STEINBACH, Man. — As Manitoba’s Filipino community rallies to raise money to help friends and family back home, a Steinbach man is thankful to be alive.
Edwin Sonsona was in the Philippines when Typhoon Haiyan struck on Friday. He arrived back in Canada Sunday night.
“I took cover, because I was scared the wind would blow,” said Sonsona as he watched the destruction on TV from the safety of his home.
Sonsona took refugee on the top floor of a hotel along with hundreds of locals, as the winds gusted to more than 275 kilometres an hour. They watched as cars were flipped like toys and trees uprooted before they took cover and prayed.
Get daily National news
Many Filipinos are still recovering from an earthquake on Oct. 15.
“They don’t care about their house or everything; they wanted to be safe, especially the children, because of what they experienced from the earthquake,” said Sonsona.
Sonsona went to his homeland in late October for a high school reunion and to help his community rebuild after the earthquake.
He brought a $10,000 donation from his employer, Hylife Inc.
The day he was supposed to fly back to Canada, the storm hit, leaving him stranded.
“I kept texting my family, kept calling my family from time to time,” said Sonsona, “but I didn’t tell the story of what happened there, because they’d get stressed or my wife would be scared.”
Back home, the Filipino community in Winnipeg, 70,000 strong, are rallying once again raising money to help their country rebuild.
“Not only immediate needs, or a few days, few weeks, but imagine Christmas, imagine New Year’s, imagine next year,” said Mike Pajemolin with the HOPE Worldwide Philippines Organization.
The province has contributed $100,000 but Sonsona says more help is needed.
“I’m not saying I’m not coming back,” said Sonsona. “I’m not scared, I want to help, but when I was there I was scared.”
Having seen it first hand, Sonsona is determined to help and plans to return in the new year.
Comments