Lottie the volunteer's BLOG

Intoy, Lenlen and my bike.  HOW I MET THEM I was heading to a coffee shop near Sto Nino church for a meeting one afternoon when I noticed a short and petite woman pushing an old wheelchair with her husband riding on it. I watch them curiously as they pass by and look for a waiting shed. I could see the wife having a hard time pushing it because its wheels were already old and rusting. I walk closer to them in curiosity. I greeted them and they smiled back at me. At first, I was hesitant in asking what the situation of her husband is. I had presumed that they were couple because they were so sweet to each other. But because of my endless curiosity, I broke the question with Mang Intoy, the man who suffered polio since birth. He told me that his illness was incurable. I asked what happened to them when Yolanda struck the city.  He told me that their survival was very painful and he doesn’t want it to be recalled. The wheel-chair he was using was donated by a...

My first personal meeting with Cong. Martin Romualdez at the SM Media awards. I was not born in Tacloban City or even in the first district of Leyte. I was born in Burauen, Leyte which town was more than an hour drive from Tacloban City. But I live in La Paz, Leyte –a town next to Burauen located in the western part of the province. I lived and studied in Tacloban City since 2006. In my younger years, I have known only one surname of a politician who dominated our district for decades now. Sometimes, it’s his wife or him who holds the congressional seat. I noticed that he was too old for the position, but he still clung to the seat. But in their entire term in congress, we never experience the kind of service that people should enjoy. Other districts have their own programs for the farmers, women, and youth or even for the elderlies. At first, I thought that it was just normal to have none because they may have other more important things to think about. You know! Young ...

Families living at Anibong District, Tacloban City were still unable to rebuild their homes due to the lack of resources. “Wala pa, hindi namin alam kung kelan darating ang ESA”. Most of the Yolanda survivors in Eastern Visayas who were entitled for the so-called Emergency Shelter Assistance of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, were still waiting for it almost two years after the deadly storm hit the region. “Hindi na Emergency tawag jan, sa tagal ba naman niyan, ICU na yan.” The DSWD, through their Department Secretary Dinky Soliman, formulated/created guidelines for the implementation of the program intended to help the survivors of the disasters. These guidelines earned negative feedbacks as it was claimed to be so strict that seemed not intended for helping the people. Under the guidelines, those survivors whose house were totally damaged will receive an amount of 30,000 pesos as long as he will be able to present receipts for the materials u...

In one hot afternoon, children ages 10-14 years old were seen working in the sugarcane plantations in one of the haciendas in Ormoc City. They wear a pair of old socks and slippers, long sleeves and a piece of cloth that protects their heads against the heat of the sun, as their daily protection in working in the sugarcane plantations. The 13-year-old, Pauline (not her real name), has her own “machete” (the sharp bolo that is used for the cleaning of the sugarcane plant). She spent the whole summer season working in the field and was paid for 110 a day. Her father was a construction worker while her mother is a housekeeper. Her mother can’t work because she had undergone a caesarean operation when she gave birth to her third child. She is a grade six pupil at Cagbunhangin Elementary School in Ormoc City. She admitted that there were days that she has to leave her class in school because she has to help his father to earn money for their food. All her money she earn...

Pamela Pascual, 27 years old, washed their dishes using the rainwater earned from their improvised rain catcher.  Tacloban City, Leyte – “I cried every time I see my children begging for food and you have nothing to give,” said Pamela Pascual, 27 years old and a mother of two who were living in the bunkhouses for almost two years after the strongest typhoon wiped out their homes in San Jose in this City. Pascual’s family was one of the lucky families who had been a recipient of a room in the bunkhouses constructed by the government. Yet, she was also one of the mothers who remained to suffer silently as she struggled putting their lives back into normalcy almost 2 years after the deadly storm. They lived in the coastal area where her husband worked as a painter in a “pakyaw “ basis. Pascual proudly says that when they were still living in San Jose, her family eats three times a day but now they could hardly eat three times a day in a week. “ Kung dati nakakain ...

A situation in one of the bunkhouses in Tacloban City during rainy days. Recently, Eastern Visayas has been named by the National Economic and Development Authority which has the highest number of poverty incidence in the country next to Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Authorities say that this NEDA result has been expected because thousands of people lost their livelihoods because of typhoon Yolanda last 2013. The coconut industry is the backbone of the economy in the Region. A year after the storm, survivors were still struggling for survival despite having (some of them) a decent shelter where they can be comfortable again. Millions of people lost their livelihoods.  Many initiatives also have been undertaken to bring back the normal lives of the people by restoring their homes and helping them recover by giving them livelihoods. They said that many of us even around the world learned from what we have experienced. Yes, it’s true. ...

Lyn, not her real name, 14 years old, one of the human trafficking survivors in Samar. Marabut, Western Samar – A year after the horrible experience happened to some elementary graduate pupils, when they were able to be rescued by the authorities in Tacloban City from their alleged human traffickers who were a member of “Babalam Kevalam Foundation”, one of the survivors of the crime decided to speak up to tell her story of survival against those who took advantage in their situation. She is Lyn, not her real name, 14 years old and a grade 8 of Osmenia National High Schoolin Marabut Samar. She is the second child of the family. Her mother is a housewife while her father works in the mountain where he planted different root crops as a means of livelihood. HER STORY It was on March 2014, when we were still picking up the pieces of our lives after typhoon Yolanda and after our graduation in our elementary grade when we meet the members of a certain organization called “Babalam...