Typhoon Ondoy

I am not entirely certain if this still works; we haven't updated this blog since returning to the US almost two years ago. However, I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who have responded to our pleas for financial assistance for our friends in Manila who were devastated by last week's typhoon and ensuing floods. Through your responsiveness and generosity, we were able to double the amount of money that we intended to send on our own.

Our friends in Manila, especially those we worked with in Payatas, were hit especially hard by the flooding. I have recently been in contact with both Mhel and Father Paul. Father Paul's small hovel in Payatas was flooded to the ceiling and his neighbors and many of the people he's worked with for years have been displaced. Mhel tells us that the people we worked with in Payatas are living in a school right now. Most of them have lost whatever meager possessions they had; all that is left is the clothes they were wearing when the storm hit. The funds we have raised will go to help meet these immediate needs - food and clothing.

Again, I cannot thank you enough for your generosity. Between this typhoon and the recent earthquakes and tsunami, it's so easy to feel overwhelmed by all of the urgent need and, ultimately, helpless. It means something to look that helplessness square in the face and give
what you can anyway, even as you feel that it can't possibly matter or make a dent in the sea of need.

It does.