Sr. Keller's Adventures in the Philippines: 2013

This post is slow because it has been very difficult to write. Our part in both of these natural disasters has been pretty much “behind the scenes” – the damage in our immediate area was relatively minimal compared to what everyone has seen on the international news. We felt the earthquake as the floor of our thirds story apartment began to vibrate, then shake, and then ripple. Huge trees were blown down and some roofs and walls blown off. At our apartment building there were some plaster cracks and a lot of stuff thrown around, but no deaths or injuries.

I could repeat all of the stuff about why the Philippines is prone to so many natural disasters and the impact of poverty on the destructive cycle or all the statistics deaths and loss of housing, but I trust most of you have already heard that. All of that doesn’t really matter when you hold a mother in your arms who is wondering if her family is dead or alive and starving, when you see the blank look of a refugee still in shock from too much loss, or a mother with small skinny children begging on the street. All you can do is still too little, but you go and do something.

We have seen pictures taken by some of the first rescue vehicles to reach the area. They are pretty unbelievable.

Yet, amid piles of refuse and death, people are doing laundry and trying to rebuild some kind of shelter from whatever debris the storm has left behind. The biggest problem is that the storm has not only deprived them of homes, but also of livelihoods – most are farmers and fishermen – with no farms and no fishing boats. Electric power is completely down and will take months to restore. Communication is only available on a limited basis (lines for emergency phone calls to notify family and friends mostly, plus for military and relief work)—all communication was down for quite a while.

As an international church, we have humanitarian aid programs in place where the Church can respond promptly and efficiently in disaster situations like the present to help members and nonmembers alike. Here in the Philippines we have received recognition among international rescue organizations and from the local government as “the group wearing the yellow tee shirts”. Packing of relief goods continues – food, water, and hygiene kits still go out to the islands, especially rural areas which are still difficult to reach and places like Taclobon – a city of 240,000 where there is almost nothing left. (This photo is by Erik De Castro/Reuters.) At the peak, nearly 50,000 family food packs per day were required to provide minimum sustenance to the most heavily impacted areas. Within the church, opportunities to serve are carefully rotated so a maximum number of individuals and families got an opportunity to serve. Even small children are encouraged to participate and given appropriate tasks so they can feel an important part of helping others.

Our church—the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints (or Mormons)— like many others is using many of its buildings as repacking areas and temporary housing of refugees as it helps them find housing and meet their immediate needs. Projects are well-planned with supplies in place, facilities readied, and plans laid out to maximize the efficiency of the preparation of family size relief packs during the repacking projects. Most of the repacking has now been moved to centralized areas within the affected area so that there can be more flexibility in meeting individual and family needs -- and a big shift towards the provision of supplies for rebuilding homes.

Evacuees from the islands of Leyte & Samar continue to pour into the Cebu City and Manila. Although the government has set up refugee camps the need exceeds availability. Many of the people go to live with family members or into temporary housing while they try to figure out what to do next.

On an on-going basis, we have programs in place in each local church unit to assist members through counseling, employment assistance, and other daily challenges as needs arise. Some of the services provided by volunteers and missionaries in our Self Reliance Centers (a shift in emphasis and increase in services from the previous Employment Resource Centers) continues to be a provision of Career Workshops to teach people how to find and improve their job opportunities, job fairs, American accent classes, and individual mentoring in doing resumes, interviewing, and looking for work.

In the Philippines, if you ask how did you prepare, or how do you cope, the most common answer is, “You do all you can and then you pray.” So when all is said and done, it really is that simple.

And then you look forward to the dawn of a new and better day.

To finish off on highlights of the tour from the last blog, across the street from the National Heritage Park was the Yap-San Diego House built in 1675 and considered one of the oldest residences still existing in the Philippines. The furnishings are mostly from the original owners and include family portraits, exquisite paintings, lavish table settings on hand-crocheted table cloths, along with family heirloom gods, furniture, dolls, and everyday household items of the era.

Above on the right is the "birthing chair".

Next we went to the Basilica Minore del Santo Ninyo, a 16^th century church built on the spot where the oldest Christian relic in Cebu was found—the Santo Nino de Cebu (Holy Child Jesus) —whose spirit is believed to protect the island even today.

We finished up the tour at Magellan’s Cross planted to mark the site of the baptism of the first Christian Filipinos led by Rajah Humabon. Planted in the 16^th century, the original cross is encased inside the cross found in the center of the chapel built to protect the original cross.

This is our tour group at Magellan's cross chapel.

The next thing that happened was we ran into a strange time warp. During the first week of October, we went to the mall. We saw on one side a huge display of Halloween costumes, on the other side a huge display of Christmas trees and Santa Clauses, and in the center (but 4 stories down) was a huge flower show complete with ribbons for winners of different categories! The flower show included the show and sale of many different kinds of flowers, plants, and trees – not just flowers. Those three seasons just don't coincide back home!

Took time out to get a haircut and it was (like everything else here in the Philippines) an occasion for much picture taking!

Also went for a stroll in a small gated community just down from our apartment (or “up” from us if you are talking economics). It is very pretty and some of the houses are very nice. Quite a few of them had their own coconut and banana palms - along with high fences and gorgeous flow