PROJECT RELIEF… RE:LIFE

PROJECT RELIEF… RE:LIFE

ONE HOPE, ONE LIFE, ONE FAMILY AT A TIME

The suffering of a people spares no one who has a heart and hope is the touch of healing.

The horrendous devastation that typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) has caused in the Metropolitan Manila area and the adjacent provinces have changed the condition of many lives. The waters had nowhere to go because the rivers, the lake, the floodways are clogged with mud and debris. All the contents of homes were reduced to smithereens by the fury of the currents. And while we try to do our best to gather from the murky residue whatever else may be salvaged, the damage is beyond retrieval.

From among the ruins of homes and the disintegration of everything that has been built through the years, hope alone remains afloat. A thousand stories of sadness can be told, each survivor with a tale of intense sorrow. Yet a million other stories of hope and the struggle for life continue to convert this tragic episode into a threshold of the noble and the sublime.  Every hand that reaches out to help is an open palm of hope and life.

It was the Filipino’s finest hour. For every cry for help, a thousand hearts responded. The inherent goodness in everyone shone through the darkness of the tragedy, sharing their time, talent and treasure. Through it all, people managed to spread a smile with hope on their faces, heads held high to the heavens: “Thank God, we’re alive!”

Project RELIEF…RE:LIFE is a long term holistic approach addressing the families whose sorrows are more severe, than the loss of property, but also the loss of a loved one: a child, a mother, a father, a sibling…or, in some excruciating instances, the loss of children, parents, a whole family, all mercilessly drowned by the rampage of the currents and the waters that swelled in a matter of minutes to the rooftops. The horrifying scene was beyond words: outstretched hands above the fury of the floods, desperately flailing for help…a family on a raft that violently smashed the underbelly of a bridge instantly perished in full view of those who desperately attempted rescue…the sight of a father who frantically foraged the hillside hoping that the lifeless, muddied body of the young boy he already held in his arms was not his son…a woman found seated and dead in her living room when the waters subsided, her eyes still staring in shock. And there were more.

A death toll of close to 300, and counting, leaves us with one life to be mourned, one family to be healed and cared for, one hope for their refuge and salvation. The burden of loss is without measure, and the grief of death will take time to assuage, help us heal the gaping hole of sorrow with your help.

The Mama Mary’s Movement Foundation intends to focus its assistance on those who suffered the loss of a loved one in the tragedy, one family at a time, attending to their specific needs, until we complete the assistance to the families of the 300 who died.

Why we are focusing on these families one at a time, is because we feel that amidst loosing their worldly possessions, the charge of facing the death of a loved one is a task often difficult to manage alone.  As death’s closest companion is grief. The aching pain of bereavement can last for years. Varied resources are needed to help them heal.  We envision implementing this in a holistic approach focusing on their “well-being” as their specific need arises. There are four (4) aspects in their life that we would want to address: the spiritual, emotional, physical and financial needs.

On the spiritual and emotional aspect, we envision to provide grief counselors that will address the emotional needs of the victims.  Our counselors intend to support the family through their stages of shock and denial, the pain and the guilt, their anger, through their depression and loneliness in the hope to bring them to the acceptance of their difficult situation.  The movement hopes to assist these victims in a spiritual awakening that will center on the restoration of the “human spirit” while they spiritually transcend the tragedy and loss as they find the reason for this transition.

On their physical needs, we envision to help them rebuild their homes; financially assist them through livelihood, employment and scholarship programs depending on their actual needs.

Our work will not be done until we are able to give all of them the gift of hope and healing, but that could only be possible through the generosity of your hearts.

Help us help those who lost a life begin a life again. Help us hold their hands in the spirit of hope as we walk them from the throes of their agony towards a threshold of acceptance. Help us offer a gentle gesture of assistance, through your kindness and compassion.  Let us, together, lead them towards a new horizon of life and hope and that piece of heaven that opens all our hearts, to love one another as God loves us.

Because you care, because you love, because you give to a cause greater than yourself.  Donate to Project RELIEF…RE:LIFE.

“LIFE FOR ONLY 300 FAMILIES WHO LOST A LOVED ONE”!!!

Deposit Donations to:
Mama Mary’s Movement Foundation Inc.
Banco de Oro – SA # 4850140567
Banco de Oro – Dollar SA # 4850140559

Or send to

Tierra de Maria
Sugay East, Tagaytay City
c/o Bro. Jiggers  G. Alejandrino
Mama Mary’s Movement Founder

Paypal Account:

*Donor’s names will be permanently posted on a daily basis at our website @ http://www.hope.org.ph (Kindly leave your name as comment on this page for proper acknowledgement.)

*Donors and their families shall be offered to God as we pray the Seed-Love Devotion at http://mamamary.com.ph/healing_seed_love_devotion/