By now you’ve probably already read the blog post making rounds online about the tons of relief goods gathering molds over at the DSWD warehouse. Hundred of Filipinos in evacuation centers still wait for the millions in international aid to trickle down to them, but this is the Philippines we live in, hardly anything ever trickles down to those who need them. In times like these it’s quite easy to accuse government departments like the DSWD of being greedy and corrupt, of hoarding all the good “imported” relief goods in warehouses, but we have to give them the benefit of the doubt once in a while. Not everyone who doesn’t do their job is corrupt, after all. Sometimes, people are just incompetent.
And this here is an unrelated image, having nothing at all to do with what I want to do with incompetent people running government agencies.
As much as we would like to bash the people in charge of the DSWD for this crap, it doesn’t quite solve the problem of getting these relief goods prepared and delivered. So the nice people at RockEd posted a call for volunteers to anyone who would like to put their two hands to work, doing the work our government is too messed up to do, and as usual we here at FF hear the prayers of our fellow Filipinos. And once in a while, which is already more often than God, we decide to answer them.
If you have some free time this week and would like to help do this crappy government’s job of giving aid to its citizens, send me an email or text my number. Include your name, what days you’re available and what time. I’ll be coordinating all FF members who decide to help, and if we have enough we might be able to arrange for transportation from the guys at RockEd.
Some information:
The place is at Chapel Road (what’s with these addresses?), near NAIA II, Pasay City. The jobs that need doing are mostly repacking, and we already know we’re such master packers. If you’re worried about transportation, send me a message and I’ll work something out. The DSWD Action Center is open from 8am to 10pm, although they really should be working round the clock now that they’ve gotten flack for their laziness.
Tentative first day of work is this October 26, Monday afternoon to evening, and depending on how that goes we might decide to work on other weeknights. But the sure dates are next Saturday and Sunday, all day. We’ll make a meet-up of it. Hell, if we get enough people I’m tempted to hold a master packer packing contest. I’ll provide the prize. ^^
But I’m getting carried away.
You know how this works. People are praying, and the mountains of stuff in the DSWD warehouse haven’t moved an inch. Fact is, faith the size of a mountain couldn’t move a mustard seed. But we can. So let’s get our two hands working.
