UN aid agencies are spearheading a series of “cash for work” programs that are providing a desperately needed economic lifeline to survivors of the killer typhoon in the central Philippines.  They’re paying thousands of survivors to clear mountains of waste from ruined cities and farms.

“This is not only important to help normalize the economy, but working gives a sense of dignity back in their lives,” said UN official Tim Walsh in the worst-hit city of Tacloban and nearby areas.  It’s hopes that they will create at least 200,000 jobs that could last for up to three years.

A similar strategy was deployed in Indonesia when the tsunami hit there in 2004.  The first priority is to remove huge mounds of rotting garbage and debris, and make all routes open to transporting aid and delivery of other essential services.  But the workers will be on the lookout for whatever can be recycled.

“Some of the things we are seeing that are comparable to Aceh include the consistency of the debris – like the wood, the metal, rock and concrete, aside from the organic waste and the bodies still being extracted every day,” said Leslie Wright, a spokesperson for the UNDP team in Tacloban.

Typhoon Haiyan, called Yolanda in the Philippines, is the most powerful typhoon ever recorded to have hit land.  It tore right across the poor central islands, killing more than 5,500 people and destroying or damaging the homes of four million.