By The Editorial Desk in Manila/Philippine Daily Inquirer | Asia News Network
Were an artist to piece together a collage of the names and faces of
the rescuers, relief workers, volunteers and donors who stood and
delivered during and in the aftermath of Tropical Storm "Sendong" and
other calamities in 2011, the resulting artwork would look, without
doubt, lit from within.
A good heart beating at its core would cause the collage to glow.
There is no master list of the volunteers and donors, none tracking
their names, their hours, their deeds or their gifts (in the future,
there should be an effort at keeping one). But they were there when and
where they were needed.
* * *
Then one night in December, Sendong unleashed an unprecedented amount
of rain on places in Visayas and Mindanao so unfamiliar with such fury
that, instead of keeping watch, the villagers went to sleep as the
rivers were swelling. The cities of Dumaguete, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan
in south Philippines were the hardest hit.
At last count, 1,268 people were dead, 6,071 were injured and 52,435
houses were ruined, with almost 15,000 totally destroyed. The damage to
infrastructure and agriculture was assessed at 1.71 billion pesos (US$40
million).
The timing could not have been worse for a nation that was expecting
Christmas in two weeks. Caught in the throes of preparation for the
holidays, people could not spare the time to help with calamity relief
work.
But not everyone, thank heavens. There were those who responded to the call for aid.
Everyday people took time off from their lives and loved ones to
search for survivors, comfort the grieving, treat the wounded, bury the
dead, pack relief goods, feed and shelter evacuees, tutor kids, haul
away muck, gut and rebuild houses, fill in expected and unexpected roles
in response to the crisis at hand.
Facebook denizens started pages for detailing what the storm victims
needed, where to drop them off, where to volunteer manpower, where to
deposit funds and other details that could help keep the crisis at bay.
"We can do this!" urged the Facebook entries.
Amateur photographers posted grim photos on the Internet and worried
the world to weeping because the lifeless bodies were mostly of
children.
The emotional reaction to those images rippled out to move folks
abroad to do the next best thing to "reaching out and being there"¿they
wrote checks.
According to reports, the Philippines received 1.12 billion pesos
($23 million) from other countries, separate and apart from over 322
million pesos ($7.5 million) that the United Nations had raised from its
member nations.
College students postponed their trips home for the holidays to help
pack goods at instant relief centres on campuses. Some even made a
detour to Cagayan de Oro or Iligan to help distribute the same to
Sendong survivors.
The University of the Philippines (UP) had a system-wide relief
operation manned by faculty, staff, students and other volunteers.
Although UP Mindanao was at the forefront, volunteers repacked
hygiene kits over at Diliman in three shifts, from 6 a.m. to midnight.
Generous guard
A guard on the Loyola Heights campus of Ateneo de Manila University
(ADMU) donated the Christmas pack he had received from his employers
containing two tins of canned goods, instant noodles and some rice, even
before the university could officially launch its relief drive.
ADMU synched its emergency operations with other Jesuit campuses, in
particular Xavier University, which served as an evacuation centre for
Cagayan de Oro residents left homeless by the storm.
Xavier offered 5 hectares of its property to serve as a relocation
site for the homeless survivors. Tents were put up at the relocation
site in Barangay Lumbia to temporarily shelter displaced families. In
time, according to the university spokesperson, materials for
constructing homes would be provided.
Dynamism animated most of the relief and evacuation centres. At
Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, students
organised thousands of evacuees into clusters. A leader was appointed
for each cluster to maintain order, with the evacuees expected to look
after their respective groups.
The clusters made mealtimes easier without having to ask the evacuees
to form lines three times a day. Sometimes, lining up for food can be
demeaning, especially when you are hurting and homeless.
Many companies decided to forego their office Christmas celebrations
and instead deposited their party funds into the Sendong accounts set up
by the banks.
Some even gave their employees leave for volunteer work, in addition
to starting a pot for cash donations. Various businesses gave goods,
from coffins to tents to underwear. Water companies delivered their
product.
The Inquirer initiated a relief drive and distributed donations it
received in kind on Christmas Eve through the Philippine Red Cross.
Other companies offered services. Airlines picked up and dropped off
donations. Doctors and nurses volunteered medical services.
Psychologists held debriefing sessions for both victims and volunteers.
Employees of the companies under San Miguel Corp. (SMC) organised
soup kitchens in over 21 evacuation centres, serving thousands of
families in the cities in crisis. SMC also donated bottles of purified
water and food packs to affected families.
All that would have been good enough, but SMC topped its donations
with a 500-million peso ($11.7 million) check for the construction of
houses for Sendong victims, in cooperation with Gawad Kalinga.
Now people will say that amount is a drop in the bucket for a
conglomerate as big as SMC. That is true, but it is also a drop in
other companies' buckets, yet none of them other than SMC gave in such
proportion.
Although not quite as large, a Filipino-Chinese businessman, who
wished to remain anonymous, offered to bankroll the building of
initially 300 houses in Calaanan for Sendong victims in CDO and
eventually 700 more.
An Inquirer columnist teamed up with the Rural Missionaries of the
Philippines-Northern Mindanao Region for the "Yakapin: Batang Hilagang
Mindanao (YBHM)" because she believed stuffed toys were comfort givers
in times of trauma and could help heal the "children who have lost
almost everything." From 12 drop-off centres, YBHM collected thousands
of teddy bears and other plush animals.
Good begets good
As Cathy Babao was wrapping up the donations, a friend forwarded to
her a YouTube video that showed Sendong images and a 7-year old American
girl named Bronte pleading for 3,000 stuffed toys for the children
affected by flash floods in the Philippines.
"They have to be clean, lovable, plush and, most of all, they need to
be there before Valentine's Day," appealed Bronte. Good, as they say,
begets good.
Teachers¿some of whom lost loved ones to the floods, many of whom
lost homes¿set aside personal grief to cook at evacuation centres and
to get the students back into the classrooms. Bayug Elementary School,
of which only the flooring was spared by Sendong, had a 60-per cent
attendance on the first day of class after the calamity, thanks to the
efforts of its principal and teachers who conducted classes at another
site.
For the 1.17 million people affected by Sendong, these men, women and
entities made up the rainbow that broke through after the storm and
made a difference.
But even as the waters were raging during Sendong, there were people
who, in the words of psychologist Philip Zimbardo, "moved from passive
observers to take heroic action."
Media photos and videos showed ordinary men who seemed to grow
instant nerves of steel, regular guys who all of a sudden looked like
titans, as they saved people from the perilous currents onto safety.
That the first contact with fellow human beings for these survivors
was compassionate is an enormous blessing and a hopeful beginning.
"We'll be forever grateful," said a barangay chair in Iligan, who was
roused from sleep and saved with his family by four men just minutes
before their home submerged and logs rammed through it.
"Pray to God but row to the shore," goes the famous adage. This
year's Filipinos of the Year did more than that. They helped others to
the shore. They gave time, strength, kindness, goods and money. Best of
all, they gave of themselves.
The recent losses in this country has suffered will have far-reaching
effects on the nation. Because the scope of destruction is so vast,
rehabilitation will take a long time. This means volunteer activity will
also have to continue.
It is time for the rest of us to roll up our sleeves and pick up
where the first responders left off. That will be the best tribute we
can pay these Filipinos of the Year.
4. Dress comfortably: Do not underestimate the importance of
choosing an outfit that is comfortable. Many people feel pressured to dress to impress, but do consider
comfort.
5. Do not drink too much: In a festive atmosphere, be aware and stay in control. Being drunk in a high school reunion setting can lead to embarrassing behavior and regret.
9. Mingle!: Fight against the urge to stick with your old clique, even if it is comfortable. Make it a point to talk with
people you have not seen since school and learn about what they do. You
can always go out with your close knit group of friends, do not waste
an opportunity to catch up with people you rarely see.
