Sentidokomon

By Ester Beatty, (TP Staff)

After more than a month and the many hours spent sorting all the clothes that were donated for the Philippine typhoon victims by the public, the cargo container which sailed towards Phlippines on 7^{th December 2009, have finally arrived in Manila. The container has arrived in Manila on 11th January 2010 and was delivered to a warehouse in Quezon City on 18th January 2010 ready to be transported to Tuao, Cagayan Valley, and its final destination. This has been done to avoid paying demurrages charges. Mr. Rufo Ong, a businessman from Tuguegarao, was kind enough to accede to the request of the Holy Guardian Angels Parish Church to transport the relief goods from Manila to Tuao free of charge. However, the cargo cannot be accommodated all at once as there are more than 100 boxes to be transported so these will be done in batches. Hopefully within the next few days the distribution of the relief goods will commence.}

Contents of the container mostly consisted of good quality used clothing but there were also many new clothes, shoes, blankets as well as non-perishable foods (such as pasta, rice, sugar, tin foods, etc.) and toiletries. During the Rainbow festival in Nicosia and Limassol respectively, a group of Filipino ladies have managed to raise a small amount of money by selling Filipino foods and snacks, which helped to buy some more dry foods (pasta) for the container. The benefactors of the relief goods that were gathered and sorted are the people of Tuao, in the province of Cagayan Valley. The Municipality of Tuao has thirty-two barangays and has a population of approximately 57,000. Distribution of the relief goods will be handled and supervised by the Holy Guardian Angels Parish Church with Rev. Fr. Gerald A. Perez as the over-all coordinator.

This area of the Philippines had suffered the wretch of typhoon “Pepeng”, which had hit them twice. People’s livelihoods and houses were destroyed and some families had been living in makeshift accommodation (in a sports hall) for a month after three successive typhoons. This area has rarely been seen on TV because of its location. When the flooding had occurred the roads were destroyed and transportation system was virtually non-existent. A semi-permanent bridge, which is the only way to cross to be able to reach the other towns, was washed away due to the force of the floodwater. It was weeks afterwards that some normality came back to the town area.

The love and dedication of few women, most especially Mrs. Venny McCullie who had spent most of her spare time in the mornings and evenings sorting the bulk of boxes and bags of clothes that were delivered to the drop-off point, the St. Joseph Social Centre, is deeply appreciated. The help of the following Filipino ladies Susan, Edna, Nora, Scarlet, Maria & Carol who have helped in sorting the in-kind donations (clothing) is also very much appreciated. Almost night after night, after our respective works had finished, we would do few hours of sorting and packing. We would like to thank the different organisations who have donated much of the in-kind donations that were put in the container and we are very grateful for their generosity and the humanitarian effort that they shared with us: Cyprus Indy Media (www.cyprus.indymedia.org), Cans for Kids (www.cansforkids.org), St. Joseph Social Centre, Association for the Protection of Filipinos in Cyprus, the Friday Quilters Group, St. Paul Ladies Guild, the Catholic church in Cyprus for their help during the fund-raising activities held in October 2009 and to all the individuals and Filipinos who have helped us in this appeal. We would also like to express our gratefulness to the generosity of 5Continents Ceylon Services Ltd and their Philippines branch, Five Continents Ceylon Services Ltd (www.fivecontinents.com.cy), a cargo service provider to the Filipino community here in Cyprus, sponsored the 20-ft. container. Trico International, for totally sponsoring the shipment of the 20-ft. container to Manila. For further information, please contact Mr. Gehan Perera at 99-440947 or via email at gehan@fivecontinents.com.cy

In another development, the fund-raising which was initiated by Scarlet “Iska” Tugbo through snacks selling during the Rainbow Festival of Kisa both in Nicosia and in Limassol was also a productive event. She was able to send the proceeds to their area in Novaliches, Quezon City. Iska likewise is thanking everyone who supported her one way or the other.