Ian Bennett

Post Production
Bigfoot Entertainment in Cebu, PH
Found us via Google

You know how some kids start bawling their eyes out with mouths wide screaming, and it looks like the end of the world? This kid wasn’t bawling, he was lower. Past the point of crying. Like he didn’t know what to do to make things better, or that it would even get better.

Apparently there are many many people living in these camps, probably too many. So I held out my camera so he could look through it. It took about a minute, but I could tell the strain in his face eased up ever so slightly when looking through the lens.

I wish the kids, and especially that kid, well.

Even in such conditions these kids are still having a good time, and I had a good time with them. The other volunteers were also very welcoming and fun to be around — even though I was a total foreigner!

Yes I will do it again. I don’t know when I’ll be able to go back to Manila, but I’ll keep my eyes open in Cebu too, or wherever else I end up.

Frances Ong

Associate Editor
Ilaw ng Tahanan Publishing, Inc.
A friend of hers told her about Life After Ondoy

What do you remember most?

Angel, the masungit baby. And my little chat with her mother about reproductive health and family planning. Gene took this little boy to see me after the mission was over. The boy wanted to thank me for the book we donated and his face was beaming. Kinilig ako.

Note: Frances was able to convince the company she works for to donate 50 storybooks to the kids in Ciudad.

These are the books donated by Frances' company.

Albert Largoza

Account Manager
Lowe Worldwide
Found us online

What do you remember most?

The lady who was touring us was very memorable (her house is submerged). Despite the circumstances, her spirits were very much up. her joy was very infectious. I remember asking her to dance and she did it more than a coupleof times It was a lot of fun.

Is it something you’d like to do again?

Definitely.

Notes From Stefan:

1. Simply forwarding this or telling a friend about it is already BIG HELP. The three of them found us because of the power of the Internet to get the word out.
2. This stuff is fun. And while it’s for the people we help, it’s also for us. We all want to be freed from Apathy but don’t really know how to do it. Just tagging along is one way.
3. Here are a bunch of photos from Ciudad that just arrived (I used film). It’s scratched up because the night before, I took the roll and wrote on it hoping for the words to appear but only the scratches did. Click here to view the photos.
4. I’m always excited to meet interesting people like these guys in our trips. Hopefully tomorrow I can meet you. Click here to find out more.

Hey everyone! Had an awesome time at Pagoyo last Saturday. Didn’t announce that because I just wanted to work out some details with a few key people and guess what? We’re rolling out this coming Saturday- October 24! Let’s do this bullet point style.

WHAT:

• Feeding Program, possibly Medical (doctors are confirming still)
• It’s for Kids mostly!
• There will be some games. Be ready to marshal the games.

WHERE:

• Ciudad, Sta Rosa, Laguna (See “Community Submerged” in previous blog)
• Community of 50 families
• Around 200 people who lost their homes

We can meet in Laguna Bel Air 2 and convoy from there. Meet at CJRS Bldg, along the main road. (Directions Below)

WHEN:

• Again it’s this Sat October 24
• We meet at 9am sharp
• We’re done before 1pm

WHY:

• Immediate Relief – they’re still hungry
• Intersect lives – there are no long term plans where lives don’t intersect and faces don’t become names.
• Get this party started – There are around 100 people subscribed to this blog and much more on Facebook.
• We can start this whole Life After Ondoy thing we’ve been talking about.

——————————————————————————————————————–

Some more Details:

What to Bring:

• Food: biscuits – like cookies or wafers – for around 5 kids
• Lots of hard boiled eggs! 3 Dozen each?

Fun for Kids:

• Be ready to marshall games
• Brainstorm for next time: maybe storytelling (pinoy storybooks), movies/cartoons for kids via a projector. The sky’s the limit. Come and see so you can help pitch ideas for the next one!

Transporation – Convoy

• Ciudad is around 30 mins from sta rosa exit. No floods don’t worry
• Meeting place is like this: Take SLEX exit Sta Rosa. Turn right when you hit the main road and keep going till you see Mcdonalds on your right and Laguna Bel Air 2 on your left. Enter the Village and say CJRS Building- it’s along the main road.

What now?

• I need to find out how many are coming so please confirm!
  Email me at Stefan@lifeafterondoy.com right away!
• Tell me how many eggs you can bring
• 3 dozen per person is great. if you can bring 5-6 dozen that’s awesome
• Cook them eggs in the morning for best results!

Make this a Fun thing.

• Bring your friends!
• Last Saturday someone who wanted to celebrate her birthday asked me if there was any activities. She had the right idea.
• Tagaytay is really nearby. You can volunteer in the morning and hang out after lunch.
• This isnt supposed to be traumatizing for you! It should be fun! We’ll all make it fun!
• We can do it again and again.

We’re trying to come up with Big Plans

• and we need more people in the conversation
• the conversation happens live when we meet these people
• we start here in laguna and make our way up north
• we can duplicate any successes we experience here
• you can be the pointperson for your area!

Any Questions? Reply! Comments! Retweet! Repost!