Relief Mission Part 2

Sunday was a day of rest.  We attended a church with 8000 bags of food stored in large sacks stacked in every available corner.   Our combined efforts filled all of the rooms except the chapel so we had Sacrament meeting and a group presentation by Elder Perez.   People were still hanging around the church to see when their help was needed next.   They just sat with their children in the church yard.  No one said anything or gave them directions; they could just see the work was not finished, so they stayed. 

This is one of the families I mentioned. The woman in the back ground is the mother
she has 8 boys and they all ride in or on this trike

                                    An inside look at a cozy trike.  There are 5 boys and mom.

We decided the Lord would not let these people go hungry so we made a plan.  For food Sunday evening we took off for the open market with two sisters who know how to shop.  We bought raw chicken (that as far as I could tell was not refrigerated) for 60, onions, spices, watermelon and Rumba tan, a fruit that is loved by most Filipinos.   When we return the pot was full of hot water and the chicken was added along with jars of sauces, onions and spice which I had to admit smelled pretty good.  Dinner simmered until 9 pm when enough work had been done.  I really don’t know how they did it with one burner, two large pots and 60 people.   Sometime they prepared the rice during this process.   Rice is served with every meal.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

On Monday morning bright and early the missionaries and members were at the chapel loading supplies into the one and only truck available. We had understood the city was providing transportation for the food kits.  But that wasn’t happening.  We located one dump truck, loaded 750 food sacks and water for as many and took off to meet a Barangay leader in Casiguran.  We filled our own pickup with as many missionaries as we could.  They would be needed to unload the dump truck once we got there.  There were 4 missionaries in the back seat of our small truck.  The two from America were 6 feet, and 2 Filipino were smaller, but it was still crowded to say the least. Absolutely no leg room and I had my seat up so that my knees were touching the glove box.   We had an extra elder and food for 20 families in the bed of the pickup.

Some of our Missionary travelers.  The one on the far left Elder Semadeni, was called to India but his visa has not come through. He was sent to the Philippines to wait for the visa approval.  He arrived the same week as the typhoon.  He was assigned to Baler and evacuated to Cabanatuan to wait out the storm.  He is an amazing worker and all around really good guy.  

We drove into the coastal mountains where the paved road became a sometimes thing.  Roads twisted and turned making our trip to Baler from Cabanatuan simply a training exhibition.  I am so glad we weren’t driving one of our cars.   This road was meant for 4 wheel drive at best, and the poor guy in the back was in a hazard area.  Fortunately we had loaded extra water and sacks of food in the back before the Elder climbed in, which made a cushion for him somewhat on sacks of rice…..but not much.   We experienced rain that only added to the adventure leaving slippery muck to navigate in one area.  Our 3 car caravan stopped about 12:30 for?  LUNCH of course!  We came upon a road side fruit stand/restaurant and everyone piled out.  They did have a CR (“comfort station”) of sorts and some prepared food that was definitely native.  I bought some fruit (a pomelo) which they peeled and gave me with some rock salt to compliment the flavor.  It was actually nice.  Elder Webb paid for lunch for 25 (about $30 total) and we were off again. 

Moving up the mountain

Sharing the road

Storm run off washed out bridges and roads.  And the wires .  .  .

Many power lines were completely down.  They will not have electricity for 6 months or more.

It was a 3 ½ hour drive traveling at a reasonable pace for the roads we encountered.  We arrived about 2 pm and were directed to a gated area filled with people milling about. The food truck had already arrived.   Elder Webb thought we were going to be mobbed; there were so many people and so many needs from what we had heard. He was wrong.  We got out of the car and were greeted by smiles and waves.  Everyone was organized, moving into lines holding numbers written on paper that indicated they qualified for the aid.  The Mayor greeted us, introduced us and then started the process of distribution.  We gave each family a food bag and a 6 liter bottle of water.   The whole process took about 20 minutes because the people were so orderly.  From there we headed downtown to look for a place to secure the remainder of the bags, until the next truck got there. 

People greeted us with smiles and curious looks

Waiting patiently 

It was a very orderly process

Unloading extra food pack to be used later

A secure place was found to leave the left over supplies which will be distributed later. 

 Once again our men and women worked to unload the rest of the truck.  We had a bit of a time crunch because we needed to be back on the road and off the mountain before dark.  It can be a dangerous place when one does not know the road or the custom.  We headed back to the other side of town and stopped at the local hospital to examine the damage it sustained.  I spoke with the attending physician and nurses and asked them if they had evacuated during the storm.  They looked at me like they thought I was asking a silly question.  “No” they said, “ we stayed in place.”  I looked up and could see the sky through the make-shift patch job on the roof.  The city took a direct hit, the hospital lost its roof.  The doctors and patients were safe but wet.   It’s hard to describe the hospitals in these rural areas, so I am not going to try.  We stayed for about 15 minutes and were on the road again by 3:30, this time with our four cramped missionaries and three more in the back – with no sacks to cushion the bumps.

Helping Hands friends and food shopping partners.

We had a few damaged bottles of water.  This one was a refreshing surprise.

Elder Perez (Jarius) took the lead this time……and we were on the race track again.  This guy has one speed:  fast.  We kept up pretty well in the light, but when dark fell and he was passing people in the dark it was a killer.  The tricycle drivers here leave their lights off because they think it saves gas.  So when we would try to pass to keep up we would never know if a tricycle was coming down the road until we were on top of them.  We had blind curves, towns with people walking on the single lane road, cows and carabao staked next to the road.  It was family time and people were out in the small towns as we whizzed through.  I was afraid we were going to hurt someone or something but our passage was secured. 

We returned to the church at 7:30 and rolled out of our vehicles.  I took my first deep breath since we left.  The elder’s legs took some time to uncramp but everyone survived and felt very good about our combined efforts and the good we had done.  Those that did not make the trip were still waiting for us when we returned. We hugged each other and they asked questions about how things went.   We did not have another food truck at that point and we did not know when one was coming.   Elder Perez decided not to feed the people (I wished we had) and dismissed them to go home.  Elder Webb and I took all the missionaries to dinner at our hotel.  We were all exhausted and the dinner was kind of quiet, but everyone enjoyed themselves.  I couldn’t  help but think we could have fed the whole ward for what our meal cost.  I’m learning to think like a Filipino.

Our hard working missionaries. Elder Semadeni ordered a hamburger

More pictures to come

Love to all, Elder and Sister Webb