Rebuild and Recover Cebu
$475
Raised
8
Donations
$1,000
Goal
Recover and Rebuild Cebu
No water, no electricity, no cellular signal and no internet. Who would think that these were the basics in life? A couple of hours before the super typhoon Odette (aka RAI) hit the Philippine Islands last December 16, 2021 power was turned off. The next day, many electrical wire post and trees have fallen on the main road blocking even vehicles to pass. One can only walk around it. Assessing all the destruction of Electrical posts, one still predicts that it can take 2-3 months before electricity was restored.The island was set back in a war zone condition short of a Zombie Apocalypse.
1. Gas was rare and there was a mile long line to get gas. Naturally public transportation fare doubled because gas was now a rare commodity. And instead of Php 65.00/litter gas price went up to almost Php 180.00
2. No ATM machine worked. One had to travel 3-4 hours to the next big city to get intermittent ATM that wasn’t offline. Naturally, long lines preceded.
3. Water was a rare commodity. In some areas, people had water but in other areas, there was no water at all.
4. Drinking water was also a problem. Some government officials monopolized water distribution and controlled the prices.
5. Most supermarkets were closed and those that were open had limited hours of operation. Naturally, there were long lines to the market and food was rationed per family.
Why have we not heard about it? Many of my friends abroad asked me. Well, we were totally cut off and had no communication for over a week. So how can the world know?
After a week or two after the typhoon, relief efforts started to trickle in all over the island. Food and water have been distributed. And people have been slowly rebuilding their homes and their lives.It’s been a month now after the incident, finally electricity and water have been restored in many homes, but still lots of homes do not have power and water and intermittent internet still abounds. Hey, you can’t have everything right? We are just grateful for what we have.Many locals and expats as well, especially those leaning on internet for their livelihood hopped into the next island to get a semblance of a semi-normal life and that’s what we did.
We were not jumping off the sinking ship but we needed to take care of ourselves first to lend a helping hand to those who needed it most.After getting over the shock of losing a home and in brink of homelessness, my husband and I moved to Dumaguete City, where we secured a simple house that covered the basics in life needed to survive. Our savings depleted, our focus now is to rebuild and recover and to lend a hand to the rest of the islanders who are left with no roofs over their heads, no livelihood since the island where I came from thrived on tourism, which is totally dead for now.
I implore you from the bottom of my heart if you can spare a small change for a bigger cause that may affect the lives of the islands as well as myself to rebuild and recover.
Check out my blog:
- 02/02/2022 - Surviving Super Typhoon Odette (aka RAI) - Part 2
- 01/19/2022 - Barely Surviving Super Typhoon Odette (aka RAI)
UPDATE: | |
1. Healthy U, our favorite vegetarian restaurant in Cebu City, run by our favorite Yogi Amitabha whose mission in life is to promote health and wellness in the community. The restaurant was destroyed during the typhoon. They also sponsor a monthly college student’s education, so we wanted that to continue uninterrupted as well as repairs. | |
2. A special mention to Simon and Angie Briggs from https://www.moalboalecolodge.com/ | |
3. Also, Dyna and JP from Freediving Planet Moalboal for organizing seashore cleanup drives, to restore the coast in Moalboal. They are a couple of most accomplished free-divers and restauranters we know. They have done so much to help those in Moalboal in these last several weeks… really for years! | |
4. Helping a good friend Bambi Beltran, a well-known screenwriter, poet, and actress of local independent Visayan films as well as a recipient of one of 17 laureates of the 2020 Deutsche Welle (DW) Freedom of Speech Award. Her relief efforts Dispensilya Sugbo's 2nd relief operation running in Olango Island! | |
5. We also chipped in to rebuild our favorite dog shelter which is being organized by Linda, Irwin and Lauriane from MoalBoal Dog Rescue. This has been an ongoing passion of ours because the doggies can’t help themselves! <grin> | |
6. Last but not least, we also help individuals directly who needed it most and other local organizations who we witnessed poured their heart, body and soul into rebuilding the community. We definitely could still use some help, kindly visit us here. Rebuild and Recover Cebu | Ming's World (Powered by Donorbox) | |
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Support my causes by securing a copy of my book. ALL of my book sales from January to February 2022, will go to “Rebuild and Recover Cebu.” |
Shards of Time traces the steps of Mita Zara, a young girl whose father was captured and sent to prison during the Martial Law era in the Philippines. As Mita tries to glue the family together, she learns that life is uncertain and nothing will ever be the same. Unable to face her past demons, Mita runs away as far as possible only to discover that the past continues to haunt her. Shards of Time is a family saga that spells unconditional love, voices the sentiments of despair, and most of all unlocks the heart to forgive. eBook – Amazon.com: Shards of Time: A Memoir eBook : Suson, Mitos: Kindle Store Paperback – Shards of Time: A Memoir (asiabookcenter.com) Shopee Philippines – Shards of Time: A Memoir | Shopee Philippines |
A Doorbell, A Dictator, A Dad
In the 1960s and 70s Ferdinand Marcos ruled the Philippine Islands with the closed fist of a dictator. Families lived in fear, dissenters, political rivals and trouble makers were tossed into Manila’s Fort Bonifacio Prison to face an uncertain fate. This is the memoir of once such family, torn apart and scattered asunder when Marcos’ henchmen knocked on the door of their home and swept away their father, forever altering their fortunes and future. eBook – Amazon.com: A Doorbell, A Dictator, A Dad: A daughter’s memoir of life and family under Marcos’s Martial Law eBook : Suson, Mitos, Patterson, Darby: Kindle Store Paperback – A Doorbell, A Dictator, A Dad: A daughter’s memoir of life and family under Marcos’s Martial Law (asiabookcenter.com) |