The Motherland still needs us

Lara and I touched the motherland on Tuesday night and slowly stripped off our layers as we were greeted with nice warm weather. Lara's uncle came to pick us up with two of his official-seeming partners with stern faces and conviction. Total VIP treatment at the airport and feeling extra special because Lara's uncle is department head of police intelligence here. Impressive!

I'll be staying with Lara's relatives for a couple of days until Friday as I will be reuniting with my family as well. So, yes. LARA AND I WILL BE APART! FINALLLYYYYYYYY! Just kidding, we're probably going to get separation anxiety. Haha.

It's been really nice staying here. It reminds me that Filipinos are always so welcoming and warm, taking anyone in as their own. I miss being able to feel close and having physical contact with other people. Warm greetings and departures in kissing of the cheeks or simple affectionate embraces are always so comforting from Filipinos.

On Thursday, Lara connected with her dad's best friend here who heads an organization with his wife, called Full Life which is a counseling based organization dealing with relief victims from typoon Ondoy (from this past September's disaster) in order to positively intervene with their current living situations and livelihood. Full life also deals with social work among the community and cooperates with other NGO's here in the Philippines in organizing various philanthropy projects throughout the Philippines. Henry asked if we would like to part-take in their organization while we're here (*we will be involved in future projects during our stay here).

Lisa & Henry
These two have incredible hearts and a heavy load to work with. I'm inspired by people like this who've made it their livelihood to work in the field of social and community work.

Early Thursday morning at about 6 a.m. we were scheduled to depart from Manila and off to the the departing city (which is at the tip of my tongue but lacking memory of). Manila is notorious for its hectic traffic, skilled drivers (when I say skilled, I mean these drivers manage to drive without using the sectioned lanes to be only inches away from each other and successfully passing through unscathed) and needless to say, pollution! It took us quite awhile to get to our destination since we had to wait a bit in traffic and also for our Plan (another NGO they work with) organization representative and finally take a ferry out to Talim Island where we will be visiting various barangays (word for small scale community in Tagalog).

Our shadowing began also with Jerry from Plan who scheduled with 5 barangays to deliver water containers to. Here are a few pictures from the day:

This image shows the flood lines marked against the small house off the dock of this barangay called Bombong. As we got off the boat to deliver the containers, I couldn't help but touch these walls, tracing the lines to compare its heap with my height. I closed my eyes and imagined how I would be able to walk through these waters and onto higher ground for safety. I know it is nothing like the actual thing, but I can only imagine and attempt to commiserate with the people here. It really is something to witness what newspaper articles illustrated of the natural disaster that happened here.

General Background of Ondoy: On September 26th the defense chief of the Philippines, Teodoro declared the Philippines in a state of calamity in 25 provinces hit by the typhoon. The flooding average was from two-feet to waist high in various areas and some crucial areas with more than six feet. The typhoon caused severe flooding leaving over 200 people dead and near 100 missing people. Some other facts on this natural disaster are that an estimated $100 million in loss damages, public and private roads were clogged by vehicles stuck in the flood waters, communication and water lines were lost, the Ninoy Aquino Int'l airport was shut down for a day and people were warned about the possibility of catching leptospirosis, which is an infection from bacteria usually transmitted from contaminated water by animal urine that comes in contact with unhealed breaks in the skin and eyes.

The view from our boat.
With such a vast bay, you would think there is enough space for water to disperse.

Pamahalaan barangay dock. This island has about 26 barangays residing on the border.

Justine, I found a boat with your name on it. =)

Henry loosening the ties holding the containers to prepare for delivery

Fish nets out in Laguna bay. The main livelihood here is fishing. Many fishermen experienced devastation with their equipment as it is their main source of income.

Jerry, from Plan. Lisa told us that he often plays a homosexual when speaking with municipal officials to "soften their hearts" in order to cross red-tape areas and to make it easier for him to reach specific relief regions.

After dropping off all the water containers, we proceeded to visit another 2 barangays that are target areas where potential relief work can be done. Henry & Lisa spoke with their officials to gauge what kind of work they can provide in terms of medical, dentistry, food for malnourished people, and counseling help. They are in the process of organizing medical and dentistry missions.

As I observed my surroundings, I was reluctant to find pity in the affected areas because I know that although devastation has occurred in their lives, Filipinos are still very resilient. People still had to continue on with their lives despite everything that happened. I still heard people singing, laughing and joking around the barangays. This made me smile and tear simultaneously.

Once the day winded down and we set afloat back to the dock and reflected about the day. I wondering about the children there, how everyone has managed to adapt to their surroundings post-Ondoy and when they can progress again as a barangay.

But I always know that after disaster comes resurrection. =)