Exactly 2 years ago, typhoon Ondoy hit the Philippines. Actually rainfall started 2 days before. But on September 26, 2009 (Saturday), the pouring of rain was non-stop. I went home 6am on that day from night shift. Slept like a baby until 12 noon without knowing that it's already flooding downstairs. My parents were trying to wake me up but I was dead tired from last night's duty. It was too cold for me to notice that there's no electricity too. As I went down I saw our things were on top of the other less important things. It's just the 2nd time in my whole 22 years of existence that I experienced knee-deep flood at home. Therefore, I thought that this is different.
Later that day some of my friends started texting me. My workmate Katrina who lives in Marikina texted that she can't make it to work because they're on the roof of their neighbor's house already. She was crying and really scared. The flood in their place is 1 floor deep. I heard that Provident Village is in the same situation. We tried to call my Tita and cousins who live there every time possible. They were not okay. Very hungry and helpless.
Mum cooked food for my Tita's family later that night. They haven't eaten the whole day. Thank you cigarettes, apples, and water for keeping them alive!
Later that day some of my friends started texting me. My workmate Katrina who lives in Marikina texted that she can't make it to work because they're on the roof of their neighbor's house already. She was crying and really scared. The flood in their place is 1 floor deep. I heard that Provident Village is in the same situation. We tried to call my Tita and cousins who live there every time possible. They were not okay. Very hungry and helpless.
Mum cooked food for my Tita's family later that night. They haven't eaten the whole day. Thank you cigarettes, apples, and water for keeping them alive!
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| my tito and tita's home |
My Dad waited for their go signal if it's safe for him to bring them food. We waited until early morning the next day. Just in time for me to go to work. It should have been my rest day but I was asked to go to work. My colleagues were on 24 hours duty already. I have to replace them. I took the train and decided not to sit for me to be able to see Ondoy's aftermath.
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| UERM MEdical Center |
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| UERM parking lot |
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| SM City Sta. Mesa |
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| LRT 2 V. Mapa Station |
Despite the flood, I traveled all the way to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. I was in my uniform but I managed to arrive in the hospital clean and white. I had no choice but to step on the seats of the pedicab and jeepney. Sorry! But there's this one incident that made me cry. On the way to work just in front of Lourdes, along P. Sanchez St., I saw how strangers help each other to cross the pool of dirty water. I started to cry. :') and told myself how proud I am to be a Filipino.
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| bayanihan |
They served as an inspiration! I felt very happy even though I worked for 18 hours straight, (from 6am until 12 midnight) with limited bottles of water for drinking, without clean water to wash my hands (alcohol became my best friend) and with 2 slices of meat and a cup of rice for the whole day. It was one of the most tiring duties I had ever. Some patients from the ground floor were transferred to our unit. The census boomed and we have limited resources. Very toxic yet I can feel the "bayanihan" around me. Everyone is helping everybody. Parang birthday ng lahat. Parang Christmas. Lahat mabait sa lahat. :)
On the other hand, the worst part was when I asked help from one person special to me, he did not mind at all. Maybe he was not aware with what's happening to us here in Manila. I need to look for someone to cover for my slot for the next shift or else I'll go on 24 hours duty. That, I can't do anymore. I cried again, but this time it's because of disappointment. Luckily, we were able to contact one of our staff. (Thank you Ecai!)
I had a lot of realizations on my way home. It was a very heartening and ironically overwhelming day indeed.
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