Report from the Philippines

Reaching Out with Love
to Typhoon Victims

By the Taipei News Group, Formosa (Originally in Chinese)

On December 2, 2004, Typhoon Nanmadol swept over the eastern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines, following the destructive trail of four previous typhoons that had occurred within a two-week span. The storm produced heavy casualties and tens of thousands of people were displaced. The international community responded with messages of condolence and various forms of aid, but the relief effort ran into difficulties in remote areas where access was cut off.

Upon receiving news of the disaster, Aulacese fellow practitioners living in the Philippines immediately launched a relief operation. On December 7, they made a nine-hour drive with supplies to Dingalan Village in Aurora Province to the northeast of Manila. Upon their arrival, the brothers and sisters discovered that there was much to be done despite relief efforts from other agencies.

The following day, several disciples from Hong Kong and Taipei, Formosa arrived in Manila to join in the relief work. That night the team purchased and packed the supplies before proceeding on a rough and rigorous journey to the affected area on roads that had been repaired in a makeshift manner. Then early on the morning of December 9, the initiates arrived at the Dingalan Secondary School with relief materials that had not yet been provided by other groups, including mosquito nets, slippers, clothing, light blankets, powdered milk for infants and instant noodles.      

The distribution went smoothly, with the mosquito nets proving to be the most urgently needed items and the clothes bringing joy to local children. The relief team later visited the devastated Paltic Village, where the landscape had changed completely as a result of several typhoons and most residents had been displaced. With help from the village chief, more than a thousand allotments of relief provisions were distributed at Paltic.

Quezon Province received greater international concern than did the previously mentioned regions. In this area, collapsed bridges had cut off access to Infenda and Real Townships and floods reached as high as two meters in low lying parts of Infenda. The local people thus relied on food supplies airlifted during the day by U.S. army helicopters. As soon as the roads were repaired, the practitioners found themselves in the second vehicle to enter the affected area. They worked through the night packing rice and food in an effort to speed up delivery of the materials to the victims.

Tourism in Infenda and Real had brought prosperity to the local people, who suffered only minor inconveniences in their daily lives and were already receiving help from the U.S. Army. So, the relief team decided to deliver the remaining provisions to Paltic Village, penetrating deep into the affected area, personally delivering the materials to each household, and thus producing feelings of gratitude among the villagers.

In just two weeks, the initiates managed to distribute seven thousand shares of relief materials. They worked round the clock without rest or sleep, sometimes skipping meals the whole day, yet they were not overcome by hunger or exhaustion. The sisters and brothers who worked on the Typhoon Nanmadol relief project are deeply grateful to Master for Her blessings and for allowing them to bask constantly in Her infinite love.