Go Rinconada Movement
Albay Relief Aid 2006 : Typhoon Reming Devastation

Fratmen bring medical aid to typhoon survivors


LEGAZPI CITY—While cradling her 4-month-old son Carl Justine to stop him from crying, Leonida Flores patiently waited for two hours inside the cramped health center in Barangay Buraguis here to have her baby checked up by a volunteer doctor from Manila.

 
She said that after being drenched in rainwater for several hours during the onslaught of Supertyphoon "Reming" two weeks ago, she and her four children had been suffering from colds and coughs.
 
Reming, one of the most destructive typhoons to hit the country in recent years, triggered the flow of volcanic mud and debris from the slopes of Mayon Volcano and buried communities around it.
 
More than 1,000 people were either killed or missing because of the mudslides.
 
"Because of his coughs, my baby would usually wake up late at night and cry until the wee hours. He will only stop until he gets tired of crying," the 46-year- old mother said.
 
Like most of their neighbors, Flores said they had not been getting proper medical attention since all the free medical checkups offered by the local government were only in evacuation centers, several kilometers from their houses.
 
"Instead of paying for the tricycle fare, we can use that money to buy food," she told the Inquirer in the dialect.
 
Flores was in near tears when she received anticough medicines and vitamin capsules from members of the Pi Sigma Fraternity Alumni Association (PSFAA) who organized a medical mission and relief operations on Dec. 17-18.
 
"We are very thankful for your help. You were actually the first ones who visited us here for a medical mission," she told the volunteers.
 
Jay Dimaiwat, PSFAA president , said Buraguis was just one of the 11 villages his group visited in six Albay towns that suffered the most from the devastation.
 
Aside from free medical services, Dimaiwat and his group also brought more than 600 bags—each containing two kilos of rice, canned goods, candles, shampoo, toothpaste and other items—for the typhoon victims who had returned to their communities.
 
They also donated more than 20 boxes of used clothing which they brought to a select evacuation center in Daraga.
 
"We really intended to help those families who have not been directly receiving aid because they already left the evacuation centers to start rebuilding their damaged houses," he said.
 
Aside from this capital city, fraternity members also provided relief items in the towns of Camalig, Daraga, Sto. Domingo, Bacacay and Tiwi.
 
Ruben Felipe, the program coordinator, said the group immediately contacted other alumni fraternity members after learning of the "unbelievable destruction" that Reming wrought in Albay.

 

"When we saw images of the victims and their grief over losing their loved ones on television, we felt the need to quickly mobilize our organization to help in whatever way we could," Felipe said.

 
In just 14 days, the fraternity was able to gather more than P100,000 cash and several boxes of medicines, food items and used clothes.
 
Dimaiwat said the group also got in touch with several of their chapters in Albay for relief operations in the most affected areas. He said he was surprised that their members in Bicol had already started giving food items and old clothes.
 
"We were challenged by the fact that while some of our members were themselves victims of the typhoon, it did not deter them from helping their neighbors," he said.
 
He said the fraternity intended to start their "Adopt A School" project early next year to help repair school buildings and link with other organizations to help in the relocation of families who lost their houses.
 
 
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 28 December 2006