I was browsing for featured articles on Freshly Pressed to find interesting posts I can comment on and caught sight of the title “Waiting at Tacloban Airport“. Aside from completing my day 11 Zero to Hero challenge, I was really glad to have found Trueboots’ post; a very heartwarming story of selfless service to humankind.
I felt pride and pity all at the same time.
I was proud of the fact that Trueboots replied to my comment, ” I felt honored to be able to help. So many wonderful people in the Philippines!”
Indeed, we are one of the friendliest races in the world. Being wonderfully friendly is an inherent trait of Filipinos; a trait that resounds to the world famous “Filipino Hospitality“. As the only Catholic country in Asia, it may be because of our strong faith that no matter what situation we may be in, good or bad, we always come out of it strong and fighting and smiling. The story of Trueboots is a testimony of my national pride.
Still, I feel sad. The situation in Tacloban was the worst than any one of us can imagine to happen in our life time. It’s like what we see in award-winning movies with the best cinematography; the total destruction of property, lives, and livelihood. It is a nightmare that we can so likely lose our very own selves in hopelessness and doubt; can make us question what we have done wrong to deserve such harsh unimaginable chastisement.
But because we are Filipinos, we can never lose hope and we will never lose hope. Our self-worth is stronger than any tragedy.
“She thanked me for what we did to help them, and then she bent down to open up her one single bag of possessions to pull out a bag of crackers she had.
“Please take some food,” she said, offering me what she had. I was already floored by her bravery–and her generosity just made me cry. Even though some crackers might’ve been a nice change from my days of eating cold MREs, I couldn’t accept her kind offer. But I gave both her and her husband a hug as I left them in line. And I’ll never forget their kindness and generosity in the midst of such a desperate situation.”
These very words of Trueboots moved me to tears. The bravery and generosity – true enough, because we are Filipinos.
DANDELION'S DEN 
Thanks for your kind words about my blog! My experience in the Philippines was life-changing. I will never forget the breathtaking scale of destruction that I saw in Leyte, but I will also never forget the inspiring hope, warmth, and optimism of the many Filipinos I interacted with–busy at work rebuilding, helping others, and remembering kindness even in their worst moments. In the end I think that those Filipinos helped me more than I could ever help them.
You’re welcome! 🙂 It’s just my little way of showing gratitude to you and all volunteers from around the world who can read my blog, and that as much as we can never forget the tragic destruction brought upon the Filipinos in Leyte, we are more to remember the selfless charity of people like you who helped re-build lives and gave us hope. 🙂