" There are two things in life that cannot be delayed - being filial and charitable" - Master Chneg Yen
Hello, eveyone! My name is Janice Pol and I am a social worker in the Philippines.
My mother is from Tambooc Inabanga, Bohol but moved to Talakag, Bukidnon for hopes of better life. In my primary school to highschool years, we used to spend our summer vacation in Bohol. We love to go there every year, during summer, because the whole month of May is a month-long celebration- "fiesta' in Visayan dialect. Aside from going from one Barangay to another Barangay to eat, dance and just enjoy "fiesta", we also love to stay in Bohol because the people there are very kind, approachable and just so happy. Seems like they don't have any problem at all. And when you go to the place, you feel so famous like everybody loves you. They always wants to hangout with you. Just so good and one of the best memories I have.
Unfortunately, things changed especially how it looked now. Trees were down, bald and everywhere is destruction. This was caused by Typhoon Odette "Rai" that hit Philippines days before Christmas. After Rai's landfall, we have no idea how bad it was. There was no communication received from them. You cannot even contact them for days. Until news came, Inbanga town was flooded, our Tambooc having 160 pus families, almost got covered with water. Houses have no more roofs, some got totally destroyed and some familes were relocated to the Barangay Hall. It was really sad, devastating and heartbreaking. My friends' boats that were used for livelihood were gone. Our grandmother, died just two weeks after. She had been feeling very ill due to hours of being submerged in the water during the flood. Right now, there is no electricity, no source of income, high price of commodities, lack of oil supply and scarce of food, water and clothes.
Learning all these, I immediately organized an donation campaign. I used the Facebook platform, my personal account to raise funds. This was my first time. Indeed, I was able to raise almost PHp70,000, collected galloons of water and packed goods from private individuals and from the local government unit of Talakag, Bukidnon. This campaign succeeded with the help of my sister in-law, who is also from Bohol, her partner and my very supportive husband. We traveled to Bohol on December 26, 2021 and were able to distribute packed goods (rice, canned goos, instant noodles, coffee, pancit and ginisa mix) to the folowing families:
- 160 plus families from Tambooc Inabanga, Bohol
- 7 families from Carmen Bohol
- 2 families from Tagbilaran Bohol
- 1 family from Tubigon, Bohol
By the way, the packed goods we released to them were accordingly the 2nd relief of goods they received since the onslaught of Typhoon Rai. Imagine their suffering, the hunger and dehydration. Just so sad.
Seeing their faces after receiving the goods, smiling, looking grateful are signs of hope. These are the same people I once met. Still so grateful, happy and seems still having no problem at all. They never changed. Always grateful even the very little help. That was just so rewarding. So heart warming. The reason why I would'nt stop finding ways of helping them.
This another fund raising campaign shall be used to rebuild their homes. In Tambooc, Inabanga Bohol, 90% of 160 families lost their homes. The government shelter assistance is very limited and would take longer to be released thus, I am knocking again your kind hearts for help. Please help me help them. Any amount received will be properly accounted for. You may check my facebook video post entitled Tabang Boholthrough this link -
https://tinyurl.com/Tabang-Bohol to learb about the previous campaign.
Thank you all and God bless us all!!!
