August 2, 2024
Cebu scholars raise funds, encode for Typhoon Carina victims
By Joy Rojas
Where were you when torrential monsoon rains brought in by Typhoon Carina (Gaemi) last July 22 and 23 triggered mudslides and engulfed most of Metro Manila and nearby provinces in raging floodwaters reminiscent of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) in 2009?
Tzu Chi scholars Andrel Arreglado and Diane June Guinita were in their native Cebu, but that didn’t stop them from “doing good deeds every day,” as Dharma Master Cheng Yen often beckons, even from hundreds of miles away.
Like the Tzu Chi volunteers who brought snacks and comfort to families in a survey of areas hit hardest by the rains and floods (Tondo in Manila, Tatalon in Quezon City, Malanday in Valenzuela, Nangka and Tumana in Marikina, and San Mateo and Montalban in Rizal), and Tzu Chi scholars who participated in the packing of relief goods for distribution to typhoon-ravaged communities, Arreglado and Guinita took the initiative to help ease the suffering of Filipinos affected by the storm.
On July 28, Arreglado organized a fundraising project, inviting six other Tzu Chi scholars to request for monetary donations as they went from house to house in their poor neighborhood of Pulpogan. Though an unexpected downpour forced them to cut their charity work short, the scholars managed to raise and turn over a little over P2,000. At home, volunteerism continued with the scholars texting family and friends to send their donations through the mobile wallet app GCash.
To help facilitate the distribution of relief goods, four scholars encoded the names, addresses, contact numbers, and number of family members of Tzu Chi’s Typhoon Carina beneficiaries. Guinita encoded the names of beneficiaries who sought shelter at Justice Vicente Santiago Elementary School in San Mateo, Rizal, while Arreglado encoded 81 pages of beneficiaries who stayed at the St. Ana Evacuation Center, in Barangay Sta. Ana, in San Mateo.
When the next disaster strikes, think of Arreglado and Guinita, who are proof of Master Cheng Yen’s oft-repeated aphorism, “Giving is a privilege of the sincere.”
The youngest of four children of a widow who makes a living as a laundry woman, Guinita says helping others comes naturally for her. Being a Tzu Chi scholar, which exposed her opportunities to extend compassion and aid to the less fortunate, enhanced her values even more. “Now I help with heart,” says the 20-year-old incoming second year BS Computer Engineering student from Cebu Technological University.
The son of streetsweepers, Arreglado shelved his original dream of becoming a teacher due to his parents’ meager earnings. A Tzu Chi scholarship—and the lessons imparted in every Humanity class—revealed a new dream.
“A few years back, when I volunteered for relief operations for Typhoon Odette (Rai), I interacted with the beneficiaries,” he says. “It was then that I realized, the world is really loud, literally and figuratively. Someone needs to listen, and I want to be the one who listens.” The 19-year-old incoming second year BS Psychology student of Cebu Normal University is now looking into either pursuing law or his master’s in social work.
“I really thank Tzu Chi not just for the monetary assistance that they gave me, but for helping me find my purpose,” he says.
(From left) Tzu Chi Cebu scholars Angel Mary Dalaygon, Mary Noreen Portin, Honeylyn Pelayo, Andrel Arreglado, Amy Aligno, Kristel Jane Zamora, and Jecel Monterola raised a little over P2,000 for victims of Typhoon Carina (Gaemi) in a house-to-house fundraising project in their neighborhood of Pulpogan.
Tzu Chi Cebu scholars brave the rain as they go from house to house in their neighborhood of Pulpogan, collecting donations for victims of Typhoon Carina (Gaemi).
With every donation for the victims of Typhoon Carina (Gaemi), Tzu Chi Cebu scholars bow in gratitude and humility.
With every donation for the victims of Typhoon Carina (Gaemi), Tzu Chi Cebu scholars bow in gratitude and humility.
With every donation for the victims of Typhoon Carina (Gaemi), Tzu Chi Cebu scholars bow in gratitude and humility.
Tzu Chi Cebu scholars, like Noella Jane Medidas, volunteered to encode the names of Typhoon Carina (Gamei) beneficiaries who will receive relief packs from Tzu Chi.
One of four Tzu Chi Cebu scholars who volunteered to encode, Diane June Guinita encoded the names of beneficiaries who sought shelter at Justice Vicente Santiago Elementary School in San Mateo, Rizal
Andrel Arreglado encoded the names of beneficiaries who stayed at the St. Ana Evacuation Center, in Barangay Sta. Ana, San Mateo, Rizal. “I really thank Tzu Chi, not just for the monetary assistance that they gave me, but for helping me find my purpose,” says the 19-year-old incoming second year BS Psychology student of Cebu Normal University.