Christmas? Still there?

I went home and everything is down. Even the heart and spirit is down, so the body ached and full of tension. It has been a very long weekend for us and the challenges is still up ahead.

Aftermath!

Wholaaa! How strong the winds? Just uprooted the two tamarind trees – we considered hard tree to knock out. All 5 mango trees, all ripped apart. Acacia is standing still but lost a lot of branches. Main road going home is blocked, all trees lined up blocking the entrance. All goats are dead but we still have chickens. And this is because we lived having the front yard as beach front and backyard, the river. And with the water rising as the storm surges! Well, we are still lucky. The beach front is really heavily bruised, all 7 house wiped out. There is one story about someone witnessing a house was picked up by the winds, literally transferring the house into the open sea. So! We are really lucky, the mangroves planted protected our place. Oh, the roof is almost gone. Repairing is truly something but I’m glad everyone is good.

The Challenges

Ok! The challenges we face, everything is down from power to communication, internet as a mode of communication: exchanges and banks, water – drinking and consumptions. Our place in the city is good and I was glad to have water supply that lasted 3 days, and we conserved more and we were all able to take a shower. And we still have drinking water, which can last a week or two. But, our families in the provinces. OMG. Worst came worst, well despite being surrounded by water, our baby girl wasn’t able to take a bath until I visited them last Saturday! Heat is scourging and oh, water has to be cleaned to be able to use it properly else, diarrhea and despite that they were affected. Will have to decontaminate our water. Food too is scarce as looting was rampant on the onset of the typhoon – an embarrassing story to tell but it’s the truth anyway it happens when people are desperate.

Resilience?

I went on to the next municipalities to check on my dying friend’s parents and another family to check. Well, the next town has sustained massive damages too especially the coastal area but going further north, the lesser the damages and I was relieved. And it is good to know they have power last Monday/Tuesday. I am relieved to know their families were alright, visiting them after the wrath. They too have the same challenges but shortened because power is back and you know the magic when power is back, everything seems to be alive again.

As I passed by last weekend, oh, I was to see people moving on despite. They were like feasting on the water, most family went to sea to take the day off after all the wreckage and stress it brought. Clearing wasn’t that fast but the roads and high ways were already passable. This was their share of the story while back in the city, we celebrated that we partially saw some streetlights, power was back to some selected areas but not our place, perhaps in the next days - we were hopeful! And still no water!

I am exhausted and honestly I don’t have the energy to waste on complaining or critical about something. Life is there, I have to rely on God for everything and I am truly relieved I did. Because if not, I am totally with no more cash and withdrawing from ATM machine is almost impossible and we were just lucky to be directed last night to an ATM machine that provided us cash with not much effort, withdrawn as short as 5 minutes while everyone else lined up the whole day. Our water was delivered right our doorstep. I really couldn’t ask for more. Living day by day, we can rebuild in time, we just need to hang on. Thank u Lord, not for sparing us the disaster but for giving us the resilience to get thru all this. And despite the challenges, we are grateful and looking forward for a Merry Christmas. Bless us all!

Dec 22, 2021
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