I wanted to make a list of the countries who sent help in the calamities that struck our country. The quake in Bohol, the typhoon that hit the Eastern Visayas, Northern Cebu and certain parts of Luzon. However I changed my mind. Not because I have lost my gratitude, the opposite in fact. I do not want to miss anybody.
The help that came from other countries to me was a show of deep concern. Those people who came to the Philippines to help us gain back our balance after being shaken by the strong calamities that hit our land were not required to help us. It was not their immediate obligation to leave their homes and endure the discomforts of staying in a the dark and sullen environs of Eastern Visayas immediately after the storm. Some arriving even earlier than local help. Thank you so much for showing that humanity is one big citizenry, and that the world is one big country under the shade of God’s love.
You did not have to come, or to send anything. YOU DID NOT HAVE TO. But you did. And my heart is full of gratitude for this unselfish act. Thank you for listening to us, for bandaging our wounds, for helping us smile again and for showing us that hope and encouragement for us to overcome the painful circumstances that beset us. Thank you for allowing us on your planes and boats, and for giving us shelter so we can assemble our thoughts and try to live again.
Thank you for enduring the stench of death, that we ourselves cannot even stomach. For helping us find solutions and pull us out of the helplessness that has befallen some of us. For acknowledging our own strength as well when we take on our situations with a smile after the moment of bereavement has passed or is set aside for the moment.
For those who did not come but sent messages of love through the carefully picked and packed relief goods for the victims, we read your care and tenderness in these gestures.
We thank our fellow Filipinos who could not just stand still and wait, and picked up the courage to tow the lines to get relief goods across to the seemingly isolated debris of land. Yes, some places no longer look like they have been inhabited. In place of the city and municipalities that have been severely affected, stand an aching landmass of torn memories and shattered lives.
Some of our countrymen will not be able to live the same way again, and yet being in the company of those who have shown how willing they were to sacrifice for others, makes one see how the importance of the community of people is after all, and how material possessions have paled into insignificance compared to the essentials of life, family, and friends.
Thank you all for taking on the heart of God, to help and show that He lives in us.