The unimaginable ravages by the COVID-19 pandemic are brought to our lounge rooms from morning till night. We regularly get updates on the tally of new cases and fatalities caused the by the virus, as well as available government assistance and required control measures. As the government closed businesses in order to control the spread of the virus, the 'casualties' include Filipino international students and holders of 457 visas who lost their employment.
It is heartening to see various postings on social media showing how the Filipino-Australian community as a whole, through various groups, has extended a helping hand to kababayans in the categories mentioned above. Filipino stores, restaurants and individuals, as well as groups have generously given food packs, groceries and even shared cooked food with them.
These benefactors include Kapamilya Shop, Mama Lor Restaurant & Bakery, Panlasang Pinoy, Supersave Convenience, and A Team's Kitchen to name a few. There are also the good Samaritans of the HaPi ( Handog ng Pinoy) Team for its Share a Meal Program; the Association of Pinoy Students in Australia (APSA) through its Feed A Student program; The Filipino Student Council of NSW and Vincent Migs Vilanueva's appeals. [Please see contact details at the bottom of this article.]
At an interview by Radio Tagumpay* on March 30, 2020, Kapamilya owner Shiela McAleer, said: "I know what it was like. I used to be a student, who had to work and send money back home. It is good to be able to extend help now that I have the resources to do so. The heartbreaking messages posted by those affected by the crisis touched me to take action. My message to our kababayans is that this is not permanent; we will get through this. We just need to help one another."
The back-to-back Radio Tagumpay interviews of Mao de Vega of HaPi Team and Vida Francisco of APSA will also be aired on Monday, April 20. Both will speak about the initiatives they are undertaking, explaining how to avail of the assistance and thanking the generous donors of the grocery and food items.
The Australian Filipina also shared the story of Ella Ponce who used to work as a nurse and has recently given up her work to be with her family and her other passion of cooking. Ella took time and used her resources to cook and give out 100 trays of meals to the students.
But it is not just about sharing food, I noted a social media posting where wife and husband team of Ala [nee Paredes] and John Buencamino of St Peters, was contributing in another way. I contacted Ala to know about the project they were doing.
Ala said: "The face shields are an initiative by a local reuse centre called Reverse Garbage. They're very well-known in the Inner West and have been doing good work for decades. They put together the mask-making kits into sets of 20, then they do a call out for volunteers.
"So John and I saw the call-out, went there, picked up a kit, and spent the weekend assembling the masks. Afterwards, we drop it back there. They sound a call out every week."
When asked what level of handskills are involved, Ala said: "It doesn't require any skill at all, If you know how to stick tape down, you're good."
The reach out to our kababayans is not just from within our community. One of our good friends, Jo Reardon of South Australia, has been making reversible and washable face masks for donating to frontliners I know who have requested them.
A posting also highlighted a Wentworth Point resident who is of Chinese heritage, Andrew Xiang, gave out thousands of masks on April 12. On his posting, Andrew reported: "In total 10,420 masks have been distributed to locals for free in just 1 hour on Easter day today. Each gets 1 bag containing 20 masks. No one breached social distancing, no long queue. Police parked their car in front twice, all peaceful. Just did my bits to help the locals."
What Andrew shared above is all true; I was there, as well as other kababayans such as friend Danny Alnajes. I went to the distribution point announced in his social media posting, firstly out of curiosity and observe how the initiative will pan out. He was giving each person who went to the venue, one pack of 10 disposable masks. So a few kababayans and I got a pack each. Contrary to some comments on the announcement that the offer was a scam, it was truly a genuine act of kindness.
We all have a part to play in this fight with a nasty and invisible enemy. A small help through any of the initiatives referred to above, goes a long way. Just as important is doing our part in helping flatten the curve - wash our hands often, wear masks, observe social distancing protocols and go out only for essential needs. STAY HOME AND SAVE LIVES.
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Share a Meal : Adopt a 457 Worker/Student
Contact details: Benjie de Ubago, Mao de Vera
The HaPi Team 0434 516 734; 0411 262 434
Feed-a-Student/Adopt a Student Program
Associatino of Pinoy Students of Australia
https://www.facebook.com/APSA.Australia/
Filipino Association of Student Councils
https://www.facebook.com/FilOzASCEND/
Vincent Migs Villanueva
https://www.facebook.com/Miggyv888
Reverse Garbage Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/RevGarb/
*Radio Tagumpay, airs Mondays 2-4pm, on Triple H 100.1FM; stream via https://www.triplehfm.com.au/