February: The Philippines in Global News

February was a hard month for the Philippines. The country was featured more times in international news than any other month since we've been here. Although some of the stories might not have had a profound impact on those outside the Philippines, they have stirred some emotion here.

Feb 04: A stampede at a gameshow in Manila left more than 70 people dead, and many injured. This happened at an arena which is located very close to our church. The day after the event, I called up one of the pastors to see if there was anything that our church could do to help these people. We decided to go to the nearby hospital to attend to the spiritual needs of some of the survivors. It was hard to hear their stories, but they were genuinely glad that we came.

Feb 17: A massive mudslide in Leyte, burying more that 300 people. Quite a few of our Stateside friends contacted us to see how/if we were affected by event. Leyte is about 200 miles from Manila, and it is under a totally different weather system. While the mudslide was caused by massive amounts of rain, we were getting barely a drop here, so we were not affected. A father of one of Ellen's students was quickly sent to the area to see how his organization could help in relief efforts.

Feb 24: An attempted coup is supressed by the president of the Philippines on the 20th anniversary of the famed "People Power" movement. This whole situation was a lesson for me in Philippine politics--which can get quite confusing. As we watched all of this unfold on TV, I was hardpressed to figure out what was really going on, and I doubt most other did, either.

Despite the troubles that have been forced upon them, the Filipino still remains one of the most gracious and hospitable groups of people that I have ever met in my travels. Their smiles are always with them and their attitudes are positive, even in the worst of times--a lesson that I hope to someday learn myself.