Concerned students like Ivan Mejia are using Facebook to reach family members in south-east Asia's flood-ridden Philippines. Photo by Juan Antonio Sison
JUAN ANTONIO SISON
NEWS REPORTER
Concerned Filipino students at Humber are using social networks like Facebook and cell phones to keep in touch with their family and friends in the Philippines after Typhoon Ketsana devastated Manila, the country’s capital.
Ivan Mejia, a second-year fitness and health promotion student, said he is “very saddened,” about the disaster.
Mejia’s brother, Marco, was in Manila for a wedding the day the storm hit. Ivan said he wasn’t worried abouthis brother’s safety because Marco updated his Facebook status frequently, saying he was okay. Ivan said Marco is now helping Red Cross distribute food supplies in affected areas.
“I’m hoping people are willing to reach out and help,” said Ivan Mejia.
A typhoon is a hurricane that takes place in the South Pacific.
The reported death toll from the storm, which hit the region Sept. 26, is more than 500, with over 2.5 million people displaced, according to a UNICEF media release.
A state of calamity was declared by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with the arrival of a second typhoon, Parma, on Oct. 3. Parma struck the northern province of Cagayan and reportedly killed 15 people.
Kazielle Santos, a third-year nursing student, is from Cagayan and said she is “worried about what’s going on.” Santos grandparents’ house has hip-deep water on the first floor of their two storey home.
“Hopefully everyone’s okay,” she said. Santos’ grandfather called his relatives in Canada via cellular phone because landlines were damaged.
Hanneli Herras’ aunt is living with knee high water in her home in Manila. Herras, a third-year nursing student, said her cousins cannot attendschool for a few weeks due to flooded roads. Herras’s birthday is this month and she plans to turn her party into a fundraiser, asking friends to donate at least five dollars.
“It’s important for me to help people in my homelands who are struggling,” she said.
The GTA has over 170,000 Filipinos according to a 2006 Statistics Canada census report.
The Pilipino Internal Support Network (P-ISN) has an account set up with the Philippine National Red Cross website to accept donations.
Const. Philip Mendoza, P-ISN vicechair, said he wants “something positive in the end for all people.”