Hello Hivers!
Long time no update! I've been busy with life navigating through post-Odette. I apologize if this is the only thing I am talking about these days as it's very difficult to talk about anything that's resembling normalcy after a traumatizing event that really put most of the people in the Visayas to a post-apocalyptic crisis.
Things are better now compared to that of my last posts, How I spent my Christmas & My Plans on Sending Support to East Boholanos and Day 4 of Typhoon Odette Crisis: Long Queues and Bathing Like Cats. I have been writing non-stop about the situation here after Typhoon Odette since then and this is probably my 4th post about post-Odette, and I'm really happy for the overwhelming support Hivers have been sending to the people of my beloved island, especially those in the eastern ends.
These days I have been trying to really live up to "using my blessed pockets to bless others" and the difficult part here, is fighting the jolts of feelings of scarcity just to survive.
My family is not that rich, but we're blessed enough to still have a roof over our heads after the typhoon. I'm only a public school teacher, who then didn't have access to my monthly salary right after the typhoon because the banks who was supposed to process it also shut down and didn't have a generator. Basically everyone (teachers) from my workplace had to look for other means in order to buy their daily needs and do house reparations (which sucked for a while because it's one thing to not have any money, and another to have money but can't access it).
Who knew that my main coping mechanism after the storm (writing) actually led me to something far greater? I gained a community who was not only set out to helping a fellow Hiver out, but also the people in her province who have absolutely no choice but to rely on the charity of others 🙁.
With the previous posts I mentioned coupled with the generous donations coming from my friends on Hive, PHP 15,567.56 was raised ❤️, and now, I am going to show you guys what I have been working on to put your donations to good use 😉.
Tabang Sa Bantigue: How It Went
I did say from my previous post, that I was planning to send support to Typhoon Odette victims on my island, preferably those remote ones on the Eastern side, which was basically Ground Zero during the typhoon.
So I started by sending ayuda to the remote isle of Bantigue. This little island, along with Butan, is kilometers off the coast of Carlos P. Garcia (fromerly Pitogo Island):
My contact, Ms. Claire, who grew up in the island, was kind enough to lend me the photos she shared on social media during her last distribution on December 31, 2021:
For that drive, worth PHP 3,612 of relief goods were distributed to Bantigue from the people of Hive. Ms. Claire and everyone in Bantigue extends their gratitude to you guys, because I know that this wouldn't be possible without you.
I just wished I was there in person to witness it myself.
Starting from my Area of Responsibility
Aside from that, I sort of went through a phase where I got confused where I should donate the funds. This is basically my first time managing donation funds distribution and I guess I was just overwhelmed as I was handling so much love from everyone on Hive in the form of money, I didn't want to make a mistake, but I guess I was already overthinking it.
Good thing my friend Queenie shared an idea of sending a share of the ayuda to my students who were just as affected by the Typhoon. The idea was that if I was confused where I should send the monetary assistance, I should start from my "area of responsibility" and in this case, it means my students.
But how was I supposed to choose from my 500+ students?
"Equity. Start from the ones most affected" she'd say.
So that's just what I did. Out of the 500+, I crowdsourced and asked around the top students who really needed help the most, prioritizing those who needed food since everyone at the moment needs water (and water is a tough resource to find tbh), and those who were far from the city since basically that's where most of the trade happens which is less accessible to those from far places.
For this movement, I prepared PHP 3,500 worth of goods for my selected students, which for every pack basically included:
- 1 bottle of 1.5 L mineral water
- 2 packs of noodles
- 3 canned goods
- rice
I'll be writing a separate post for this since this is going to be an interesting experience seeing some of my senior high school students in person for the first time.
One Bohol Relief Drive
After a while, I got to learn of a donation drive movement started by YouthLead Philippines and after learning that they were headed to distributing goods for the eastern municipalities like Ubay, Pitogo CPG island and the like. I immediately contacted them, and donated PHP 7,000 through their featured donation channels:
They also invited me to join them on their next drives on January 15, 2022 bound for CPG (Pitogo) Island which is awesome, because that means I will actually be on the sites and doing hands-on help for the Ground Zero victims of Odette. Ayieeee~
Make sure you stay tuned for my next articles, which I will be showing life from this side of the world 🗺.
What did you learn from this experience, Roxanne?
I guess what I've learned so far in this experience is that, the answer to unsatisfaction is in being honest with yourself that you can't provide for everything, and to recognize when you need help.
And when you are extended with grace, it is in giving in acting and passing on the abundance, instead of hoarding, stealing, panic-buying and taking advantage of the perceived scarcity, where we really truly find purpose and spread joy.
I vacillated between both experiences in such a short period of time before finally deciding to make a conscious decision to keep pursuing gratefulness and the mindset of abundance.
Til my next post, Hivers!
To:
@ybanezkim26
@indayclara
@chillwithshanna
@priyanarc
@chinito
@thegaillery
@macchiata
and all those who donated, and supported in their own little ways, the donation drives for the affected people of Bohol and its little isles, in my Boholano tongue let me just say, Salamat kaajo ninjong tanan! ❤️.
Roxanne Marie is the twenty-year-old something who calls herself the Protean Creator.
She is a chemical engineer by profession, pole-dancer and blogger by passion and frustration, and lastly, a life enthusiast. She is on a mission to rediscover her truth through the messy iterative process of learning, relearning and unlearning. Currently, she works as a science and research instructor in her hometown, Tagbilaran City, all the while documenting her misadventures, reflections and shenanigans as a working-class millennial here on Hive.
If you like her content, don't forget to upvote and leave a comment to show some love. It would be an honor to have this post reblogged as well. Also, don't forget to follow her to be updated with her latest posts.