Purpose-Driven Journey

I remember the last trip I took to my homeland like it was yesterday. I left Toronto on November 13th, following my dad's birthday. It was a rather long flight: unfortunately delayed for 20 hours and my aunt began thinking that we should have not even left and it got me worried as well. We arrived in Manila, Philippines on November 15th at around 11pm. This was around the time when Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the country. Though where I live wasn't much affected, the surrounding provinces were devastated as thousands of lives were taken, properties destroyed, natural resources badly diminished.

News stations all over the world followed this tragedy and people donated millions. We saw how the phrase "united nations" happened right before our eyes. The first weekend I was there my cousins invited me to go to this seminary and volunteer to pack relief goods & clothes. I was up for anything I could be or service of and so I went with them. The people I met were amazing. Nuns from convents facilitated everything and the people who helped were from all over the city. I also saw a German couple who were practically carrying heavy boxes from a Red Cross truck and just ever ready to help. That made me smile a lot. I even got appointed by an older lady as a go-to person for when new volunteers would come in and ask around. One thing I noticed during this volunteer session was the readiness and willingness of these people to just help out and make the effort.

A signature quality I found was warmth and their ever smiling faces. Every year, the Philippines experience over 20 typhoons, some mild and most very strong. The flooding in major cities and roads have always been a problem and this is why our disaster preparedness are not up to par as compared to other countries that experience heavy flooding. This tragedy happened before the Holiday season and just knowing that most families were now incomplete and most without a home to go back to, it just broke my heart. I wanted to enjoy my trip so badly because I went through such an interesting yet stressful year and though I somehow achieved that, I guess it's safe to say that this trip also became a mission for me to take and I had no complaints about that. It felt rewarding. It made me realize how blessed I am and that I do really enjoy helping people & making their days.

Throughout this trip I also managed to go out of town with my friends as planned and see my relatives and spend Christmas with them. It was great!