They shoveled the mud off the floor and scrubbed it, wiped clean the walls and cleared the roof of debris.
SCHOLARS of Ormoc Tzu Chi Youth and other community volunteers remove debris around an old couple’s house at the Tzu Chi Great Love Village in Barangay Liloan, Ormoc, Leyte.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF TZU CHI ORMOC
Floods not only leave a trail of damages and destruction but also dirt in places that it swamped. Old residents of the Tzu Chi Great Love Village in Barangay Liloan, Ormoc, Leyte faced mud and mess at their homes after typhoon “Opong” lashed the province on 25 September.
Anacorita Cuyos and Merlinda Cubico were helpless as they lack the strength to remove the mud and debris marring their homes. So it was a joy and relief that scholars and volunteers from the Ormoc Tzu Chi Youth came on 28 September and lent their helping hands.
The Tzu Chings, as the scholars of the humanitarian organization behind the building of the village are called, together with other volunteers, arrived on pedicabs with equipment and cleaning agents. The boys and girls then removed fallen branches and other debris around Cuyos’ Cubico’s houses. They shoveled the mud off the floor and scrubbed it, wiped clean the walls and cleared the roof of debris.
They also washed the soiled plates in the kitchen.
Watching from the porch, Cubico and Cuyos felt the love and respect of the youths as if they were their own children.
The hard work of the Tzu Chings was soothed by the happiness of the grannies.
“Even though our house was flooded, too, I wanted to help others, especially the elderly. I felt pity for Nanay because they were just the two of them. I climbed their roof to clean it and felt great happiness knowing I could help,” said 16-year-old scholar Reinmart Tumampo, according to Tzu Chi Ormoc’s narration of the charity cleanup on the Medium website.
Meanwhile, members of the Linao Runners Club volunteered to clean up the Tzu Chi Recycling Center in Ormoc.
The feeling of satisfaction from the volunteers proved one teaching of Tzu Chi founder Dharma Master Cheng Yen: When we care for others with a sincere heart, even the smallest act of kindness can bring warmth like the sun after the storm.
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