Note: The reason why I am able to post a write-up right now is because I'm falling in lone in one of the very long queues since 6 AM for ATM access in a public space wherein the data signal is currently sufficient. It's 1 PM now as of finishing this article. All of us here are still currently relying on data signal alone.
Writing at night has been one of my sources of comfort amidst all of this chaos. My family and I will get through this however there are still many on the island who are at the brink of dehydration, whose houses are destroyed, and are lacking basic needs.
December 20, 2021 (Night time 🕯️)
So it's Day 4 after Typhoon Odette ravaged the Visayas and people are scrambling left, right, up, and down for water, electricity, gasoline, and data signal. And I am writing this through voice recognition because currently, it's way too tiring to type all of these by phone.
I barely have access to social media and I haven't communicated with my fellow Visayans for a really long time. Things seem to be moving pretty slow without electricity and internet.
Water, however, is literally the number one main issue for everyone on the island. Water for drinking, water for bathing, water for cleaning, and most importantly water for flushing down toilets.
The past few days we resorted to strict water usage, even as going as far as to relying on wet wipes for cleaning our own bodies. "So this is how cats feel when they clean themselves" I thought. I'm sorry my feline friends, but I still prefer getting wet and drenching my whole body with unlimited flowing water.
Honestly, I sort of expected that the situation would be much worse and I thought it would be. Judging from the past aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, many people in the areas most affected, and resorted to anarchic living. I'm still very glad to still feel and witness a bit of humanity in where I am right now, despite how admittingly grim it is.
Some people would argue using the concept of survival of the fittest, even use the monicker about Boholanos "Ija-ija, ahu-ahu" (equivalent to: every man for himself) but I didn't see that then, and I have high hopes that it's not the case and I wouldn't see it anywhere, anytime soon.
Personally, I would rather stick to compassion, and my sense of humanity, no matter how hypocritical people may think it may be. This doesn't really invalidate what my brothers and I had to go through the past few days, just to replenish our own stocks of multi-use water at home.
It took a lot of internet-dependent arguments, crowdsourcing, and getting several very uncomfortable, public lines of where to acquire these basic needs:
It was as if getting enough clear water was the only thing we woke up to-- a dramatic shift priorities, am I right?
Just weeks ago, I was looking for ways of prying my way into my students' list of priorities so they would have outputs submit or the very least, find my god forsaken subject, interesting.
Now, I'm here in the dark every night, writing my thoughts down under the influence of whatever is in the glass bottle I'm holding. Our candles are about to run out soon but at least I'm getting enough sleep, far away from any sort of internet-sourced sensory overload, and waking up very early to do it all again: Falling in line in VERY long queues to get water, or buy perishable groceries, or withdraw from ATMs if I can.
It's amazing how crises like these could suddenly shift anyone's priorities a 180 degrees. No more childish and overly ambitious dreams of becoming a millionaire before 30, traveling the world or go on vacation at 20 different resorts, or have an extravagant quality of life like our early twenties used to dream of, but now it's really just about survival.
I guess everyone has shifted their definitions for success to this:
If you could manage to get enough clean water, for drinking, for bathing, for cleaning, or withdraw money and buy groceries for your family to get through the day, it's already a huge win, and I'm pretty sure that's how everyone here feels right now.
So I don't know, maybe that's one perspective I can offer for the people reading this is that you are really doing great. If it's nay consolation, what you probably think as bare minimum, like getting clean, drinkable, flushable, and tenacious water on the table, is already an extraordinary feat for people in my side of the world who are in a state of calamity.
What Can I Do From My End, Roxanne?
WELL. I'M GLAD YOU ASKED.
A lot of areas around the Visayas are affected, and IMHO, there's not enough media coverage on the affected areas.
Aside from Cebu, there is also Bohol, Leyte, Siargao and all the other islands in our side of the archipelago who have been going through the same crises and at risk of being forgotten or neglected or under-prioritized by crisis respondents.
If you have any change to spare, please donate to the following channels:
👉Go Fund Bohol Typhoon Odette Victims
👉UNICEF PHILIPPINES & GCash
👉ART 6200 for Negros Oriental
👉Channels introduced by @kimybanez for Typhoon Odette victims
👉Donation Drives for Affected Typhoon Victims
Your 1 Dollar, Euro, HIVE, HBD will go a long way.
Pray for everyone affected, that they might have their houses rebuilt, that everyone will have access to clean water, fuel, food and signal.
But most importantly, pray for me 😂😂 and for everyone here that ALL OF US might have the patience of a saint, the knee strength and the mental and emotional capacity to stay in line because staying in line for more than 6 hours under the heat of day for water, fuel and ATM access is by in no means, AN EASY FEAT. As of writing this, my phone battery is already at 7% and I have already passed through several stages the past few hours of wanting to breakdown due to exhaustion, but can't.
Thank you Hivers. Til my next update.
Praying for you my friend. I am glad you find some solace in writing on Hive. I too have got myself through some pretty hard times by venting my worries/frustrations to my fellow Hivers. Well, water is certainly a priority, I hope this situation gets easier by the day as services come back online.
Hang in there, keep Hiving if you have battery, earn some crypto, every little thing helps right now.
Thank you @justinparke I really appreciate it 🥺 and yes, it's true. Trying to be consistent in turning pain into artistic expression even if I only have my fingers and thumbs to do the manpower for me on my phone. All these little gestures help, the reblogs and even, the shares. I'm so glad to have found solace in #Hive
You are very strong. I hope that you can gain some strength with your time in Hive. Sent prayer to your way. Hopefully this all will end soon and everything can come back as the way it was before
Thank you @firayumni ❤️ I really appreciate the thoughts and prayers. Take care!
Be strong sister. You're stronger than you know. My prayer goes to you and your family 🙏🏻 stay safe and healthy. Hopefully everything will goes back to normal asap 🙏🏻
Thank you @reidenling90 I really do hope so. Sadly Bohol is still far away from being connected to the main Visayan Grid, the damage caused by the typhoon caused the whole island to completely not have any power right now 😔
The test of faith. You can survive it. Walay surenderay, Ang mo surender aw,talo.
Dapat jud walay surrenduray, talo jud di pa jud ka kapalit ug tubig 😭🤣
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ
glad that u were able to get some water and needed things. It must really suck having to wait in lines for stuff. :( and i bet ur phone is always on low nowadays. i hope things get moving and u can start worrying about what to drink to get next time at starbux or bo's or wherever. (my fave was the pandan one that they make using the powder.. from java lava, but i think they are no more now)
Hahahahaha thank you so much for the help @chinito and yes, it does 🥲🥲🥲.
After that ordeal the other day, I fell asleep right away when I got home. 🤣🤣 Not even enough time to wash my feet or anything.
It might still be a long time until I'll get to taste Starbucks again (since there's really no Starbucks in the island 😅) but I'd give for anything cold these days, really. Thank you so much for your support, I really appreciate it 💖
YOU GUYS 😭😭😭 THIS POST BLEW UP 💖💖💖. You can't imagine how much my heart is overflowing with all your love and support right now. I appreciate the help you are sending, the reblogs, the gifts, the shares, the love and the huge donations 🥺🥺🥺.
Thank you HIVE community!
I will certainly write more about what's going on in the island, when I can, and whenever I'll have battery, and donate a hefty part of my posts' earnings for to the more affected and unreachable places in Bohol especially its tiny surrounding islets and will definitely let you guys know about it 💖. Don't forget to support and pray for my other Hiver friends affected. These will really help all of us get back on our feet. 🙏💜
Having no access to water is such a huge problem. Seems like the situation in your area is very bad. It's such an unfortunate sight to see, I'll for sure pray for you guys and help by sharing these donation channels to more people.
YES PLEASE.
Sis Kaya NATO ni!
Kami niuli SA Leyte. Nag antos me Aron makauli Ra KY malooy me SA amo BATA wala gud limpyo na tubig. Ug wala na me limpyo na tubig, hurot na pud kwarta KY Mahal palitonon. Ningkamot me intawon makauli SA Leyte.
Mao lagi daw. Same sad sa mga taga East Bohol especially those in remote islets like Bantigue and Butan. I'm currently coordinating with Donation Drives that are aggressively targeting towards that direction because they currently have no access to fresh water. 😔
If you know any Donation Drives towards Leyte, maybe I can give a share of my earnings.
The days after the storm indeed got all of us into survival mode. Our priorities indeed have shifted since it is really hard to procure the basic necessities. Praying for patience and resilience during these trying times. We will get through this🥺
I pray the best for you, your family and for whole of Philippines. Be strong sis 💪💪
Thank youuuu 🥺🥺🥺