Last Saturday, the Philippines was hit by the worst typhoon it has ever experienced in 40+ years. Thousands of Filipinos lost their homes and were left with literally nothing but the shirts on their backs. We felt really lucky that despite living in one of the most affected areas, all the damage we got was on a small part of the ceiling, wall, and floor tiles in my sister’s room.

I couldn’t count the number of times I tried to hold back tears or the number of times my heart hurt so badly while looking at pictures or watching videos of the devastation caused by Typhoon Ondoy. Just last Sunday, Ramil wordlessly hugges Mateo and me tightly numerous times throughout the day. Words were not needed to express how grateful we all were that we were spared.

We ached to help out in any way we can so we cleaned out our closets and set aside those that we can give away. We knew some people who were directly affected by the typhoon so we directed our help to them. It’s going to take a long, long time before everyone recovers from typhoon Ondoy.  I’m praying that help gets to everyone in need.