 2021).

Within a few days of landfall, the team members who were in the Central Visayas (where the typhoon struck) were coordinating aid with other team members in Luzon and the northern Philippines. Several community partners were in touch with local governmental and non-governmental organizations to help coordinate the efforts. One described:

Greenpeace has already been in touch to see how much of our farmers’ produce can be sent to help feed. And waiting for check-ins on the situation. Food then seeds will be needed. May I keep you in the loop? (T.R., Signal thread, 17 December 2021)

Water, seeds, solar lamps, and food supplies were also shared and transported between community and organizational partners—many who were coordinating and delivering the goods on their own, without governmental or institutional support: “T., can we send solar lights to you directly? H. will pick them up and distribute,” (K.H., Signal thread, 18 December 2021). Supplies needed for rebuilding and patching the buildings were identified, “You’ll likely need one 1/2 plywood na three pieces. 8 × 4 ft. And 2 × 2 for the frames. Maybe 8 pieces nga 2 × 2. I think—based on photos,” (K.H., Signal thread, 20 December 2021). Larger efforts to support the broader communities included food, water, and solar lamps:

For the Urban Garden communities— I’m waiting for the arrival of 5-gallon jugs of water due to arrive at the port tomorrow… And if there is rice and solar lamps are solar chargers to add to the urban gardening resiliency package, I can get us a truck to deliver. (T.R. Signal thread, 22 December 2021).

5.3. Survivance and Protection

There were also messages about areas within the organizations where specific supplies and plants stayed intact, undisturbed by the storm. These discoveries were often described as small miracles or protections, and participants described gratitude and faith that their seeds, in particular, had made it through the storm.

[Organization name] is wrecked too. Ceilings torn up. Miraculous thing is that though it was torn up, absolutely none of our equipment and none of the orders of Christmas bags got damaged or wet! Salamat sa dios [Cebuano phrase, “Thank god”], none. There would be a tear or hole [in the ceiling], but the tear stopped right before water or debris would reach an office table or computer. (T.R., Signal thread, 20 December 2021)

[Response]

You did well preparing your office before the typhoon… And where your work lagi [Cebuano word, “Of course; always; yet/still”] is sacred, the universe will protect it.

Some photos depict areas of rooms and buildings that while surrounded by debris and damages from the storm were left entirely untouched. For example, two different locations that stored seeds for local community members were not damaged by the typhoon. “And the mother seed library, though dormant, is dry, safe and secure!” See, Figure 3 (T.R., Signal thread, 20 December 2021) and Figure 4 (H.P. Twist channel, 20 December 2021).

Another organization that grows plants for seed saving sent reports that their crops were also safe from damage:

We were spared and protected with the ravage. Some crops like the jute mallow, spinach amaranth, mung bean, bend down along with the marigold, Cosmos and basil, the advantage of our seed production is it was situated in a basin-like terrain. (H.P., Twist channel, 21 December 2021)

5.4. Long-Term Solutions Amidst Climate Crises

After several days focused on immediate needs and updates, the messages began to shift towards larger mutual aid and sustainability projects. Long-term solutions focusing on seed production, seed security, and seed access were discussed as responses to climate realities. “We still have seeds. I will touch base with the [organization] if they can reserve seeds for us if they have. Will update regarding this as our long-term plan of rehabilitation”, (H.P., Twist channel, 21 December 2021). Discussions about organizational actions and strategies in connection to preparation for future typhoons were of particular concern:

We can discuss more details and plan. …I want to invite us all to look at this with the lens of long-term resiliency and biodiversity both for a response, rebuilding and preserving for a better future. Coming from the perspective of what S. shared that this might not be the last strong typhoon or calamity, how are we going to respond in times like these knowing our work and seeds are always at the heart of it all, and will always be one of the bedrock of hope? (H.P., Twist channel, 23 December 2021)

In the weeks following Typhoon Odette/Rai, it became clear that recovery from this climate crisis was going to be slow. There was very little international attention on the impacts of the storm, and, due to the location of the landfall being far from Manila and the larger cities in the Philippines, there was limited local focus as well.

6. Conclusions

To understand the connections between food sovereignty and climate justice in the Philippines, numerous social, political, economic, and environmental factors that impact the lands, the people, and the systems need to be taken into consideration. These complex conditions contribute to cultural, community-based, and strategic approaches to survival and subsistence among and between Filipinos. These food systems are inclusive of food supply chains including farming and distribution; environmental infrastructures; political, economic, and historical factors; and community relationships and networks; as well as narratives, beliefs, and stories (Vital Village Networks Community Food Systems Fellows 2024). These systems are interconnected and contain numerous community strengths rooted in the cultural, social, and Indigenous values of Filipinos. These systems are also vulnerable to environmental risks and natural disasters rooted in climate realities.

Listening to these interconnections and watching them unfold in real-time through text messages and photo sharing in the wake of a tremendous crisis like Typhoon Odette/Rai altered the research trajectory of the Binhi project. Through the introduction of new data sources, methodologies, and even new research questions, this pivot demanded protocols, processes, and planning to implement our adjusted approach. Our research team had to strongly reflect on the challenges, benefits, and, ultimately, transformative moments of doing engaged research (Alvarez and Gutiérrez 2001). By staying connected to the community participants, and, in particular, the CAB, each an expert in their own right on food sovereignty practices throughout the Philippines, the research team ensured that the core objectives of the work did not change; rather, it was our responsibility that had changed. Honoring the stories that were shared became a necessary step in our research process, and doing the collective work and meaning-making helped the stories to contribute to the larger goal.

Witnessing the destruction and devastation of Typhoon Odette/Rai, as well as the immediate actions, aid, and collective survivance of our community partners made the connections between food sovereignty and climate change in the Philippines very clear. As researchers examining the connections between food and health, we learned from the stories of lived experiences with climate crises, and the shifts in our project approach and methodology have strengthened our overall work. It is our collective hope that by telling the story of this “thrashing” we can move towards the flowering and growth cycles not only of this research project but also within the communities we serve.