Shades of Hope

In the midst of the catastrophic claws of Typhoon Hiayan/Yolanda are some poignant moments.

During our devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help last Wednesday, we prayed for the victims - for those who died and for the survivors.  After singing our concluding song, I asked everyone for one more minute and offered prayers for the souls of those who died. Everyone stayed, and so we prayed.

As people were leaving, a woman approached me and thanked me.  She was from a town in the outskirts of Tacloban.  She said that as we were praying, she had a vision of souls going up to heaven being welcomed by the Father.  She said it made her feel better.   Like most of us, or maybe more than most of of us, she had been crying and was so worried about her own family there.  The good news is that she just received a text from her brother that morning and they are alive, albeit hungry and homeless.  But they know a lot of people who died. They say the  uncertainty has driven some people to wander aimlessly in disbelief.  She spoke of sending money through their parish priest - of this same priest taking care of his flock with the meager food supply he had.  This priest prepared "lugaw" everyday just to make the rice last longer while hoping help will arrive before they run out. She spoke of a people who knew how to deal with typhoons as Leyte is in the main path of almost every typhoon - except this one was a lot more powerful and deadly, and they did not know how to deal with this devastation. Her eyes look tired, her voice cracked, but she said she was glad she came as the prayer made her feel better, and hopeful, and thankful.

This afternoon, my Vietnamese manicurists and I were talking about the typhoon. She said she was crying as she watched the news.  Her husband said that on Vietnamese TV, there is a plea for help from the Vietnamese community to send help to the Philippines - because the Filipinos helped them.  Many of the Vietnamese people in the US went through the Philippine Refugee Processing Center.  There, they were treated with respect by the Filipinos.  I take this personally, having had the privilege of working with Vietnamese (Cambodian and Laotian) refugees in Bataan.

You reap what you sow. Kindness begets kindness. Golden rule.  These are all true.

And so, despite the chaos, the bickering, the blaming, the scheming and all the dark intentions of a few, the Filipinos, with the help of their fellow Filipinos and of the international community, will rebuild and rise again.

God bless us all.

A Plea.....

     I stopped watching the news and looking at pictures  from home (the Philippines) as they almost always drive me to tears.  The magnitude of Typhoon Yolanda (or Haiyan), the latest natural disaster that swept the central Philippines, is just overwhelming that the peoples of the world are still in awe and could not fathom the depth of it.  I heard from friends and acquaintances of tragic losses, not just of properties, but of lives; of whole communities washed away by the waters; of families in tight embrace, drowned together; of dead bodies lined along the roads while those who survived searched for their loved ones.  Pictures in the news showed people with blank stares holding on to minute things and wandering aimlessly.   This typhoon was only weeks after a 7.1 earthquake leveled towns in a neighboring island. 

     Although I am thankful that my own family  in Las Pinas is safe and is physically unaffected by these disasters, we, as a people, are all saddened as this latest calamity affects the deepest recesses of our psyche and of our hearts.  From the comforts of our homes here in the US, even the thousands of miles could not separate us from the pains and sufferings of the Filipinos.  Our hearts ache, our eyes well with tears, and we all have that desire to do something to help.

     Chances are you know someone from the Philippines.  My home country famously exports nurses, caregivers and other professionals and paraprofessionals.  People from some nations think of Filipinos as maids, houseboys and nannies.  But that is okay. We know who we are.  The truth is most of those who go abroad are college-educated.  Poverty and unemployment in our country has driven many of us abroad so we could support our families back home.  We did not care what work we do.  We do what we need to do, and do them well.  We are a people who are nurturing and our loyalty and concern for those we work with and for are genuine and comes as a second nature.  

     The journey back to normalcy will be long, but Filipinos are resilient.  Like a bamboo tree, we bend where the wind blows, but we rise up again.  We are a people of hope.  We are a people of faith.  We are a people of gratitude.  Even in the face of what is seemingly an insurmountable disaster, this country, this people with rise again, with your help and with God’s grace.

     So this is my plea.  I hope you will find it in your hearts to  send help through a variety of organizations that are now in the Philippines.  Please donate to any of the organizations in the link:

http://news.yahoo.com/how-to-help-donate-to-victims-of-super-typhoon-haiyan-195111618.html;_ylt=AwrSyCUSOIFSCjUAZL7QtDMD.   

     Thank you and God bless you.