Update on Typhoon Mirinae

As some of you are likely to be aware, another typhoon hit Manila overnight. We were fortunate to be able to leave before it arrived, but it was very cloudy when we left and we were worried for our friends.

We have just got off a skype call to Sikap where HOM has it's main church and office. A lot of Manila had lost power including Sikap and Sally's home, but the power came back on when we were online so we were able to talk.

The main church area had flooded once again and the team had just finished cleaning it up. We spoke about a couple of options to try and help with the flooding of the church area when we were out there so hopefully we will be able to do something soon.

We are aware that some homes in Florante have had their roofs damaged, as the typhoon this time came with strong winds (Ondoy just dumped a load of rain on Manila, but had relatively light winds). Sally and Joey will tour the communities tomorrow after the main service and see what other damage has been caused.

Return of UK team

Just to update you we have safely arrived back in the UK. Thank you all for your prayer support.

We will be putting more updates here about our last two days as we were quite busy and didn't get much blogging time.

Blog from Hong Kong

The wonders of free Wi-Fi at Hong Kong airport allows a brief blog on our way home. We still have not told about our emotional farewells with the communities yesterday, but that will have to wait until we get home.

But a five hour gap between flights at Hong Kong gave us the chance to speed on the airport express to the centre of the city and its famous harbour. It was a bit of a lightning tour (and in view of an apparent flight delay, we perhaps could have stayed a little longer!) but we took in the brief sights and lights. And very spectacular they are too!

Perhaps the sudden jump from 'third world' Manila to 'first world' Hong Kong is too stark however. It made us think about the systems that cause some to be rich and many more to be poor, and to wonder about some of the large issues of our day. We also somehow missed the chaos, noise, dirt and vibrancy of life in Manila. And especially we missed the friendly wonderful people we have been with this last week, who are so materially poor, but have made us feel so rich to know.

Last Post from Manila

We have much more to say but it will have to wait to the UK now as we are packing frantically. We had our last night for a while in the humid heat of Manila with its constant fumes and beeping of traffic horns. What a place! And we are so sorry to be leaving the beautiful people of Manila.

We shall return!

New Typhoon

Please pray that a new typhoon that is threatening Manila on Saturday will change course and diminish in power. It is worrying that the people we have been with are under threat by more devastation, especially when 'normal' life is so vulnerable.

The new typhoon is internationally called Mirinae, but the Philippines always give typhoons a local name which is Santi. (See news story here)

A Glimpse of Something Better?

On one of our visits to one of the squatter communities I noticed a very small amount of some much better looking housing (probably about 20 dwellings amongst thousands of ramshackle shelters). I was informed that these had been built in co-operation with the government and a non-government agency. They cost about 500 pesos a month to rent (about £7) - but that is still far too much for the many squatters who try to make a living by scavenging and fail to find enough to eat. But a sign of hope?...

Feeding the Children

Because so many children in the poor squatter communities are under-nourished, Hands of Mercy seeks to provide regular feeding sessions where they can receive some of the nutrients they need to grow healthily. The children and the parents gather with spoons at the ready! We helped distribute the much appreciated food.