Yolanda Survivor Shares Recovery Story

Yolanda survivor Merlinda Inocencio of Estancia, Iloilo shared the following story of how her family is rebuilding their fishing livelihood, during the 22nd annual membership meeting of the Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries in March 2014. To read this story in English, please click HERE. 

Magandang gabi po sa lahat! Nagpapasalamat ako sa Panginoon sa pagkakataon na maipaalam sa marami ang kanyang kabutihan sa akin at sa aking pamilya.  Ako po ay si Merlinda Inocencio ng Estancia, Iloilo. Ako at ang aking asawa ay may apat na anak at anim na apo.  Ang pamilya ko po ay kabilang sa mga sinasabing fisher folk. Ang aming bayan na Estancia ay binansagang ‘Alaska of the Philippines’ dahil sa dagat sa paligid namin nanggagaling ang maraming alimasag na mabibili dito sa Maynila.

Ako po ay isang community partner ng CCT.  Walong taon na po akong nakakatanggap ng mga microfinance loan mula sa CCT Credit Cooperative. Sa tulong po ng mga  loan na ito, ako po ay nakapagpundar ng dalawang pumpboat na ginagamit sa pangingisda; ang nahuhuling isda ay binebenta ko sa fish port ng Estancia. Sa pagpapala ng Panginoon nakapagtapos ng college ang lahat ng anak ko. Ang panganay commerce ang natapos, ang sumunod ay nursing ang natapos, at ang dalawa ay IT. 

Ang mga bangka namin ay nakapagbigay rin ng trabaho sa sampung ulo ng pamilya bilang piloto, makinista, at pahinante. Ang mga tatay na ito ay sumusuporta sa 25 na mga bata.

Ang Estancia ang isa sa mga bayan na malubhang tinamaan ng Yolanda.  Naranasan po namin ang magkaroon ng walong talampakan na tubig sa loob ng bahay. Kinailangang tumalon kami mula sa aming terrace para makaligtas. Salamat sa Panginoon na walang nalunod sa amin, at ang buong pamilya ay buhay.

Maraming salamat sa mga ginamit niya upang mabigyan kami at mga kapitbahay ng relief pagkatapos ng Yolanda.  Napuntahan din kami ng mga doctor at nabigyan ng kailangang mga gamot.    

Ang na-apektohan ng husto ay ang aming kabuhayan at isa sa aming trabahador.  Hindi na namin nakita muli  ang dalawang pump boat namin, at isa rin sa mga nagtatrabaho para sa amin ang hindi pa makita hanggang ngayon.

 Dahil sa wala kaming alam na ibang pagkakakitaan kundi ang pangigisda, malaking bagay ang muli akong napahiram ng CCT para makapagsimula muli sa pagnenegosyo.  Ako ay binigyan ng P70,000 na loan at ito ay ginamit ko na ipambili ng panibagong pump boat, motor, at mga net.  Muli na po kaming nakakapangisda at muli na rin po ako nakakapagtinda sa fish port.  Malakas po ang aking pag-asa na muli pong babangon ang aming kabuhayan sa at pagpapala na rin ng ating Panginoon.

Ang pagpapalang ito ay ipinapaabot ko rin po sa mga anak ng aming trabahador na nawala sa Yolanda. May naiwan po siyang dalawang anak na babae, isang grade 7 at isang grade 4.  Nakatira po sila ngayon sa Bantayan Island sa Cebu.  Pinapadalhan ko po ang mga bata ng tulong para makapagpatuloy sila ng pag-aaral.  

Pagkatapos po ng Yolanda, nagsimula pong magkaroon ng Sunday worship services sa CCT office sa lugar namin.  Ako po ay regular na dumadalo dito.  Ginamit ng Panginoon ang bagyong Yolanda para ako ay mapaalalahanan ng kahalagahan ng ating relasyon sa kanya.  Nakita ko sa bagyong ito na wala tayong magagawa liban sa kanya, na hawak niya ang ating buhay at ang lahat ng pangyayari sa mundo ay na sa kanyang pamamahala. 

Maraming salamat po at pagpalain nawa tayo ng Panginoon!

Estancia Fisherwoman: Back In Business

Hope shines anew in Margielyn Gallardo's eyes. 

Margielyn with some freshly-steamed crabs

Crabs ready for steaming.

Margielyn's two new boats.

A dream house  damaged by Yolanda.

Seven years ago, Margielyn Gallardo and her husband began building their dream house. It was a concrete one-story building that sat on the western tip of Loguingot Island, right on the shore of this island barangay of Estancia, Iloilo. It had a tiled floor, a small terrace, and two bedrooms -- very different from the houses they had both grown up in.  From here Margielyn could watch the sunset, or look out over the water as her family's fishing boats came in with fresh catches of crab and fish.

Over the past 23 years, as their brood of children grew to seven, the Gallardos also built up their fishing livelihood until they had a fleet of 11 boats, each of which provided jobs for two or three nephews or neighbors. Part of the catch was brought to a  processing company where the crab meat was picked out of the shells, pasteurized, and exported.  

Then on November 8, 2013, Supertyphoon Yolanda slammed into Estancia, causing a storm surge and hurling a huge boat against the house.

The next day Margielyn found that she had no house. No boats.  Not even any fishing equipment. No nets.  No crab cages. "Wala kaming naisalba,' she states simply.

Margielyn is one of 36 members of the CCT Savings and Credit Cooperative who live and work on Loguingot Island.  Most of them are fisher folk. Others earn a living ferrying passengers across the water from the mainland.

 The island is home to about 300 families all of whom suffered  from Yolanda's pummeling.

Today Margielyn and her family have gone back to living in a hut with bamboo walls and a grass roof.  She may not be allowed to rebuild over what's left of her dream house. But still, things are looking good for Margielyn.  She recently received a loan of P70,000 from CCT and from the Bread from Heaven Christian Fellowship in Las Pinas City.  The church has a special interest in helping Estancia and nearby communities  rebuild their homes and livelihoods.

With this loan, Margielyn bought two motorized fishing boats and several dozen new crab cages. She is back in business, catching crabs and steaming them whole. (The crabs are then brought to the mainland and soon appear in restaurants  as crabmeat omelette or  sizzling crabmeat.)

And she can smile with hope again. 

Two months after Yolanda hit Loguingot Island, half of  the hull of a boat hurled by the super typhoon against the Gallardo house still lies on the shore.  Also shown is what's left of  Margielyn's kitchen.

Yolanda Aid Worker Story 2: Unexpected Rescue

Dr. Demy (standing) and Dr. Pan Callanta in Tacloban, Leyte.

By Pastor Ruel Castino as told to Myra Gaculais del Rosario

It was nearly sunset.  Three doctors and two nurses in the  medical mission team I was part of  were rushing to attend to a few more patients before Yolanda-devastated Tacloban would  be plunged again into darkness. 

They were treating survivors at the Rizal Central School where several families had taken shelter during the storm. Earlier, non-medical members of the group, myself included, had shared the Gospel and given out Bibles in the classrooms. 

A little girl, about five years old, had been hanging around the makeshift clinic as the team did their work. To pay her a little attention I taught her an action song which she acted out with gusto. 

“So where are you and your family staying?” I asked her afterward.

She pointed to another building and casually said her mother was not well. 

I decided to go see if our doctors could offer the woman some assistance.  It turns out girl's mother had been in a small accident at the crowded evacuation center and was suffering from burns on her back.   But lying next to her was a child– not one of hers --  gasping for breath. This boy, about six years old, was more in need of immediate medical attention than the woman.    

In other circumstances I’m sure the boy’s father would have brought him to a doctor.  Or he would have at least gone to a drugstore for a few tablets that would stop the asthma attack.  But this was just 13 days after the super storm that had made life in Tacloban come to a standstill.  People had lost their homes, hospitals were ruined, transportation was next to zero, and the stench of dead bodies still under the rubble filled the air.  Perhaps the father had given up hope and was waiting for the inevitable to happen. 

But I knew there still was hope for this child.  I alerted Dr. John Tabije who said he  indeed needed to be brought to a hospital.  We were lent one of the few vehicles available, an army truck brought to Tacloban by Japanese aid workers. The first hospital we brought the child to was closing just as we arrived.  They were open only during the day.   Thank God the child was admitted to the second hospital we brought him too.

When we visited the boy before leaving for another Yolanda-battered area he was breathing much better and his father had lost the look of hopelessness on his face the day before.  (The woman with burns on her back also sought medical attention she’d been trying to put off.)

And that little girl I taught an action song to?  Perhaps she will never know the important role she played in saving the life of another little child at the evacuation center that day.  

Pastor Ruel Castino (holding water bottle) with a relief delivery team
in Leyte. 

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The Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries is committed to long-term rehabilitation work in areas affected by Typhoon Yolanda.  

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. 

Yolanda Aid Worker Story

Unforgettable Experience:  Leading a Yolanda Survivor to Christ

By Jacob Macarilay as told to Myra Gaculais del Rosario

Jacob Macarilay cleans wounds
sustained by Yolanda survivor while
being swept out to sea. 

Anastacio, Yolanda survivor,
 tells aid workers his story. 

From the plane, the scene below seemed to me like someone had gotten tired of playing with his toys and, in a temper tantrum, had toppled them all with a quick sweep of the hand.  But this was not a playroom floor strewn with toys.  This was Tacloban City 12 days after it had been hit by Super Typhoon.  Trees and utility posts were lying on their sides, buildings of all sizes were roofless, cars were piled up and surrounded by debris. 

I was with a medical team sent to Tacloban by the Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries (where I work as a school nurse) and the Victory Christian Fellowship. This was my first visit to Tacloban.  I wondered, “How would I have felt if I were coming home to a city as devastated as this?”

As soon as we stepped off the plane the depression all around was almost something we could touch. Then Pastor Ed Gomez and his wife Geraldine who were to be our guides through the city rushed up to greet us.  They had lost almost all their material possessions in the storm but but they welcomed us with the sunniest of smiles. I was supposed to be bringing them  encouragement, but here they were encouraging me.  Their joy was contagious.     

We unloaded our bags and medical supplies at the Ritz Tower de Leyte, an event venue and restaurant also heavily damaged by the typhoon then we set off  to meet  the vice mayor and register as aid volunteers.

The vice mayor, we found out, was a pastor! A survivor too, his home and car were damaged. He had to walk to and from the city hall everyday.  If he seemed exhausted it was understandable -- he was dealing with a situation far worse than anyone’s worst nightmares. Still, he worked with quiet determination. 

He requested our group of three doctors, two nurses and one non-medical staff to fill the gap between the local government's efforts  and ‘big players’ bringing in aid such as international organizations, the Department of Health, and the Philippine Red Cross. 

Back at the Ritz, we met two volunteers looking for a group they could team up with. Steven introduced himself as a registered pharmacist.  Jason, although just about my age – 21 – said he’d been doing volunteer work for quite some time and had actually crossed paths with Steven at relief operations thrice before.  We knew God had sent them our way. Steven's experience with reading scribbled prescriptions and Jason's assistance with dispensing medicine helped us serve a lot more patients than we could have without their help. 

We treated more than 500 patients in two days in Leyte. One of them was Kuya Anastacio.

He told me his survival story while I cleaned wounds on his legs. 

Like other men in his seaside community, he’d sent his family to an evacuation center and stayed home to keep an eye on their belongings.  The storm surge flattened  houses in the entire neighborhood and swept him and many others out to sea.  Clinging to someone's house post as dead neighbors floated around him he earnestly prayed that God would spare him. Several hours later  a rescue team fished him out of the water alive.

As a nurse I am trained never to give in to my emotions when treating a patient. But I was crying just as hard as Kuya Anastacio as I told him, “God heard your plea.  God has a purpose for your life.  He gave you a second chance.”   He turned his life over to Jesus that morning at the evacuation center.

This is my first job, so this Tacloban trip is something I will never forget.  What makes it most unforgettable was the opportunity to lead Kuya Anastacio to Christ. 

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. 

By Candlelight

Young people help repack relief items in Calbayog City,
 five hours away from heavily-damaged Tacloban. 

Days before aid began to come from Manila,
 CCT staff in Leyte were bringing in supplies from Calbayog 

which suffered almost no damage.   

Candlelight is often associated with images of romantic dinners.  But for residents of Region 8 --- those who live on the islands of Leyte and Samar --- candlelight now lights everything done after sunset. 

Power lines were toppled in the region, which was the hardest hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda, as well as in Regions 5, 6, 7, crippling businesses and the return to normal life.  According to authorities it will be months before electricity is fully restored in the regions, but the energy department has vowed to restore power in major cities by Christmas eve.   

In response to the need for light,  the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) Group of Ministries brings solar lamps to Yolanda-affected communities as part of its relief efforts  and long-term rehabilitation work. 

CCT has operations on the islands of Palawan, Panay, and Mindoro.  It was beginning to introduce its savings mobilization program in Tacloban, Leyte when the storm struck.

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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. 

Counseling Needed By Yolanda Survivors, Doctor Says

School desks serve as makeshift clinic for Dr.  John Tabije (standing)
 and Jacob Macarilay,  nurse, at a Tacloban City evacuation site. 

Dr. Demy Reyes  and  Dr. Pan Callanta (below)  treat 
 Yolanda survivors  amid the rubble left by the super storm.

“Yolanda survivors need counselling the most at this point,” said Dr. John Tabije after completing a medical mission trip to Tacloban.  “Several groups are already attending to basic medical needs.  What’s needed  now is people who will help them deal with the trauma.”

Dr. John was part of a team of three doctors and two nurses sent by the Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries (CCT) to Tacloban two weeks after the city was devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda.  “We treated people with open wounds, mostly from stepping on nails or broken glass, or after being hit by flying roofing sheets. We brought a child with asthma to the hospital. We put a broken limb in a cast and gave anti-tetanus shots. But a lot of medical teams were also in the area. What survivors need at the moment is someone who can help deal with their losses, help them face the future,” he said. 

The CCT team partnered with the office of Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin in bringing medical treatment to survivors in evacuation centers in the city proper, to students of the World Evangelical Bible College in the neighboring town of Dulag, and to residents of Brgy. Talolora, Tanauan. 

“Another major need is transportation,” Doc John pointed out. “Relief supplies are piling up.  Volunteer drivers and trucks are needed to transport these to villages that have yet to receive any form of help. Sick survivors have to be brought to the hospital." Most vehicles in the city were rendered useless by the storm surge brought about by the Signal # 4 typhoon. "Even the vice mayor has to walk 45 minutes from his home to the city hall.”   

Doc John said that temporary shelter such as tents was also in short supply. 

CCT was just beginning to introduce its savings mobilization program in Tacloban when the storm struck. It also has operations in Palawan, Iloilo, Capiz, and Mindoro, provinces that were also hit by Yolanda.

Ruth Callanta, CCT president and founder, said, "We enjoin friends and ministry partners to join us in the long-term work of helping our community partners rebuild their homes and lives."

Should you want to donate, 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. 

Photos: Pastor Ed Gomez