Yolanda Survivor Pays It Forward

Yolanda survivor Merlinda Inocencio shared the following story at the 22nd annual membership meeting of the Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries in March 2014.  To read this testimony in Filipino, please click HERE. 

Good evening everyone!  I thank the Lord for this chance to speak of His goodness to me and my family.  My name is Merlinda Inocencio.  My husband and I have four children and six grandchildren.  We are fisher folk from Estancia in Iloilo province. Our town is called the ‘Alaska of the Philippines’ because a huge percent of the crabs eaten in Manila are caught in our waters.

I am a CCT community partner. The micro finance loans I have received from the CCT Credit Cooperative for the past eight years allowed me to purchase two fishing pump boats.  Earnings from selling our catch at the Estancia fish port supported the education of my children, all of whom earned college degrees. My eldest child has a degree in commerce, my second child finished nursing, and the two youngest studied IT.

Our boats also provided jobs for ten men – boat pilots, machinists, and boat hands.  These heads of the family supported a total of 25 children. 

Estancia was heavily hit by Supertyphoon Yolanda.  We had eight feet of water in our house and had to jump off our terrace and swim to safety!  Praise the Lord that none of us drowned!

We thank God for those that He used to give us and our neighbors relief items after Yolanda.  We were also visited by doctors and given the medicine we needed.

We lost our pump boats in the storm and one of our crew is still missing. Since fishing is the only way my family knows of earning a living,  another loan from CCT was a big help in re-establishing our business.  I received a P70,000 loan with which I bought a new pump boat, motor, and nets. We have been able to go out to sea again and I have gone back to selling fish at the fish port.  My hopes are high that with God’s blessing we will be able to fully recover.

I have extended this blessing to the children of my missing crew member.  He left behind two daughters – one in seventh grade, and one in fourth grade  -- who now live on Bantayan Island in Cebu.  I regularly send them help to enable them to stay in school. 

Sunday worship services began to be held at the CCT office in Estancia after Yolanda struck.  I attend those services regularly. The Lord used the storm to remind me of the importance of my relationship with Him. The storm showed me that I can do nothing except by Him, that our lives are in His hands, and that all events in this world are under his authority. 

Thank you and God bless us all!

Naejil's Feet

Naejil's feet before treatment.

When Super Typhoon Yolanda raged over Coron, Palawan in November 2013 it blew away the house that seven-month old Naejil lived in with his young parents, leaving nothing but the posts.  During a medical mission a few weeks later, Dr. John Tabije of CCT treated the baby for upper respiratory problems, then, seeing that Naiejil had clubfeet, recommended that he be brought to an orthopedic surgeon in Puerto Princesa City, the capital of Palawan.

Although he knew clubfeet are best treated within the first week of birth, Dr. John thought Naejil still had a chance of not having to spend the rest of his life painfully walking on the sides of his feet and suffering the emotional and social problems that come with such a deformity.     

Naejil and his mother, Alyssa, arrived in Puerto Princesa the week before Christmas and met up again with Dr. John . Another check-up revealed, however, that Naejil’s cough had developed into pneumonia and he needed hospital care.  He spent two days in a hospital. 

Mommy Alyssa holds Naejil
 tenderly as Dr. Catacutan
removes his casts after the fifth week.

Dr. Gerard Catacutan, the orthopedic surgeon who finally saw Naejil, recommended six weeks of treatment – the feet would be put in casts which would slowly coax the feet into a normal position.  The casts would have to be changed weekly. Mother and child stayed in the home of CCT volunteer worker Elena while Naejil was being treated. 

Elena, who accompanied Alyssa and Naejil during all visits to the doctor, says, “By the end of the third week we could already see that the feet were looking better!” 

For the last week, Doc Gerard said it would not be necessary to put the feet in a cast.  Instead, he fitted the little one with a special pair of shoes that he has to wear at night.

Naejil's feet after 
five weeks in casts.

Today Naejil is back in Coron and is nine months old. His parents are excitedly looking forward to that developmental milestone,  his first steps.  Thankfully, those memorable steps will not be made on misshapen feet.  And Naejil has an excellent chance of walking through life on two well-formed feet – and maybe even running!  

Note:  Naejil Vince Bura-ay’s medical expenses were covered by CCT.  Elena’s hospitality and care were rewarded when her child, who has rheumatic heart disease, also received medical attention from CCT.

Yolanda Survivor Story

A Miracle at the Philam Life Building 

By Geraldine Gomez as told to Myra Gaculais del Rosario

The building that sheltered Geraldine, Ephraim, and Shalom Gomez while
Yolanda raged over Central Visayas.  Windows on second
floor where they stayed are intact.  Photo: Pet Cumagun

Ed, Ephraim, Geraldine, and Shalom:
Yolanda survivors 

Thursday, November 7 was just like any other weekday. It had been sunny all day, business establishments were busy, children went to school.  There seemed to be no reason to leave for the night but my children, Ephraim, 9, and Shalom, 5, and I packed some clothes anyway.

My husband, Ed, had received a text message inviting our family to stay at the Philam Life building for safety. For days, the news carried reports of a super typhoon brewing over the Pacific and Tacloban was going to be directly in its path.  Just a few days earlier, Ed had passed the  insurance agents’ licensure exam which is why  the company had his cell phone number. 

Late in the afternoon we said goodbye to Ed who would keep an eye on the house. I could feel neighbors smiling behind us as my children and I left with overnight bags and pillows.

Several other families had received the invitation too but no one else came to stay at the three-story building in downtown Tacloban. In  a room on the second floor Ephraim and I pushed some tables together, spread out our blankets and settled down for the night.

The wind started to blow menacingly at three the next morning. By four o clock it was howling mercilessly.  It was the scariest thing I have ever lived through.

I felt like crying but I didn’t want the children to be terrified. Instead I clutched them tightly, and we alternately prayed and worshipped God.  Soon the lights went out. A little later I couldn’t reach Ed on the phone.  I wondered how he was faring and quietly prepared myself for never seeing him alive again. 

The wind finally died down at ten o clock in the morning and we took stock of our surroundings. Bodies were floating in the flood water outside. The wind had peeled away part of the roof and rain pouring in had flooded the top floor. The glass  door at the main entrance to the building was broken and water had reached nearly nine feet.  But in the room that had been our refuge, every single window pane was intact.  Not one was broken. 

At about five in the afternoon, nearly 24 hours after we had said goodbye to Ed he walked into the room, having walked all the way from our house for the past several hours. He said that our roof, except for the part over the bathroom was gone.  His precious collection of theology books (he is a pastor and Bible school teacher), our wedding album were hopelessly damaged.  But we were all alive, safe, and unhurt. Reunited, we thanked and worshipped God as a family.    

*******

Ed and Geraldine Gomez were beginning to introduce the savings mobilization program of the Center for Community Transformation in needy communities in Tacloban a few weeks before Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated the city.  

*******

Should you want to donate to Yolanda survivors, the following are CCT’s bank details:

               Bank :  Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company – Kamagong-Sampaloc, Makati Branch
               Bank Account Name :  Center for Community Transformation
               Peso Account Number :  501-3-501-90126-2
               US Dollar Account Number :  501-2-501-20008-0
               Swift Code :  MBTCPHMM

In the Philippines, please get in touch with Ms. Penny Lim at 0933-2618809 for queries or more information. 

If you are US-based, please visit philippines.causevox.com to make a donation.