I'm not sure how to really begin this blog post in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, so I'm just going to talk about some of the things that are bothering me about this situation.
I've seen the CNN post on just about everyone's Instagram and Facebook. I'm not sure who left this comment on CNN's page, but I find it insulting, to say the least. From my perspective, this person is not giving us props, but rather insulting us and equating us to beasts of burden. Historically speaking, our people have no choice but to be resilient, but to imply that we are used to devastation and that we'll just "shake off the dirt" and "smile" afterwards, is a slap in the face. To say that we were "given the 'privilege' of bearing the burden of the strongest typhoon ever recorded" clearly justifies that the person who wrote this has no concept of how much devastation this has caused our people and our country. No empathy.
I want to give thanks to all the folks who have sent their donations to me via PayPal. I will be pooling donations until next Sunday, then sending it to my cousin Bonsai's PayPal account. I applaud my cousins Gail and Bonsai for their relief efforts, and please know that 100% of your donations goes to the people.
More importantly, I'm asking that folks in the Philippines please refrain from posting any selfie pictures, or images of what you had for lunch or dessert. There are more important matters to tend to. There are people in our country who lost everything, loved ones, and have not eaten for days. Show some empathy towards our kababayans and kapwa tao. Do something. Every little bit helps. Get your friends together and collect used clothing, canned goods, first aid supplies. DO SOMETHING.
I've seen the CNN post on just about everyone's Instagram and Facebook. I'm not sure who left this comment on CNN's page, but I find it insulting, to say the least. From my perspective, this person is not giving us props, but rather insulting us and equating us to beasts of burden. Historically speaking, our people have no choice but to be resilient, but to imply that we are used to devastation and that we'll just "shake off the dirt" and "smile" afterwards, is a slap in the face. To say that we were "given the 'privilege' of bearing the burden of the strongest typhoon ever recorded" clearly justifies that the person who wrote this has no concept of how much devastation this has caused our people and our country. No empathy.
I want to give thanks to all the folks who have sent their donations to me via PayPal. I will be pooling donations until next Sunday, then sending it to my cousin Bonsai's PayPal account. I applaud my cousins Gail and Bonsai for their relief efforts, and please know that 100% of your donations goes to the people.
More importantly, I'm asking that folks in the Philippines please refrain from posting any selfie pictures, or images of what you had for lunch or dessert. There are more important matters to tend to. There are people in our country who lost everything, loved ones, and have not eaten for days. Show some empathy towards our kababayans and kapwa tao. Do something. Every little bit helps. Get your friends together and collect used clothing, canned goods, first aid supplies. DO SOMETHING.
