Sunday 2 March 2014

Pinoy Internet Blues

We arrived at the airport Tuesday morning and clamoured into what seems like a shed.

it turned out to be the Tacloban Domestic Airport
As we were landing, I also saw the utter devastation of the land. Coconut plantations wiped out, with just bare tree trunks left, squatters illegally built on land that was previously prime beachfront and water view real estate, and tent-cities with banners ranging from the UN to World Vision.

Surprise-surprise, there was little to no internet connectivity stable enough to warrant my Forex Trading nor my consistent blog updates. The most I can do was to do consistent Facebook updates, and still they do not do the trip justice.

This .... Definitely .... DOES NOT feel like 1.88mbps

As we progressed into the main town, I am surprised to see (sarcasm translates horribly) that The Filipino Channel have lied to us again.

Tacloban is a town ravaged by incredible winds, tsunami-like storm-surges and an incredible devastation to their populace.

The realities are, there was only 20% of the town was affected. Unfortunately, the informal settlers (read: squatters) are 90% of the dead.

I was told first hand accounts of people who suffered complete family losses, and other people who were more prepared condemning their neighbours who were drinking and carrying on the night before the Typhoon hit.

People were well informed about the typhoon. There were safe houses around the area. There were marshals who tried to herald people to safety.

Women and children left their houses and went. Men stayed behind to protect their meagre belongings. Others completely ignored the warnings and continued on with life as if they were invincible.

This is what was left of the surrounding airport infrastructure.

This used to be someone's house


The exciting thing is, the place is starting to thrive. Despite the multiple political maneuvering, businesses are slowly re-opening, and life is returning to normal.

Photo: This place is starting to live again
Seeing how beautiful Tacloban is now, I cannot wait to see this place again in the future

I have had the privilege to serve brothers and sisters in Apitong, Paglaum and downtown. I have translated for the doctors, set-up the clinics, moved almost 112  (metric) tons of baby food and got to personally lead someone to the Lord.

All in all a productive trip.

Once I have more time I will embellish the details of the "Tales of the missing baby food" , the " Reluctant Helper Girls" and  "Political Hobnobbing"

All for now!

2 comments:

  1. hi honey, the last pic showing how it is now isn't showing :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. i hope the thing shows now :) it seems to be working on my end. Shall try to correct it if it is still mucking about

    ReplyDelete