Yesterday, I received an email from one of my yoga students & Kularts.org representative . A great practice of Karma Yoga.
“I’m usually in your Tuesday night Yoga class (the filipina girl with short hair). Anyway, I’m writing because I remember you telling us once that if we ever had a cause or charity that we’d like to donate to, that you’d see what you could do about collecting donations.“
Well, on Sunday, the Philippines was ravaged by Typhoon Ondoy, bringing down over a month’s worth of rains in just 12 hours. This is the worst storm to have hit the Philippines in over 40 years. 100s have died and thousands are stranded on rooftops as the entire capitol region is under water.
I have several friends in the Philippines who have formed small relief groups, and they have been going out to communities to bring food, water, clothes, goods, and supplies to those in need. Some of them are even involved in rescue missions. If its not too much to ask, I would love to see what we could do about getting donations from folks in class tonight that would go directly to these relief efforts. – Dianne
“Downpours subsided temporarily in the Philippines on Sunday, a day after Tropical Storm Ketsana pummeled the capital Manila with its heaviest rainfall in more than 40 years.
Filipino pedestrians in Quezon City, a suburb of Manila, brave Tropical Storm Ketsana’s floodwaters. more photos 
Flood spawned by the rainfall killed at least 75 people with at least 21 others missing, the government said.
More than 80 percent of the capital was under water that swallowed whole houses and buses.
Manila, in the island of Luzon, and the nearby province of Rizal bore the brunt of the storm. People huddled on rooftops Sunday waiting on army helicopters to pluck them to safety. Others used ropes to wade through waist-deep muddy waters.
Power and water supply failed in some areas. Roads were rendered impassable, making rescue efforts challenging. Are you there? Share your story or pictures
“Right now the challenge is to find out how many people have actually died and how many people we have to take care of in terms of people who’ve been displaced,” said Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippines National Red Cross.
“We’re really talking about maybe hundreds of thousands of people,” with about 280,000 to 300,000 displaced in the island of Luzon alone, he said.
Though the Philippines is no stranger to floods, Saturday’s downpours approached a record, with a month’s worth of rain falling within six hours.
The average rainfall for the entire month of September is 391 mm (15.4 inches), said Gilberto Teodoro, secretary of national defense and chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.
The capital experienced 341 mm (13.4 inches) between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., he said.” – (CNN) —
The San Francisco Filipino community has not put off goodness like we put off a diet. Check out what they have to say & what they are doing to assist those in need. Also, see what you can do to assist in creating a better world.
“My family and I are well. I went to work early yesterday morning and was trapped in the office for hours; the whole first floor flooded up to the ceiling. It only took 30 minutes to flood everything! I heard that we actually got a whole month’s worth of rain in a single day. I finally left in the afternoon but couldn’t find a bus to take me home! There was a mob of people in the streets stranded. My boss (and friend) Rica and I went to a Seattle’s Best Coffee where there’s free WiFi to go online and called 116 hotels in the area looking for one that had a vacant room! We finally checked into an expensive one in the red light district (Burgos St.). I got home at around 2pm today and was so slimy and tired and hungry. But we are well. The power gets interrupted every so often, but that’s it. Many of my friends are still not replying to my messages; those that live near the rivers. I’m very worried about them. I just got a text from Bien. She is safe too.” – Iris Orprecio
“We’re all ok here… but the situations pretty bad! I’ve never seen manila drown this much!
6hr traffic from makati to my house, which is usually 15mins away. :( some people are still on the road since yesterday. floods haven’t receded” – Ling Dayanghirang
For those in the Philippines: donate your clothes (&/or other goods) to:
Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas Disaster Relief:
Balay Expo across Farmers Market
Contact: Jana Vicente: +63 928 520 5499.
Clare Amador: +63 928 520 5508
Ateneo Resident Students Association:
Cervini Hall lobby.
Contact: Rofel Brion at: 0917 631 2423 & 0917 703 5357
