We have been busy organizing our relief and recovery efforts. This week, a team of CCT staff and partners from Five Talents and endPoverty traveled to Panay Island to bring relief items (Thank you! Your support has helped in purchasing the medicines, solar lamps, flashlights and batteries that we brought over from Manila) to our branches in Panay, to many areas where electricity has not yet been restored. On the island of Panay alone, over 3,700 of our community partners homes and businesses were destroyed. As we drove our way from Iloilo towards Estancia, closer to the coast where the typhoon passed, more and more trees, buildings, lampposts and signs were over awkwardly or flattened to the ground by the powerful winds.



Caption: Valerie from Five Talents and Tammy from EndPoverty join CCT in delivering solar lights and medicines to CCT's Barotac Viejo branch where electricity still has not been restored.

On our way, we stopped to visit our branch in Barotec Viejo where two of our staff who sought shelter in the office during the storm were safe but their homes destroyed. Throughout our visit to bring relief items and to be present with the staff to encourage them, I was just so impressed by their commitment to serve the poor in the community. The regional leader of Panay, the regional HR officer, and the area pastor were out driving through the ravaged and flooded streets starting Saturday, when the typhoon was coming to an end. Over the weekend, they went to visit all the CCT staff in the area to make sure they were okay. As we drove from branch to branch, I learned that visiting all the CCT staff would require hours and hours of travel by car, through windy mountain roads - and that's on a good day without trees, telephone poles, flooded roads, fallen building materials strewn all over the road.

The staff shared that they were so surprised to see their CCT leaders come and see them and check on them, especially so soon after the storm. It renewed their spirits and their commitment to serve their communities. Without being asked, staff whose homes were completely flattened showed up at the office the Monday after the storm to go and visit their community partners, checking on them, praying with them, bringing relief goods, assessing their immediate and long-term needs. While the needs are great, the hope and joy still visible on the faces of our community partners and staff serves as an inspiration to continue to do whatever we can to help them re-build and get back on their feet. Thank you for your support.