I believe that there are many kind people who will readily give to help the hungry and helpless but do not know how to reach them.
As I drove around the flooded province of Laguna, Philippines, I saw people carrying on with their lives in their flooded homes. Their homes had already been flooded for a whole month and according to the governmental authorities the flood waters would not fully subside for another 4 months because the outlet of the large lagoon (from which Laguna gets its name) into the South China Sea is obstructed by illegal housing and garbage which hinder the outflow of flood waters into the sea.
flooded streets
It was indeed a strange sight to see a housewife wading waist deep in water in her own house carrying a child and watching her TV which is set on a table that is placed on another underwater table. I presume the whole family sleeps on that elevated table since it is the only part of their house that is not submerged. An enterprising lady pulling a little boat laden with daily necessities goes past the house but no one seems to buy anything, probably because no one has money to purchase anything.
As a doctor, I know that these waters are not a mere inconvenience but a deadly danger to the entire population. The filthy water is a perfect media to carry many types of deadly bacteria. There are already outbreaks of dengue fever and leptospirosis (a potentially deadly disease from the urine of rats, etc).
flooded homes
But even more deadly to the population is the contamination of their water sources (eg. wells). The poor cannot afford bottled water, nor can they afford fire-wood to boil their water and many young children will die from diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, etc. Because of malnourishment many young children and babies will perish after a short bout of untreated diarrhoea.
I was told that the local authorities were already out of vitamins, medications and food for this area. When I asked a local how the people got their food since most of their sources of livelihood (ie, the farms) were destroyed, he answered me “Whenever a good Samaritan gives them something.”
In our experience with feeding children in poor countries, we have found that for about US$0.15 to US$0.20 cents per child, we can provide a simple meal of chicken flavoured rice-porridge with bits of chicken in it.
Two large buckets of rice porridge with chicken (costing US$20.00) can provide a meal for a hundred hungry children!
I believe that there are many kind people who will readily give to help the hungry and helpless but do not know how to reach them.
Goducate must be the voice of the helpless to the helpers, and the channel of the helpers to the helpless!
More photos (click thumbnail to view photos):
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