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 šÆļø)
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:
šGo Fund Bohol Typhoon Odette Victims
šUNICEF PHILIPPINES & GCash
šART 6200 for Negros Oriental
šChannels introduced by @kimybanez for Typhoon Odette victims
šDonation 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 šš 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.