Tag Archives: Philippine National Red Cross

A Garage Sale, Some Realizations

Giving, Sharing

I will make an unusual statement: in some countries, it is easier to give.

First, a backgrounder.

In the US, we held some garage sales.  It is easy.  You just gather the things you do not use out of the closet (or the garage), put a price to it, set it up at your garage (or yard, for a yard sale) announce it over the internet or advertise in some local newspaper (for free), show up on the day with some loose change, preferably psyched up to deal with penny pinchers (who want your memorabilia for a song) and wait.  At the end of the day, you will have earned some cash, freed a part of your garage (or closet), and found homes for the stuff you would not miss anyway.

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Ondoy (Ketsana): A Storm Brings Out the Spirit of Bayanihan

Bending, Not Breaking

Bending, Not Breaking

It was a dark night.

But the Filipino have had many a dark night, and have had endured many a storm.

But the storm that one Saturday night was different.

It started out like ordinary rainfall, just a drizzle, in fact.  There was wind, yes, slight howling, barely noticeable, dark night eclipsing the dark clouds. Just your ordinary night. Two nights prior, the resident storm-forecaster PAGASA issued storm warnings, but in those warnings, they have relegated Ondoy’s (international codename: Ketsana) category to that of a minor storm.

Nothing to worry about.

No one was prepared.

The rains came.  A deluge.

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