(Note that the pictures are not mine, but were taken from various news websites)
Sorry I have been out of the blogsphere for a while. I'm pretty sure you know why.
To those whose lives have been forever changed by the fury of typhoon Sendong as it tore through Cagayan de Oro, who lost their homes and possessions, who lost family and friends, I offer my sincere condolences and prayers.
My dear readers, later in this blog I'll show you how you can help the victims of this terrible disaster.
In case you're wondering about us, we are blessed to live uptown (in Xavier Estates) and so we weathered the storm with only the minor inconvenience of having no electricity. Others were not so lucky.
As of this writing, over 600 people have lost their lives, 800 remain missing, and hundreds upon hundreds more are left homeless as of midnight last Friday night, as flash floods ripped through the lower barangays of Cagayan de Oro, the deluge being so powerful that it easily filled up entire houses in only 5-10 minutes, forcing families to scramble onto their rooftops for survival. Many, deep in their slumber, never had a chance.
Luckily, all of my friends and loved ones survived; but some of them just barely, losing everything they owned except for the clothes on their backs…yet thankful to escape with their lives. Here’s a Facebook comment of one of my co-workers:
“Lord, you have been so good to us. You have helped us survive the tragic calamity that we experienced yesterday. All our belongings were lost. We went home to Gingoog with nothing but our clothes that are not even ours. We thought that was the last day of our lives, especially when Maco and I fell from the roof, but with Bernie's heroic help he followed us and successfully pushed us up. In between sobs, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your fervent prayers. We survived, we staggered on. We are all safe, including our dog, who woke us up through his constant scratching of the door. Lord, thank you. We offer our lives to you.”
Now, it’s time to bury our dead and try to get our lives back in order. Typhoon Sendong was an unusual disaster, since typhoons usually do not pass our way; yet here we are, having scores of homeless, hungry, and traumatized men, women, and children.
I’m inviting you, imploring you, to help these poor folks.
If you wish to donate through Paypal, somewhere on the right margin of my blog site you’ll see a Donate button. You can donate there by clicking on it. For my international readers, that’s the best way you can help out.
If you live in CDO and you want to donate clothes, kitchen utensils or canned goods, the church I go to, CCF is organizing relief drives where your donated goods would be brought to the hardest hit areas. If you also know anyone who worships at that church (and a few people I love very much have had their homes completely wiped out) please do donate so that they can be helped.
My whole family already gave all our excess stuff there, and I’d like to encourage you to do the same.
Details are below:
CCF Cagayan de Oro, Philipines is NOW ACCEPTING DONATIONS in the form of Cash, Goods such as Canned goods, DRINKING WATER, rice, noodles, blanket, slippers and others. VOLUNTEERS are also welcome to help in the clean-up of homes.
PLEASE CALL CCF MOBILES NUMBERS ON HOW YOU CAN HELP AND THE NEEDS:
SMART: 0920-9386766
SUN: 0922- 8223236
GLOBE: 0917-5976574
ACCOUNT NAME: CHRIST's COMMISSION FOUNDATION, INC.
SECURITY BANK, OSMENA BRANCH
SA NUMBER: 0231-274999-001
EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]
YOUR PRAYERS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED. THANK YOU!
They also are looking for volunteers to help clean up and help rebuild the devastated neighborhoods as well. So please, if you will to give love this Christmas, and you want to show your love through action, just sign up.
My dear readers, I hope you find it in your heart to help lessen the plight of the Cagayan de Oro flood victims of Typhoon Sendong through the information on this blog. Again, here's how you can help: Donate through the Donate button at the right margin of this blog, and for material goods and your labor (cleaning houses) you can go to CCF, which is right across the car park of Robinson's Mall.
May God bless you, and may God bless Cagayan de Oro.