The Bayanihan Spirit Lives

One of the worse things you can find out on a Saturday morning is that your family, who is a thousand miles away is in the middle of a deadly typhoon called Ondoy  (known internationally as Ketsana). If it weren’t for Facebook, I would have been left unaware of what was transpiring. The international news channels were slow to pick-up on this breaking story, so I could only turn to social media on the web for important information. What I saw in my network were images, links, and status updates about the floods that were caused by the storm.  It was enough for me to reach out for the phone and frantically dial back home.

Getting through the line was difficult, and nobody was picking up at home (of course they were busy trying to save themselves). It took several calls from different relatives to piece together information about what was happening to my family. All I knew was: One, they were stranded in our attic with water breaching our second floor! Two, there was no electricity so they were trying to save their cellphone batteries for important, rescue related calls. I was beside myself with worry.  Finally, a desperate text message came in from my sister asking for help and prayers. They needed to be rescued because they feared the rain would not stop and the water would reach them.

Fortunately, the rain stopped and the water finally subsided. I thank God that my family is safe and alive. There is a lot of loss and damage, but material possessions can always be replaced. We are still lucky compared to the other 450,000 families that were left homeless.

If there was anything good that came out of this, it is the realization that people are still willing to come together and help each other out. In the Philippines, we call this Bayanihan. Wikipedia describes Bayanihan as a Filipino term taken from the word bayan, referring to a nation, town or community. The whole term bayanihan refers to a spirit of communal unity or effort to achieve a particular objective. It can be traced from a common tradition in Philippine towns where community members volunteer to help a family move to a new place. The process involves literally carrying the house to its new location. This is done by putting bamboo poles forming a strong frame to lift the stilts from the ground and carrying the whole house with the men positioned at the ends of each pole. (If you want to get an idea of how this looks like,  Flickr has some interesting photos here.)

A perfect example comes from this article I read about flood victims helping out other flood victims. They had no money to give, but when they saw how others fared worse, they took to volunteering. Another story that really touched me was about this teenager who rescued 30 people before he was swept away. He is selfless hero who is now an inspiration to many Filipinos. His name is Muelmar Magallanes.

It is also great to hear that Filipinos abroad are extending help, from Canada, the Middle- East, to the U.S. Even other countries and international institutions are giving assistance.

Another thing I have observed is that the Bayanihan spirit is evolving. It has now invaded the web. Social media did a lot of good connecting people from across the globe. Personally, if it weren’t for updates posted on Facebook, Twitter and various blogs, I wouldn’t have known what to do. Communities on the net converged to take action. These are good articles on how citizens are extending help to flood victims here and here. I even actually saw some celebrities tweet about our cause:

Demi Moore wrote: “Typhoon victims in Philippines in dire need of food/clothing. Call the American Red Cross to help. 18004357669.”

Alyssa Milano tweeted the same message and posted an Associated Press article reporting the devastation caused by Ondoy.

International singer Josh Groban, meanwhile, tweeted: “My heart goes out to my friends in the Philippines.”

All of these just give me and everyone else hope for things to come. It is empowering to think that technology is helping to spread this sense of community. We all know there is a tendency to place blame or point fingers after disasters like this happens, but from the looks of it, everyone is focusing on lending a hand and moving forward. 

If you want to show your sense of Bayanihan please go to http://twitter.com/bayanihanspirit for a list of ways to help. I have also personally set-up a Bayanihan Relief Fund where I encourage everyone to chip in! The site address is http://bayanihanspirit.chipin.com/typhoon-ondoy-victims. Any amount will be appreciated and will be put to great use! Financial aid is the fastest way to get to these victims. Please act now!

Related Articles

Ondoy’s fury sparks Pinoy bayanihan spirit, ABS-CBN.

Baynihan, Inquirer.net.

Filipinos Document Their ‘Katrina’ Online, The New York Times.

Philippines Notebook: A national disaster brings death and blame, The Huffington Post.