Last week I made contact with several friends in the Philippines. Thanks be to God I have now heard back from all of them. They are safe, but overwhelmed with concern for their sisters and brothers who are suffering most directly.
This afternoon Gabriel send a more detailed email summary of the situation. He was happy for me to share his reflection with blog readers. It is a most moving account of a man of faith, from the heart of the suffering.
Please keep Gabriel and the people of his nation in your prayer. If you are moved to offer practical support, the Caritas appeal is launched by this agency of the NZ Catholic bishops at this link.
Here is Gabriel's email:
Seven days after the supertyphoon hit the central part of the Philippines, in Cebu City things are back to "business as usual" except for the daily rotational electric supply shutdown and the occasional telecommunication disability.But if one drives four hours going to northern Cebu, the typhoon's damage will throw itself on one's eyes. The same if one will sail eastward for four hours to the island of Leyte and for another two hours to the island of Samar.These three places---Northern Cebu, Leyte, and Samar---have been so far considered the worst-hit places by supertyphoon Haiyan / Yolanda. However, in the coming days, the extent and scope of the calamity in other locations will emerge. Time will tell when as communication and electric lines are still down, and there are great difficulties in reaching the peripheries.According to official government bulletin, as of November 15, there are 2,360 dead, 3,853 injured, and 77 missing.
In these places almost all houses are gone, trees have been uprooted, electric posts are down, and some roads still impassable. There is no electricity and no communication possible in order for friends and families to contact their dear ones.
Starvation is now affecting the people. A cause for bigger worry is the situation of residents living in the mountainside; as a work colleague from Leyte tells me, even in normal situations reaching the place is difficult. Reports are coming that for three days immediately after the typhoon, people from the town proper had nothing to eat. Only with the help from neighboring cities were they given food. And while they received the help, people form the remoter part may still be starving.
In Tacloban City, Leyte, peace and order has become a problem because people have resorted to stealing and violence in order for them to survive. In fact, relief efforts for other areas in Leyte do not pass through this city due to the chaos of the people randomly taking away what boxes of material aid they see.
And while attention have been most focused in Tacloban, the same situation is being lived by the people in Northern Cebu, Samar, and the smaller towns of Leyte. People here work as farmers, and all their crops are now wiped away. The first media reports in these places describe the pitiful state of the residents. In the midst of rubble and impassable roads are signs with words "Help," "SOS," "We need food."
Here in Cebu City, parishes are asking charitable donations. Private establishments are delivering goods. Associations, groups, organizations, and the media are also collecting donations. The city has now become an evacuation place for residents of Samar and Leyte who are being flown here by the military C130 plane. It plans to make a "Tent City" for those who don't have relatives or friends here. Furthermore, the city has now become the point of healthcare for the injured, the sick, and the dying. American aircraft-carrier with material aid just arrived last night in Tacloban. We are now seeing helicopters and planes flying to and from the affected areas.In Manila, the central government has decided to take control of disaster management. Receiving large amount of financial aid from different countries, it has developed a more organized plan of sending help to different affected areas. We are very overwhelmed by the multimillion total of financial aid supplied by the international community. However, majority of the people are skeptical on how the government will spend it, seeing the aid coming only in small drizzles. This is understandable as the current state of Philippine politics is muddled. Coincidentally, on the very day when the typhoon started hitting us, the senate started their investigation on the "pork barrel scam" involving a handful of politicians who have allegedly used their development assistance funds to forward their personal interest.The victims are becoming impatient with the lack of urgency in the government's efforts of helping. Food, water, clothing, and medicine are being sent late and insufficiently. What is now of more help to them are those from them eclessial charitable acitivities and the personal aid given by people in their own initiative.
In recounting these facts, I would also like to share a more personal event that happened to Cheryl who is working as a resident-physician in Cebu's biggest hospital. Being assigned to the emergency room, her attention was called by a nurse due to the presence of a young couple presenting themselves for urgent care. Seeing nothing grave in their physical appearance, she told the nurse to let them wait, and if they wished, to go back home. The nurse replied that they were from Leyte. At knowing this, she proceeded directly to them. The woman's face was blank and in a state of shock, and the man was the only one able to talk to her. The only words that came from the man's mouth were "we have nothing left," and after uttering this, the couple broke in tears. For two days, they had no one to talk to. In addition to material assistance, the victims need people who will face and talk to them. This could be a reason why the affected in Tacloban are now being described as "anarchic" and hysterical.
Seven days passed after the typhoon, and what made a deeper encouragement is the plea made by Pope Francis to pray and give concrete help for the victims. He is the very first who promised to give financial assistance. He still continues to call the faithful to pray for us here. His witness is a bigger challenge for us than the challenge of the typhoon. In his own words: “Tell me, when you give alms, do you look into the eyes of the man or woman to whom you give alms? . . . And when you give alms, do you touch the hand of the one to whom you give alms, or do you toss the coin? This is the problem---Christ's flesh, to touch the flesh of Christ, to take on ourselves this pain for the poor”. These provocative words recall in the very reassuring words of Benedict XVI: "Those who believe are never alone---neither in life nor in death."
With this crystal-clear message of Hope by our beloved fathers, I can't help but recall and relive in the flesh the poetic genius of Peguy: “Faith does not amaze me. It is not amazing. I shine so brightly in my creation [says God]. In the sun and the moon and the stars. In all my creatures and in man. Charity, says God, does not amaze me. It is not amazing. Those poor creatures are so unhappy that, unless they have a heart of stone, how could they not have charity for each other. How could they not have charity for their brothers. How could they not take the bread from their mouths, their daily bread, to give it to the wretched children passing by. But hope, says God, that is what amazes me. Even me. This is amazing. Those poor children see how things are going and think things will be better tomorrow. This is amazing and is precisely the greatest marvel of our grace. And I myself am amazed at it. It must be that my grace is truly unbelievably strong."
This is what we pray for here just as the bread to satisfy hunger: to encounter someone who has encountered this unbelievably strong grace and great love so that the people too will be embraced by this Hope.
Please continue to include us in your prayers.
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