The Erindale Filipino Students Association will hold a fundraiser this week for the victims of tropical storm Ketsana. Located in the CCT building, the fundraiser will start at 10 a.m. and close at 4 p.m. every day from today until Thursday.
EFSA comprises of at least 150 Filipinos from the UTM community.
On September 26, tropical storm Ketsana (locally known as Ondoy) lashed over Metro Manila and its neighbouring provinces, bringing an unparalleled rainfall of 341 millimetres in the first six hours alone, which led to a massive flood.
Almost 300 people have lost their lives. Over 600,000 now depend on donated food, clothing, and beddings. Many are stranded on the rooftops of their homes. Vehicles got washed away by the waters and piled up as the water rose to past the second floor of victims homes. An estimated $110.2 million worth of infrastructure and agriculture were destroyed. In the next few days, the storm killed 14 people in Cambodia, 16 in Laos, and 99 in Vietnam.
As if it wasn’t enough, typhoon Pharma hit part of the Philippines last Saturday, displacing over 6,000 people and killing at least four.
Filipinos have been helping each other, exemplifying bayanihan, which refers to a spirit of collective unity and cooperation. An American blogger who lives in the Philippines commented on the website tumblr that he wished you could all see the amazing community spirit, charity, and compassion in the Philippines…People here have less to give, yet they are giving abundantly.
Canada, on the other hand, offers to speed up the immigration of Filipinos directly and significantly affected by Ketsana who wish to relocate here according to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. Around 330,000 Canadians are ethnically Filipinos who represent Canadas third largest ethnic minority, according to a 2001 consensus.
