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.
