October Updates

This has been a very busy few weeks since the historic flooding of Olongapo and Subic. Flashfloods and landslides contributed to 34 deaths. Our old neighborhood was underwater and three children were trapped in a home and drowned. The bamboo and scrap wood shanties of Matain were wiped out along the beach. It has been three weeks and still the cleanup continues. Now the main hospital is overflowing with hundreds of leptospirosis patients who contracted the disease when exposed to rat urine infected flood water. Eight  Leptospirosis deaths have been reported. Red Cross has mobilized, bringing much needed meds, cots and volunteers to help triage and treat.
 We are all doing what we can to help. As we reported in the previous blog, we were able to provide food and tarps because of your donations.  We also distributed rice to 150 families in four locations and listened to their heart wrenching stories of survival. One of our friends who raises pigs broke down and cried as she shared the story of her livelihood being washed away in the current, and she couldn't save her two precious dogs either as they were trapped in the house. on 12th St, some of our friends stood on a high wall and saw furniture, appliances, animals and parts of homes wash down the raging river. Another friend shared his story of a fellow trike driver and family who were killed in a landslide. An elderly friend and her husband stood on a dresser in their bedroom with water to their neck and the ceiling just above their heads, frantically texting for help. The windows had iron bars and the doors wouldn't open due to water pressure so they were trapped. When the water subsided six hours later, they were rescued.
Our dear missionary friends who have a charity birth center here were flooded and lost almost everything they owned. We can empathize, having been in that position ourselves. It is a horrible, scary feeling of powerlessness when you realize the force of nature can not be stopped and there is little you can do.  Please continue to pray for the victims of the flood here!

Sonny helping deliver the rice!

Melinda will distribute to Sta Monica flood victims

On a happy note, the Upper Room has opened and our youth are holding a Core leaders bible study there as well as weekly youth group and bible study. Our English classes start tonight! Hopefully the music class will begin next month. Here's a picture of the youth cleaning and preparing the classroom.

Other exciting news: The "LightStrike" project was funded by a Rotary International grant and two clubs in Leslie's hometown. We will hold a planning meeting next week to begin implementation. We hope to install solar soda bottle lights in approximately 450 homes in the squatter areas of Olongapo and Subic over a period of 18 months! More on this big project soon.

Last, but not least, the Sewing Center had another graduation! Big "THANKS" to trainers Emy, Cindy, Cathy, Angie and Glenda, our 'fantastic five"!

Bringing love and food to Matain!

 

A note from Leslie-
Each time I visit the Matain fishing village I am filled with an overwhelming love for the people who live there. The people are so sweet, kind, and hospitable despite the impoverished living conditions. It's always fun to hang out with the women, and now the men are starting to feel more comfortable around us "Outsiders" too.

The recent flood destroyed many of the shacks that people here call 'home'. The weather made it impossible for the men to fish and earn money, leaving most families hungry. Fortunately, friends from my hometown made a donation specifically for food for flood victims here and we were able to provide groceries for 48 families! Another friend, a fellow Rotarian, donated towels so the families had an extra bonus!
The Matain people think it is amazing that people on the other side of the world pray for them and help them in times of calamity! They were so happy and grateful for what they received today and thank God, project Life Subic and their "friends" here and on the other side of the globe!

Here are pictures from today, enjoy! A big THANKS and God bless those that participated!

 

 

Matain After the Storm

Kids playing after the storm


 

Waiting patiently for food

Disaster relief is ongoing in our area after the latest series of storms and flooding. The Sewing Center made some custom tarps for shelter and we distributed more PACTEC tarps so families would find shelter from the rain. Rebuilding continues as it does each time the shanties are blown away. We fed families a healthy meal, and they celebrated the goodness of God and the fact that there are people like YOU who care about them!
This is a resilient community of informal settlers. When storms come they can't fish and many are hungry. They are so poor that when the children graduate elementary school, the families can't afford to send them to high school because of lack of transportation money. Babies are dying at birth (two just last month) and mothers are having postpartum strokes because of a lack of health care.

Receiving tarps that they can use to rebuild their homes

Project Life Subic is in the process of reassessing the needs and potential of this community. We are trying to determine which projects would make a lasting impact. Some of the ideas that are being discussed are building toilets (there are NO toilets in this community), more health education, hosting an alternative learning program for out of school youth, and finding a way to transport some to high school. We also want to provide more vocational training to those fishermen who want more work options.

As the women's and men's groups have grown, the members of the community are finding more peace with their neighbors. They are finding a deeper level of understanding of God's Word.

The men's group are missing Sonny as he is home recovering from the knee fracture, but JR and Jimson (from 12th St!) have stepped up to lead. They were so excited last Sunday to report that 27 fishermen attended the Men's group. JR said the men were all so eager to participate in worship, teaching and discussion!

We are seeing great changes here, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Feel free to email us with any ideas or help us raise the funds to see these ideas come to fruition. Together, we can make a difference!