Last week, as we continued distributing blankets and medicines in Montalban, a throng of young children gathered round the van. Their smiles and friendly grins belied the trauma that they experienced when Typhoon Ondoy (“Ketsana”) left all of them stranded on their rooftop for two hours. Three best friends, Raychelle, Janella and Jerilyn shared their experience with us.
Jerilyn, age 6, said “I was sad and afraid. We were on our roof for two hours.”
“The water was very, very cold,” Raychelle, age 5, piped in. “It came over our heads in the house.”
Janella, the youngest of the three added, “A few kind men helped us climb up the roof. I was crying." After a short pause, she added, "My mother is working in another town now.”
“Her younger brother is there too. They are only two siblings.” said the ever helpful Raychelle.
To help the family recover after the floods, Janella’s mother found a job and relocated to another town while Janella remains in Montalban with her aunt.
Looking at their house, I saw a piece of the zinc roof leaning on the wall. Grubby, damp clothes filled the whole zinc roof, apparently left to dry after the floods. Jenny, Janella’s aunt shared that everything was spoiled when the waters filled their whole house. “At least I still have a door and a window for my house,” she smiles as she cradles her toddler.
Amazingly, although they seem to have picked up and continued with their lives, everywhere around them the physical scars remain, a haunting reminder of the traumatic scourge left by Typhoon Ondoy "Ketsana".
For more information on how you can channel your support for these victims, please go to
http://icpephilippines.blogspot.com/2009/10/donations-for-relief-typhoon-ondoy.html
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