No pictures needed.

Last year, I missed a typhoon by a couple of days before heading back home to Cebu City, Philippines. This year, the super typhoon of the century, Haiyan or locally known as Yolanda, entered the Visayas region (where Cebu is, for my non-Filipino readers) a week before my annual pilgrimage to home. I will not rehash the devastation it brought to the surrounding regions since international media coverage is overwhelming enough... not to mention the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the same area just a few weeks before the typhoon.

In the 90s, I got my first (and hopefully last) dengue fever when typhoon Ruping ravaged Central Visayas at a time when cellphones and the internet were non-existent. Bottled water and power generators suddenly became the must have items in the house. Many people, including myself, lived through days on end without power and water. My family had to get water from the neighbor’s water tank and subsisted on what was left of our stock of canned goods. Most importantly, I learned the strength from within against all odds - which I carried with me, especially during tough times living overseas on my own as a wide-eyed teenager. 

Amping akong mga higala. 

  

The stronger IT (typhoon, earthquake, etc.) is, the stronger we become. #StrongerPH #ForthePhilippines #BangonVisayas #AmpingSugbu

To learn how you can help, check out this CNN article.