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Rising from the Mud

mhel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:20:31 +0000

Marikina, after the Ondoy tragedy, is literally rising from the mud. After the flooding, the great problem befell us was cleaning up what’s left from our mud-covered houses.

Yesterday, my husband was telling me if we can already buy some paints for our mud-stricken walls and ceiling. Although we already cleaned our house, we left the part of the wall and the ceiling beyond our reach. At the same time, we still fear that another typhoon will come that may cause great flooding, talk about trauma… In short, we do not want to completely clean-up and remodel because of the fear and trauma for another flooding.

Let me show you what happened to our house visually through this photos –

Terrible, right? It was very sad that for almost a week, we can’t even glimpse our floor tiles. It was hard for us to simply rise from the mud as what we only have were covered by it. What we saved from our meager salaries, we invest on improving our small abode. When people tell you get over it, it’s all gone, I hope they would understand that it is not that easy as “those things” were the only ones we had. Of course we will rise again, but allow us some time to do that. These are hard times, more so for people who do not have any means of “bouncing back” to life.

With God’s love, everything will fall into place once again. Someday.

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My Ondoy Stress Report

mhel — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:57:11 +0000

My apology for not being able to post more articles for this site in the last days. There are so many factors which contributed to this problem.

First, up to this time, I still do not have a broadband connection. For a month now, I’ve been persistent in calling up Globe telecom, almost everyday, and each time I can get through them, to beg them to reinstall my broadband as I need it badly. Up to this time though, nothing has been done, no restoration was made.

Second, there were so many things I needed to attend to. One of the very immediate is cleaning up. the signs of mud flooding our house’ first and second floors, are still visible and tainting the appearance of almost every corner of our small and cramped abode. Since we threw away our cabinets, tables and drawers, our dishes, clothes and other stuff, are scattered on the floor and everywhere else. There’s a big improvement in the physical aspect of our house since the Ondoy tragedy but much is needed to be done to put a little order in our home.

The last reason, I will disclose to you in the next days. Hopefully, Globe will soon restore my broadband connection so I can blog again for this site’s readers. In summary, my days and nights are too full that sleep and relaxation seemed a luxury to me which I was not able to afford. My only hope is that after all these physical and mental stress I’ve been undergoing, the effect would be that of weight loss pills. At least, if that desired effect would be realized, I would feel good that there is something positive about all these stressful events.

This is not a complain though. Don’t get me wrong. I know everything happened for a reason and I’m looking at this Ondoy tragedy in a positive point of view so learning will overcome the losses.

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Typhoon Ondoy Chronicle: Realizations from the Water

mhel — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:39:56 +0000

Experiences make you realize. Believing makes you value. Marikenya

My family, my friends, and I, are still in awe and in great trauma from what we experienced from Ondoy and his wrath. There are so many stories, mostly, unpleasant ones. But now that all my family and friends are safe from the flood, I wanted to focus on the lessons I learned from the calamity that stunned the whole Metro Manila.

Realizations from the Water:

In the midst of hopelessness, no one can save us but God. Prayers remained the best and the only option we have to survive. My prayers were answered. We lost almost everything we founded in the last years but God saved the lives of those I love so much from the flood, just as I prayed and begged from him.

Nothing is more important than saving life. In a matter of hours, a lot of ordinary people became heroes who saved lives not minding their own properties or their own lives. I salute all of you: who swam the depths of the murky water to bring people to safety; who opened their houses to others, even to strangers; who cooked meals and provided relief to the victims; who prayed for the lives of those in danger; who unselfishly helped in any little way they can to those who needed…

Take every opportunity to help the needy. During the time of Ondoy, I’ve realized how many people truly loved me. My friends who extended their help to provide us shelter, to bring us clothes, food and other assistance. In return, even when I cannot even change my underwear because everything I own were covered by mud, my husband and I circled our neighborhood to share old clothes and food we received from friends. We felt a lot better afterwards.

Even in the midst of calamity, there are still people who took and still taking advantage of others. This is in reference to small-time burglars who stole properties of people, even those who opened their doors to save them from the flood, and those big-time government officials in the guise of delivering public service but in truth, benefiting so much from the donations and grants provided by kind souls meant for the victims of Ondoy. May god all bless your souls.

…
The depth of the pains and trauma we victims of Ondoy in Marikina may never be measured. It is only when you wake up horror-stricken and panicky in the middle of the night at the drops of rain over your roof that you’ll realize, the fear thrives within you. I should know. This is what’s happening to me and to all other I know who experienced the tragedy.

Let us continue to pray… That none of those happens again in Marikina and in other parts of the country. That God will help everyone cope and bring their life to normalcy again. That people will see the importance of “the message” of God through Ondoy. That the pains will heal and the memories will blur so that we can all smile again genuinely and hope will shine in our hearts. Oh God, this, we pray…

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The Water Crisis

mhel — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:47:48 +0000

While watching the news the other day (thank God we were able to finally watch the television after weeks of darkness brought by Ondoy), an environmental expert said not because there were floods, we won’t have problems with water.

I believe that we should seriously think about and act on the issue of potable drinking water shortage in the future. Philippines was ranked as among the top wasters of water.

In the household level, we ought to refine our use of tap water when washing the laundry, cleaning vehicles, and even when doing personal activities like brushing teeth. The government and private developers should also consider not developing anymore golf courses or swimming pools.

During the flooding, our family was thankful that we were able to save a gallon of mineral water which we consumed up until the time the road outside our communtiy was travelable to refill the gallon. From September 26 to this day, we cannot really rely on tap water as a safe drinking resource unless you use reliable and high-quality water filters. It is better to be safe than worried as the danger of diseases like amoebiasis, diarrhea, gastrointestinal, parasitism, and thypoid continously loom.

We may be lucky that we were able to save mineral water for our family but we saw a lot of families who do not have access to clean and safe drinking water. It is too bad our negligence for sanitation made us depend on bottled water whilst in the past, we can directly drink from the faucet or the well. It is worst for those who cannot afford it.

Let us save the future of our country and the lives of our future children.
Let us save water. Now.

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Devastated by Typhoon Ondoy

mhel — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:29:48 +0000

It’s been three weeks now since I last posted and I know that many are wondering why I haven’t written about the typhoon that is now a household name in the entire City of Marikina. Ondoy, the storm which took the lives of many Marikenyos, also shook my sanity as my family fought for their lives on a rooftop, during this typhoon’s savagery.

Yes, our family was among the thousands of Marikenyos which lives and properties were devastated by the typhoon and are now survivors of the legendary Ondoy. I wanted to write about our experiences, our pleas, our hopes, but technology, during the times of calamities, are worthless, at least in my case. It is only today that I am able to taste again the usefullness of internet so I can share to the whole world what happened to our family, to our community, and to our city. What’s left of it after Ondoy…

Since my laptop was also flooded, I had to use a friend’s PC to write this article on Ondoy. Little by little, I will unfold the horrors of the typhoon in this site. I would like to invite you also to share your Ondoy photos, stories, and messages. You may send them via the contact form or through my email at marikenya@yahoo.com.

Our community needs help — clothes, beddings, foams, kitchen utensils, water pails, basins, towels, blankets… among others. If you wish to help our community, please contact me. I can help organize the relief operations in our area. Please help directly the communities savaged by the typhoon so the support will be given to those who really need it.

Please reach out and help.

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