Sanitation, camp mg't needed at CICC
Sanitation and camp management must be observed at the Cebu International Convention Center grounds where victims of a recent fire in Barangays Mantuyong and Guizo, Mandaue City are temporarily staying.
Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) Integrated Development Unit Executive Director Anthony Dignadice said the fire victims should observe proper sanitation and camp management to safeguard their health.
“If there is a better camp management, there will be better access to facilities like sanitation and garbage collection. This is important for the victims not to be sick,” he said.
Representing RAFI, Dignadice visited the fire victims last March 18 to oversee the distribution of relief packs donated by the foundation to the estimated 2,000 families who were left homeless by the March 12 fire.
The relief packs include a pail, a sleeping mat, three pieces of family- size bath soap, toothpaste, three toothbrushes, six packs laundry powder, and rubbing alcohol. RAFI also gave 16 family-size tents shortly after the blaze.
“Through RAFI Eduardo J. Aboitiz Cancer Center, we will also be doing psycho-social support to the victims. This is because most of the kids are traumatized because of the experience,” Dignadice also said.
He likewise said that RAFI would be part of the technical working committee in-charge of the social preparation component of Mandaue City’s disaster preparedness plan.
The fire victims said they need all the help they could get.
Joan Camargo, a 51-year-old mother, said they were praying for financial assistance and housing materials so they could rebuild their homes. They are currently staying at the CICC grounds because the Mandaue City Government is still re-blocking the fire scene.
“Labing kinahanglan gyud namo ron kay mapuyan nga tarong. Lisod kaayo kay ga-trapal na lang mi. Mas maayo gyud makadawat sab mi og housing materials unta aron makatukod mi og balay,” she said.
She could still vividly remember the fire and how they all fled from their burning community. She said it felt like they were running away from the mouth of hell.
“Wala gyud miy nakita pagpanggawas namo. Among nakita ra gyud ang kalayo nga nikaon na sa mga balay. Nagkadagma gyud mi aron makagawas sa among gipuy-an. Ang uban nikamang na lang kay wala nay makita nga dalan,”
Wala gyud koy nadala bisan usa ka gamit. Pagmata namo, amo nakita ang dako na kaayo nga kalayo nga mura na og katas-a. Hasta akong pustiso wala gani nako madala. Kun unsa among gisulob mao ra ang nahibiling gamit namo ron,” charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field:Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires."
There is one kind of loving, I am certain, that would make us women fierce, without fearing for worldly consequences. This love is most eloquently captured by the words of St. Augustine in his book entitled Confessions, "Why do you mean so much to me? Help me to find words to explain. Why do I mean so much to you, that you should command me to love you? And if I fail to love you, you are angry and threaten me with great sorrow, as if not to love you were not sorrow enough in itself. Have pity on me and help me, O Lord my God. Tell me why you mean so much to me. Whisper in my heart, I am here to save you."
Let us be dangerously fierce and fiercely dangerous not by being slaves of passion nor treating anyone else as lord over our Lord, but by giving ourselves completely to the one true king, Jesus Christ. Women, let us seek to please Him only with all our heart, and He will give us everything. If we commit our lives to Him, imagine how dangerously beautiful we will become?
Chappy Piramide, an aspiring apologist, is a member of Queen City Toastmasters Club (meets every 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month, 6pm at Salt near Redemptorist); Omega Toastmasters Club (meets every 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month, 3pm at IPI Office); and mentor of Viva Sugbo Toastmasters Club (meets every 2nd and 4th Mondays, 7pm at Casino Filipino, Lahug).