Reaching Out

Arriving at Bagong Village at around 9 a.m., we chanced on around 50 families with their children under the heat with no shed awaiting the delivery of relief goods from the local government.

We parked the jeepney in an open space and minutes later, some villagers came to fetch the relief goods we just brought that are intended for the 13 families who were severely affected -losing homes, fields, and literally every belonging from the flash floods and land slides.

After a few minutes of walk, we were astonished to stand before a vast expanse overviewing a tiny footpath we had to climb to cross the mountain. This expanse had used to be a mountain edge which is trailed by vehicles. But now, this very mountain we were standing before at has been literally washed out!

Trickling down the narrow slippery steps with wood branches to hold on and climbing tiny footpaths over sand left by the landfall, we managed to cross the expanse.

A few meters away, what used to be a cemented road lay huge-sized rocks and stones rolled across the path. Landslides were everywhere that we were climbing rocks just to pass through.

Nearly an hour, fed up with the damage the storm has brought along the road, we arrived at the village at a scene that left us speechless for moments.

What used to be a scenic view of ricefields and village homes has now been literally erased. Boulders, gravel, and building-sized rocks rolled over the middle of the village crushing homes and fields and burying nearby houses. Once a 2-meter wide creek, now became a 40-meter wide rushing river with huge rocks rolling over that very night of October.

We managed to cross the open space and reached the home we are to lodge in the evening. With a few minutes of rest, we started to pack the relief goods to be distributed. Some of the families came to fetch their goods with a trace of unspeakable gratitude and inexplainable tears of joy. We also carried and brought some of the relief goods for the families who were unable to come due to injury.

Up to the present, villagers were left with an unanswered question of where would the huge rocks and stones had been unburied from. It was their first time to stand before such piled boulders; and the damage has been a history for them since their forefathers hundred years past.

In the long run, only He can give answers to their question. Overall, the villager’s positive response on the their situation is admirable… words of gratitude that no life was taken that night is on every mouth of folks…