One Week Later….

It was one week ago yesterday that the brunt of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) struck the Philippines and submerged over 80% of Manila in the heaviest rains seen here in over 40 years. Since my last post a week ago, the death toll from this storm in the Philippines has officially risen to 280 (although due to corrupt politics and the lack of a census, the true number has to be 10 times this, I would imagine) and the storm itself continued across the South China Sea gaining strength and ultimately killing 99 in Vietnam, 17 in Cambodia, and 16 in Laos. Yesterday, Julie and I were heading out with some other volunteers from the British Women’s Association to assist a charity run school and a home for children which provide education for the children of the Payatas Dumpsite and help wherever else we could. As we were getting ready to leave, Aleah told us she really wanted to go as well because she really wanted to help the people who were affected by the floods (they've been discussing this a great deal at her school). I was very proud of her and we decided it would be a great experience for her to come along. So the 3 of us were off and we left Ellery and Jones at home for the day as they probably wouldn't have been able to provide much assistance.

The first thing we noticed was that as we got about a block away from our place, the street which runs along the river was completely flooded. We were driving through several inches of water with some much deeper parts along the way. It is very apparent that any amount of rain right now is causing immediate flooding here as the ground is still so saturated from last week that the water simply has nowhere to go. We actually had another Super Typhoon hit the Philippines last night, however, it was great news that it veered North to avoid Manila as this area could not take another major storm so soon.

Anyway, back to our day yesterday... We arrived at Papaya Academy in the morning and met some amazing people who run the place and do so much with so little.  Papaya Academy is a school for the children that live a the Payatas Dumpsite. They are bussed in daily at a minimal fee to their parents. Let me explain that the fee is primarily for the pride their parents have for not wanting to take handouts. It’s VERY minimal (equal to 20 cents per day) and was just a way for the parents to feel they were contributing to their children’s education and allowing them to get ahead in their lives.  The Mango Children’ Home is both a school and home for younger children and where some Papaya students live.  Mango houses many children who are from the different cities around, but during the storms it has also become a shelter to many additional families.  On Friday night with the approaching Pepeng, an additional 200 – 300 people came in from their homes to seek shelter here to prepare for the worst.  While we were there, we were able to meet many of these families and hear first hand some of their horrific stories.  Aleah especially enjoyed playing with the little babies and talking with the older girls who were all very eager to share stories with her and loved commenting on her hair. 

The Mango is the staging point for the relief efforts in that area.  This is where donated food supplies and medical goods are gathered, sorted, and organized.  In addition to the food supply relief, Mango has also set up a clinic and is providing much needed medical care.  Aleah was a champ, jumping right in and helping to pack up the food bags and offering to do what she could.  From there, we loaded up the cars and headed into the towns to provide what relief we could.  We were with an amazing Barangay Captain (Roger) who has been working tirelessly day and night since the typhoon hit to help his people and those around.  He toured us through his area which was devastated, but told us that we were going to another area to distribute these goods because it was in worse condition and needed the supplies more.  This is not the norm in Filipino politics.   While going through these areas, it was hard to believe that it’s been a week since the flood.  During the flooding, water in these areas rose up to people’s rooftops and even though most of the water has now receded, there are still large areas that are still flooded.  Everywhere there are piles of ruined belongings on the street in massive trash piles.  People are constantly cleaning out what they can and drying out anything salvageable.  The worst thing was the MUD!  It is everywhere and on everything.  The devastation all around is amazing and hard to comprehend.  The government here has not agreed to send in tractors or anything that would help with the mud removal. It’s my understanding that what Roger has been doing for this area is ALL that has been done. There has been no national assistance, no Red Cross donations, etc. The only source of funding has been donations from smaller groups/donors.  I also want to point out the exceptional work that Julie has done over the last week.  She has been working with all of her contacts, getting donations, coordinating deliveries, buying supplies, and basically doing everything she can possibly do to help the people directly and indirectly by also giving them the means to help themselves and their neighbors for the long run.  I won’t list all of the various tasks and projects she has taken on, but needless to say this week has shown again one of the reasons I love Julie so much and how impressed I am with her compassion and ability to assist.  I also want to thank everyone else out there who have donated time, money, and goods.  It’s very inspiring to see how people come to the needs of others.

The most surprising aspect of the day for me was in the people themselves.  Everyone we met was so positive and celebrating their life as opposed to dwelling on what was lost.  Where I was expecting to see tremendous sadness and depression, I saw towns full of hope and people working together to assist one another.  Kids were being kids, playing and laughing and I know the Filipino people will make it through this tragedy, but please help where you can.