This time, Pinoys in Russia unite for Yolanda victims

MOSCOW, Russia — After supporting Ariella Arida in the Miss Universe pageant here last week, the Filipino community in this Russian capital unites once more for the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Generous donations from families and institutions in Moscow where Filipinos work have poured in.

Last Nov. 13, a six-year-old boy in Moscow, Alexander Dzanaev, visited the Philippine embassy to donate all the money he saved in his piggy bank. He was accompanied by his Filipino nanny. 

“I saw on TV the typhoon and I want to make the people happy,” Dzanaev said. 

A video of his heartwarming gesture of kindness and generosity has been uploaded on the embassy’s website.

Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Moscow, Msgr. Paolo Pezzi, announced that all collections from the masses in the Catholic churches of Moscow this Sunday would be donated to typhoon victims.

Cesar Dalida, president of the Filipino Association in Russia, said the directors of international schools in Moscow also wrote official letters to their school staff and to the Russian and expatriate families of their students, asking them to donate funds for relief operations.

The heads of the schools also expressed how Filipino workers are very much appreciated in their places of work.

Based on embassy records, there are approximately 3,000 Filipinos working in Russia and 90 percent are household service workers. This figure represents those who have registered with the embassy in the last five years.

“Most of you know of the recent storm disaster in the Philippines and the large number of nannies and other workers in our community who come from there,” wrote British International School-Moscow head teacher Richard Butler to the parents.

“Russians can be very empathetic and concerned when it comes to tragedies and loved ones suffering. So many have worriedly asked me these days, ‘how are your relatives?’ And I would casually tell them, ‘my countrymen are my relatives.’  This is a time for us to forget our regional and factional affiliations. This is a time for us to unite and care for those most in need.  It is all so heart-breaking,” said a Filipina who has been living in Moscow for eight years.

The Filipino community has also conducted prayer vigils at the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception this week for the intentions of their impoverished countrymen.

At the St. Louis Parish, Filipinos and their fellow expatriate parishioners are organizing fundraisers today to encourage more monetary donations and solidarity from the international community.

The English, French, Russian, Italian and Polish Catholic communities in Moscow have pledged their support to the initiatives and showed concern for the Philippines.

“In these moments, we really feel as if we are part of just one big family and that we just want to make others feel that we are with them,” said Donatella Rafanelli, an animator of a religious community in Moscow.

“When you are faced with such tragic situations which can happen in any part of the world, you just feel that your life is in God’s hands. We certainly would want to do so much more but I think sometimes, a drop of water united with many other drops can make a difference,” she added.