[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlF_3Nofags[/youtube]
Tyhpoon Yolanda – Food for Life – a short film by Raymond Pangan
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlF_3Nofags[/youtube]
November 20-30 — About 8,200 hot vegan meals were served in Tacloban from November 15 to November 20 by the Sankirtan FFL team headed by Balarama Dasa. Simultaneously, another 2,730 vegan meals were served in Manila by the Food for Life team headed by Makanlal Dasa & head chef Gokula Chandra Dasa. In Cebu, 4,200 hot vegan meals were served from November 23-30 in some places in Northern Cebu with the help of Gopal Krishna Dasa, Jayasri Devi Dasi and her family who owns the Monterey School where the FFL team set up the kitchen. Hot meals were served while some local monks entertained the locals with kirtan. A total of 15,130 meals have been served over the past 13 days. Local Officials Fully Supporting FFL On November 30th, the Food for Life emergency relief team reached Bantayan Island, which took 5 hours by road and a 1 hour barge. The local […]
November 11 – Our FFL team started out for Leyte in the morning. We left our base camp at around 8am to travel some 1500 km Abuyog, Leyte. We drove to Legazpi city in the Albay province. November 12 – We continued driving, carrying rice, dahl and vegetables, diesel and fresh water in preparation of the challenging situation ahead of us. We then reached the port in Matnog, Sorsogon at around 11:00 pm only to be greeted by a huge line of motorists and passengers all waiting to catch the boat. All of them had been stranded for days because of the typhoon. Luckily, we managed to get into the priority lists to board the boat. November 13 – At 1:00am we finally boarded the ship. We continued our journey until we reached Catbalogan city in Samar, about 100km away from Tacloban — ground zero for emergency relief. Some of […]
“We are working almost 24hrs a day” November 19 – More packages of hot rice and tofu bean curry were served at the Villamore Airbase to the newly arrived victims of the Typhoon who were later transported to the evacuation centers in Manila. November 18 – The Food for Life team is currently in Sogod Leyte acquiring more supplies for feeding. More than 2000 meals were served this morning in Tacloban city, Palo and Tanauan Leyte. On Sunday, the volunteers serve over 1500 meals in the townships of Mayorga, Dulag and Tolosa. “We are working almost 24hrs a day,” explains emergency relief coordinator, Balaram Das. “It takes a lot of time to prepare meals under these tough conditions. We start cooking as early as 1am and then we leave around 8am for the distribution, before returning as late as 12 midday, only to get ready to do it all again for […]
UPDATE – Eight Food for Life volunteers from Manilla left on Nov 11 by land transport to Legaspi city and then took a two-day boat ride to Samar. The delays were due to many other charitable groups all moving in the same direction trying to help out. Volunteer director, Balarama das, explained, “It is very dangerous because people are becoming wild and desperate due to hunger and trauma.” Another group of Food for Life volunteers from Manila are prepared to leave as soon as possible. Food for Life Emergency Relief Coordinator for the Philippines, Radha Lila said, “Our support team in Manilla are trying to raise funds locally while Food for Life Global, The Lotus Trust and other Filipino people are trying to help us raise abroad. “The main issue with the relief endeavour is transportation. Our present Food for Life vehicle that we use for our daily feeding in […]
Typhoon Haiyan roared over the Philippines with pounding rain and top sustained winds approaching 200 mph as it neared the coast. “It is the strongest tropical cyclone on record that’s made landfall, writes Jeff Masters at Wunderground. That death toll is expected to rise. According to the AP, “close to 720,000 people had been evacuated from towns and villages in the typhoon’s path across the central Philippines, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.” FOOD FOR LIFE RESPONDS Food for Life Philippines is responding to the emergency with hot vegan meals. A team of volunteers is gathering resources and equipment to expand their efforts immediately. A spokesperson for the team, Balarama Das, contacted Food for Life Global for assistance. “We are sending money to help with the initial stages of the relief effort,” explains director, Paul Turner. “However, the response to this national disaster is going to be a long-term […]