By YOLANDA STORY HUB VISAYAS
CONCEPCION, Iloilo—Despite the devastation wrought by supertyphoon Yolanda in this northern coastal town in Panay Island, children here still look forward to celebrating this Christmas.
Many of them are still hopeful that Santa Claus would grant them their wishes. But while most children their age would wish for toys this Christmas, these kids are asking Santa for “gifts” that would help rebuild their communities.
Like many other kids here, 12-year-old Jocelle Rayo of Sitio Butlog Gamay in Barangay Tambaliza, Concepcion wishes for a home for her family.
“We don’t have a house because of typhoon Yolanda,” Jocelle says.
It was in their town where supertyphoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) made its fifth landfall last Nov. 8.
Where Jocelle’s house once stood are piles of debris “Yolanda” left behind. During the monster howler’s onslaught, the raging waves forced her family and other people to evacuate to a hilltop.
She asks Santa Claus to grant her one more wish — that “our school be repaired so that we will be able to study well once more.”
Another little girl’s wish is for “someone with a good heart” to help finance her education “so that when I graduate I can also help my family.”
Livelihood for their families is another common Christmas wish of children in this town.
Here’s one boy’s appeal: “Dear Santa Claus: I wish there will [be] more help that will come to us so that we could start rebuilding our bangka [outrigger canoe] for our livelihood and as a mean[s] of transportation to go to school.”
At such a young age, these children have already been made aware of these lessons from typhoon Yolanda: Life itself is more important than material things and the true spirit of Christmas is sharing and loving.
“In a situation like this, you no longer think of how small, young and poor you are. You just get up and do everything you can to help those who are in need,” says Pastor Dexter Robite, head of City Light Church, the implementing body of Touch Urban Lives Philippines (TULiP).
TULiP, a nongovernment organization (NGO) that supports health, education and livelihood programs, launched its Love Iloilo Project (LIP) on Nov. 18 in the northern Iloilo town of Estancia. This was done in partnership with CityCare, a Singapore-based NGO that “aims to combat apathy and empowers individuals to be social change agents building a more caring community” (http://www.citycare.org.sg).
As part of the LIP project, a team of 15 doctors, 13 nurses, 10 medical student, seven crisis-response volunteers and a local physician (Dr. Jovie Dignadice) took part in a medical mission. The team extended medical assistance to 7,891 patients from Northern Iloilo and Capiz with the bulk (5,005 patients) coming from Estancia’s 17 villages.
The team also set up a mini-carnival on Dec. 7 in Estancia to bring Christmas cheer to some 2,000 children. Ten game booths and three prize booths comprised the mini-carnival.
“The children [here] deserve an early Christmas celebration, considering the trauma they have been through,” says Emily Robite, the pastor’s wife and head of the event.
Aside from the mini-carnival, Jian Hao, a 24-year-old Singaporean volunteer from CityCare, entertained the children by playing Santa.
“I believe that we should also contribute what we have received. Singapore has been very fortunate, and I feel like we do have a part to make people here happy as well. I just want to share the joy,” Hao says.
The City Light Church’s music band entertained both young and old through worship songs and sharing of Gospel messages in the afternoon.
Other organizations such as Global Impact Philippines Foundation, AmeriCares, Maharlika Charity Foundation, City Harvest Church, The Interhelp Network, Dean’s Bakeshop, OFW Aid Power and The Outreach Singapore also contributed to the overall success of the community rehabilitation.
(This story, jointly written by Rhema Laud Española, Denise Yzabel Salinas, Julie Ann Mae Silvederio, Mark Fuertes, and Hazel P. Villa was produced by Typhoon Yolanda Story Hub Visayas, a citizen journalism portal.)