Near the tail-end of the outreach efforts for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy last week, a young volunteer posed the question, "What do we do now?"
The short answer is, "We do what we can". As short answers rarely satisfy anyone, save for those who crave a loving union of souls sanctified by a mutual assent towards building a life together, allow me to elaborate.
"We do what we can, wherever we are." It doesn't have to end at a relief center. As I kept on repeating over and over again as the relief efforts for Ondoy came to an end, at the very heart of change is a change of heart. If your experience in helping the victims of Typhoon Ondoy have made you a more compassionate, caring, generous, joyful and loving individual, then that is a change worth building on. The bedrock of all institutional change is a simple change of heart. You change the world by first changing yourself.
Also, "We do what we can, wherever that may lead us." Goods may exit a relief center, but it takes good people to bring them to where they can bring relief. Our suffering countrymen deserve more than just a bag of relief goods. They need to know that someone cares. During more pleasurable occasions, Filipinos celebrate friendships, and they cement them with abundant smiles and copious amounts of beer. During times of crisis, Filipinos celebrate strangers, and the anonymity that bolsters the giver's nobility often gives way to abundant smiles and copious amounts of heartfelt tears.
Megatent Relief Center is going to Pangasinan this Friday. We have 5,000 bags of relief goods, a skeletal team of veteran volunteers, and little else. Don't think that we simply need more relief goods. Don't think that we simply need more volunteers. We need YOU! Let's do what we can. Wherever we are. Wherever that may lead us.
Please check Megatent Conquers Pangasinan and Baguio. We need YOU!
Photo Credits:
Pictures come courtesy of Tin Sanchez and Pong Ignacio of Ondoy Photos.
