The Filipino community on the North Shore is pulling together to offer comfort to those whose friends and family are still unaccounted for in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan - and to raise money to help survivors.
"Even as we speak, we have the leaders of the community making calls," said Alvin Koh Relleve, president of the North Vancouver Filipino Community Centre.
Relleve said community leaders throughout Metro Vancouver met Sunday and launched a campaign aimed at raising as much money as possible for Canadian Red Cross's typhoon relief fund by the end of this month. The Canadian government has said it will match funds donated to relief organizations specifically for typhoon relief by Dec. 9.
Beyond the immediate need for aid, community leaders have been offering comfort to those whose loved ones are still unaccounted for in some of the worst-hit areas like Tacloban in the central Philippines. One woman has not been able to contact her parents in Tacloban, said Relleve.
"I have friends there.
I cannot reach them," he added. "It's tough when communication is (down)."
Relleve said he called the head office in Manila for one technological institution he used to work with in the Leyte area, hard hit by the typhoon. "They told me they haven't received any communication," he said. "The schools were totally wiped out. That's the only thing they could say. It will be a long rebuilding process."
Relleve said Filipinos weren't expecting the typhoon to hit as hard as it did. He added evacuation centres where people had sought shelter in the central area of the country were also hit by flooding from the storm surge.
Relleve said people in the Philippines have told him that the images seen so far are just a small picture of what has actually happened in the country.
"A lot of them are saying what is being shown on the news isn't really complete," he said. "It will be worse."
Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Philippines on Friday, hitting the area around Tacloban - a city of 220,000 people on Leyte island - the hardest. Most of the city has been destroyed, with estimates of the dead ranging anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000. More than nine million people have been affected by the storm. Damaged roads and infrastructure have made help slow to arrive. The United Nations has released $25 million in emergency relief funds. Canada has provided an initial $5 million to humanitarian organizations in the area.
For now, Relleve said members of the Filipino community - which numbers about 8,000 on the North Shore - are drawing strength from each other and from their predominantly Catholic faith.
From now until Nov. 29, the local Filipino community is collecting telephone pledges for its "Bangon Kababayan" fundraising project, which will go to the Canadian Red Cross.
A final fundraising drive will take place at the Barangay North Vancouver-Filipino Community Centre, 113 East Third St. on Nov. 29 from 5 to 10 p.m. For information email bangon. [email protected] or phone 604-773-6641.
