I'm very grateful to Hive and the community for the help extended to Hivers that have been affected by the typhoon. Fundraising campaigns have been sprouting left and right and I'm very blessed to be part of this community. As for me, I have been very busy travelling around Cebu to make sure I can connect to the internet and to extend help to our Hiver friends in the south.
To those who are affected by the typhoon, I hope you are all very open to your emotions. I have been struggling with processing my emotions, but I have a different way of coping up. Please hang in there. I don't want to romanticize resilience, but I know we are a resilient bunch. The thing with resilience is that it's really an awesome trait, but it has been taken advantage of by those in power. We still need to demand accountability because the government seemed to be non-existent during times of crisis. It's always the private entities that will take the lead in making sure help is extended. I'm trying not to be political here, but it's the truth on the ground.
We all have different coping mechanisms and I usually resign to the fact that some people are in worse conditions than me. That's why I decided to do everything I can to help. I'm just so thankful to the community for trusting me. My other coping mechanism is to do an introspection and assess how I reacted to the situation. In this post, I would like to share what I have been doing during the days after the typhoon and before Christmas.
Hello everyone!
This is one of my most unforgettable Christmas celebrations. Super Typhoon Odette (Rai) ravaged the Visayas and some parts of Mindanao just a week before Christmas and everyone was caught off-guard. The Philippines is always in a typhoon's path, but Cebu is not usually directly affected so we didn't prepare as much as we should. When the typhoon was about to landfall and before the power was cut off, I was even chatting on Discord that I might be out for a while and can't fulfill my duties. I even said that I will be back the day after. Little did I know that it would take me 5 days before I was able to properly connect to the internet.
According to some reports, Cebu never experienced that category of a typhoon in 30 years. While Yolanda (Haiyan) was stronger, it only affected the northern part of Cebu. I grew up in Negros and I had a fair share of typhoon experiences, but those were nowhere near to this one. When parts of our roof were blown away by the howling wind and everything inside our house was drenched, that's when I realized there's nothing we could do but let the storm pass. While our walls were vibrating and our washing machine outside got toppled over, I kept reassuring my mother that the storm will pass and there's nothing we could do to save anything in the house. She almost cried and wanted to go out to save our washing machine (that I bought from my Hive earnings) because we couldn't afford a new one. I told her we'll just assess the damage in the morning and we would buy a new one if needed.
Without Hive, I don't know if I would be that confident. I'm just thankful for Hive's economics that forced me to save in a way. I'm just relieved that no one in the family and friends got hurt. The morning after the storm had passed was the in-denial phase. Everything's in chaos. People were so busy cleaning and salvaging whatever they can save. Given that damage, I already anticipated that it would still get worse since there's no more electricity, water, and internet connection. People started to panic that the basic necessities started to run out.
On December 17, the day after the typhoon landfall in Cebu, we were still okay, but supplies started to deplete because we didn't prepare for it. We didn't even have a single canned food and those in the refrigerator needed to be cooked because there was no electricity. I was still optimistic, but looking outside and in the streets, people started to go out and scramble where they can find resources. Good thing 
visited me because I had no contact with everyone.
visited me because I had no contact with everyone.
On December 18, that's when we ran out of drinking water. We were lucky that the company just across the street provided everyone in the vicinity with water from their deep well. It was drinkable and I had no problems with it, but my mother couldn't drink anything that's not mineral or distilled water. We went to a lot of water refilling stations, but it's either they're closed or the queue would take a minimum of 6 hours and there was no assurance that we could get water. I decided to buy 1 box containing 20 1L mineral water just to prepare for the worst. It was for my mother, but we ended up sharing some with our neighbours because they also run out of drinking water.
On December 19, together with 
, we decided to go to Cebu IT Park to withdraw money and buy canned goods that could last us a week. There was a signal at IT Park and I tried to upload a post, but I couldn't upload a single photo. We were able to withdraw after a long queue at the ATM. We bought groceries also after a long queue at the supermarket. We shared some of the canned goods I bought with our neighbours and I gave them money enough to buy 5 kilos of rice.
, we decided to go to Cebu IT Park to withdraw money and buy canned goods that could last us a week. There was a signal at IT Park and I tried to upload a post, but I couldn't upload a single photo. We were able to withdraw after a long queue at the ATM. We bought groceries also after a long queue at the supermarket. We shared some of the canned goods I bought with our neighbours and I gave them money enough to buy 5 kilos of rice.
On December 20, I tried my luck again at IT Park to post that call for help and a fundraising campaign for my neighbours, but I couldn't upload it. That's when I decided that I should stay in Bogo City until December 24. I gave all that money that we withdrew the day before to my sister and instructed her to buy anything that's necessary. Given the money and the groceries, I was slightly at ease to leave them. I withdrew another cash for me to stay at a pension house in Bogo just to connect to the internet and update what's going on here.
On December 21, I travelled north to Bogo City and that's the time I was able to upload a post. Good thing I have awesome friends in Bogo who were with me most of the time. December 22 was mostly just catching up with the backlog in my OCD curation work. On the night of December 23, that's when I was able to wander around Bogo's plaza and take these photos.
I was just observing most of the time as people were enjoying the Christmas lights and having a great time at the park. The pandemic and the aftermath of the typhoon seemed to be non-existent. I usually don't enjoy these attractions anymore, but considering that majority of Cebu is in the dark, that moment seemed to be a luxury. I even felt I indulged myself too much knowing that my family was left at home in the dark. I felt nostalgic not because of the lights, but because of the people that are enjoying the lights at the park. It feels very pre-pandemic, but also very different. It felt weird reminiscing the times when I was still enjoying these things. It's as if it was in the distant past when I don't have much worry in the world yet.
On December 24, I went home after spending 4 days and 3 nights in Bogo City. But after I put my bag, I immediately went to my friend's place to charge my phone, power bank, and our emergency light. I didn't even stay at our house for 5 minutes. I guess it's my reality for now. I have to be always on the move to either look for basic resources or find a signal where I can update in OCD.
I walked going home in a familiar street, but it was so dark. It was a complete contrast to these photos. It was the first time that I was able to clearly see the stars and recognize the constellations from the city. I got home and saw that one adobo dish my mother prepared for Christmas. We usually prepare a lot during Christmas eve, but it was impossible considering the current situation.
Most of Cebu is still in the dark except here in the northern part and in those places that can afford to run a generator. I am now in San Remegio with so that we can continue with our work in OCD and continue blogging. We were in the south 2 days ago and they were completely disconnected there. Laarni (
) and Yohann (
) are okay. Christian (
) and Laica (
) are also okay. We went there to turn over the donations to Moalboal Dog Rescue and to check on them. We also shared a little bit of help with them using the funds I gathered from the fundraising post I did. I'll have an update on that one in the next post.
so that we can continue with our work in OCD and continue blogging. We were in the south 2 days ago and they were completely disconnected there. Laarni () and Yohann () are okay. Christian () and Laica () are also okay. We went there to turn over the donations to Moalboal Dog Rescue and to check on them. We also shared a little bit of help with them using the funds I gathered from the fundraising post I did. I'll have an update on that one in the next post.
This ordeal solidified the idea that anything you have can be taken away from you in an instant. I had a lot of plans for the year-ender, but all of those are cancelled as there's a different plan that the universe has in store for me. Now, that we're done with the donation drive for Moalboal Dog Rescue, I'll focus on my donation drive to help those affected by the typhoon.
I guess that's all for this post. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May you be blessed abundantly as you enter the new year.
Kim Ybañez
Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines). He's also a trying hard photographer so stay tuned as he shares his photos and his thought process while creating them.
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