Dealing with calamities always brings some challenges, especially for volunteers. If you have one after the other you got a problem, and the thought does come up, when is this going to end. Well it probably never will.

The media stories are important and appreciated but what really counts is what you see when visiting the people, the victims and then in our case mostly those who are not living along the highway and never make it to be caught by a reporters camera.

The latest typhoon was code named “Ursula” what a beautiful name! Not so beautiful was what our Ms Mabelle Bagtas saw when she visited the Provinces of Leyte and Biliran. Filipino are gifted with great resilience and it is heartwarming to see how they help themselves and even try to show them and their devastated homes in an orderly and dignified manner. (study the details of some of the photos). It is for us always a joy to see how much we can help with little. Just providing building material and we make a difference in the life of these families.

“Affected families were all very happy and thankful to receive the visit of NACSEA Relief as they earnestly found hope that true help finally came to their doors” reports Mabelle.

Now we are dealing with the eruption of our nearby Taal Volcano, not even 70 km away from NACSEARelief office. Good news; no calamity of human life but crops, animals, vegetation got really a beating and the pictures are apocalyptic. Anyway nature is powerful in destruction but nature is also powerful in regeneration. That is our observation over the years. Taal/Tagaytay in Batangas Province is not a poor area in the Philippines and its proximity to Metro Manila make professional response possible and government services effective. Right now thousands of people are taken care of in evacuation centres, schools, barrio halls, sports facilities. Water, protective masks, cloths are donated by the public, individuals and associations of all sorts. “Bayanihan” system. So far so trying and we are watching the situation, hoping and praying that the worse is not to come.