#YolandaPH

I'm sure you know by now that Typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda, the strongest in the world this year, hit the Philippines very hard. I think to use the word "hit" is a very mild adjective. A more accurate word would probably be "smashed", "destroyed", or maybe even "bulldozed".

Lives, houses, schools, churches, cars, malls, even evacuation centers... all gone in mere minutes. And this after an earthquake with a 7.2 magnitude hit Bohol and other neighboring provinces. As of yesterday, thousands of casualties have been reported and many more missing. Due to the massive destruction, cell sites and other such technologies are down so families haven't been able to contact their loved ones. Imagine all these feelings of despair: dead loved ones... the house that you worked so hard for is just a pile of rubbish... you're safe in Metro Manila/US/etc, but you can't contact family members so you don't know if they're safe, dead or in immediate need to help. I will not even post photos here. They are too heart-breaking. :(

In these times, the best thing we can do is pray and help out. Let's pray for everyone's safety and help out in any way we can.

• What to donate: cash and in-kind donations are much-appreciated. You may check the image below for priority items.

Photo from Rappler

• Where to donate and/or volunteer: more details here. For Cebu readers, if you can't drop your donations off yourselves, you may contact Psychology Volunteers on Bikes. Just send them a message and they can pick up your donations. This is so helpful!

Photo form Psychology Volunteers on Bikes

• If you are outside the Philippines, you may check out this link
• Can't reach your loved ones? Just tweet Red Cross, use the hashtags #TracingPH and #RescuePH, and fill out this form

Let's continue to pray. God bless everyone.