Here comes the sun

... and it's alright.

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I don't think I've ever been THIS happy to see the sun again.

It's been a long cold lonely winter.

For the past three weeks --- especially from last Monday until this morning --- Manila has experienced nothing but torrential rain accompanied by scary thunder and lightning. It honestly felt like a recurring dream that would never end well and there was nothing I wanted more than to go back home and hug my family but the flood prevented me from doing so.

I was safe and dry here in my apartment in Quezon City (special mention to my good friend Mich's family for treating me as their own) but I was so worried for my family in flood-prone places Navotas and Malinta. I was sick with worry last Wednesday night as it was so difficult to contact them. Thankfully my parents and siblings were not affected by the flood except for the power outage in Navotas which has been solved yesterday. As for my aunt, she was rescued together with my grandparents and my cousins (five year-old Jerico and four month-old Gab) from the second floor of their house as the flood already reached chest-deep levels. It was so scary! She said they were soaking wet but they put Gab in a durabox so he won't get sick. It was heartbreaking to imagine them going through a situation like that but I am just so thankful that they are now safe. They are currently staying at their neighbor's family who lives in another village and hopes to return back to their house once the flood subsides so they can start cleaning and rebuilding. Thank God for brave rescuers and kind-hearted neighbors ♥

And hey and hooray, the sun peeked from the clouds today!

It feels like years since it's been here.

But even though the rain has stopped and the flood has started subsiding, a lot of our countrymen (especially those based in NCR and other neighboring provinces) still need a lot of help rebuilding their lives. A lot of people lost their houses and even their loved ones, and thousands more are still in evacuation centers. I consider myself really fortunate to have come out of this unnamed and destructive monsoon unscathed.

It is undeniable how indispensable Twitter and Facebook have been in disseminating important information that have saved and rescued lives. When I tweeted how worried I was for my aunts, I immediately got a barrage of supportive tweets and directions on how I can ask for them to be rescued. That same night, rescue came. Thank you, wonderful world wide web. Of course you cannot stop scare-mongering trolls, but good and responsible netizens definitely outnumber them.

Now, it would be great if we can utilize the same social networking sites to spread details on how we can help. I've personally experienced losing everything except for the clothes I was wearing when a big fire razed through our neighborhood back in 2001. Likewise I've experienced other people's kindness and generosity first-hand when we received donations from our school, the local government, and even from complete strangers. Other people may never know this, but sometimes a bag of relief goods can spell the difference between losing all hope and renewing faith that everything will be okay again. Our family hasn't been the same since the tragedy struck us but I can proudly say we've grown stronger and closer to each other. Every little thing means a lot, so long as it's given freely and with good intentions. When you can, please pay it forward and donate; it will definitely go a long way. Visit reliefPH.com for a consolidated list of evacuation and relief centers where you can drop off relief goods and other donations. Bangon, Pilipinas.

PS: We may not score top medals at the Olympics, but you cannot argue with the beauty and resilience of the Filipino spirit. I am sure we will go through this. I just hope though that this serves as a lesson to all of us (especially the government) to focus on more important matters like flood prevention. The Philippines is an archipelago so this is bound to happen again... I just hope we will be better prepared next time.

Here comes the sun, and I say it's all right.

Peace, Love & Lipgloss. ♥