To my fellow Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike who have been seamlessly supporting Operation Salubong Villamor Air Base and have generously been part of this endeavor: Before I begin, let me say that the following post is a personal one. Whatever I say here does not necessarily reflect the sentiments of a specific group, neither will it impose facts nor information regarding what has transpired at the Villamor Air Base in the past week or so in a large-scale perspective. I speak from what I have seen, observed, and experienced as an individual, but do not wish to stir up whatever turmoil we have already left behind. I am not asking to be given credit, neither am I asking for opinions on what is already done, nor am I trying to create another big issue. This post was written merely to get things off my chest, to send proper thanks to those who highly deserve them, to apologize to the public for our shortcomings, and give a personal account on my experiences at Operation Salubong (and also to apologize to everyone else in my life because Ive been MIA for the past week; I havent died yet friends and family, though sick and very physically tired, I am as alive as ever). First off, let me introduce myself. I am Karelle Bulan, a private volunteer, who has been working for the previous organizers of Operation Salubong at the Villamor Air Base before it was turned over to the different government agencies. I am a civilian, a student of BS Psychology from the University of the Philippines, who have little to no experience nor formal training in Volunteer Management or Relief Operations Management. However, I am a youth leader of the Focolare Movement, and have been organizing different charitable events such a feeding programs, catechism for kids, among others, for the past 5 years. So as you may deem it worthy, I consider myself a person whose passion lies in service for others. I arrived at the Villamor Air Base on Monday, November 18, 2013, as a regular volunteer who, like everybody else, jumped at the opportunity to help our fellow kababayans in any way that I could. I was assigned to help at the volunteers registration booth. For 8 hours that day, I made IDs, answered inquiries, did crowd control, and deployed volunteers into the Villamor Grandstand where Operation Salubong was taking place. At once, I saw the spirit of service and volunteerism of every volunteer whose name I wrote on a nametag - a common desire that each person in the Villamor Grandstand shared. However, admittedly, I saw there were some things that needed to be fixed regarding the system. That night, I met two kind individuals, who asked me for feedback regarding how the system goes. Having been there for 11 hours that day, (3 hours waiting for a slot to be a volunteer and 8 hours working at the registration booth), I shared my thoughts, and the three of us, confused and wanting to get some answers, initiated to run around the entire Villamor Grandstand grounds trying to figure out how the system actually goes. From there, we were able to talk to the heads of each of the pillars of Operation Salubong - Volunteer Management, Food Committee, Oplan Hatid, and DSWD, all of which have representatives of the actual group heading the operations, the ManComm. We realized that the volunteer organizers already have an efficient system going on -- only, it was not disseminated, coordinated nor implemented properly. The situation that night at the Villamor Grandstand, for lack of a better term, was chaotic. The influx of volunteers posed problems to the infrastructure of the place, the logistics, and the security of both the evacuees and the volunteers. But, the job was being done, the evacuees were being fed, given clothing, medical attention, and counseling, and were brought home to their families by a very kind group of volunteers called Oplan Hatid. I am not blaming anyone for the out-of-control situation that night, since it probably was my fault who was part of the group deploying volunteers from the registration booth; after all, we are all just regular civilians who wish to do our part under the instructions of the system being implemented. Nevertheless, that was not the point -- we decided to move forward. We saw the problems that needed to be fixed, and after meeting a member of the ManComm, we offered our services in helping with the system. Thank you to these two individuals for trusting a complete stranger to help you out. After 15 hours of being on-site, I went home that night with a long list of to-dos. Fast forward a bit -- the next thing I know, I was made Admin of the Operation Salubong Villamor Air Base Facebook page and given access to the pre-registration on the Eventbrite website. I highly commend the people who initiated these sites, I did not set these up but am merely a reliever to those who can not attend to it because of other responsibilities. I was also oriented on how the system should go and asked to disseminate this information and coordinate with the people involved. From that point on, I reported to Mam Nicole Gamo, who is a member of the ManComm. More on my boss later on. The next two days that followed (Tuesday and Wednesday) was a big blur of coordinating and disseminating information. My main task was this -- to make sure that everybody was on the same page. And yet, let me say that I am not the one calling all the shots nor making big decisions. You may call me whatever you wish -- a runner, a spokesperson, a secretary, a personal assistant, a support system -- doing whatever it takes to help everyone do their job well and efficiently; and also to make sure that everyone is on the loop on what is happening, so as to avoid conflict and for the system to run more smoothly. I posted updates and answered messages and comments on the Facebook page, answered inquiries through the mobile hotline, and was given many other miscellaneous tasks by a lot of different people which Id rather not list down as this post will just be too long. On Tuesday night, I met the Avengers (they werent really called the Avengers, but when asked who they were, they quickly responded with The Avengers and a sly grin). They were volunteer organizers working directly under the ManComm. I sat down with them and with two other volunteers Ive only met that day and the day before, and tried to solve all of the problems with the system on Volunteer Management. This was the night that we closed down the Eventbrite page for maintenance, but soon after, put it up again. Although these people have other responsibilities to attend to, they were present from the very beginning of the operations and were the ones who were visible on-site during the night shifts, staying there until the wee hours of the morning, making sure that the system was being implemented well. So I guess we call them the Night Avengers. Kudos to you, Night Loki and your partner (Are you supposed to be Night Black Widow? Im not sure if Lokis the only ones pushing to calling you guys Avengers, hahaha). By Wednesday night, the difference was drastic, but a good one at that. We saw that things were starting to run much more smoothly and the system and regulations was beginning to be implemented, although not perfectly, in a way better manner than the previous days. There was a big improvement with regards to Volunteer Management and ironing out the system. The job was being done, and being done well and efficiently at that. The volunteers who have been there since day 1, who, like me, has barely slept nor eaten a proper meal in days, were all still fired up and leading the operations. They implemented the system that was approved by the ManComm and relayed this information to all other volunteers. On Wednesday night, we were given news regarding the turning over of Operation Salubong to DSWD and moving to Camp Aguinaldo effective Thursday, November 21, 2013, at 12:00nn. That same night, I was contacted by a representative from the Volunteer Management group who will be taking over, saying he just came back from a government briefing and they will be working with MMDA Volunteer Corps to manage the volunteers in coordination with DSWD. Having much less than enough sleep, I asked him to meet with the heads of the volunteer organizers the following day at the Villamor Air Base for the transition. Also, as most of you know, this announcement caused much chaos and strong opinions on the online world -- which meant my job would be much more difficult. I responded to a great influx of rants, inquiries, questions of why, how, what is happening, and so on and so forth, from the moment it was announced until I fell asleep on my laptop and phone and woke up with keyboard marks on my face. I continued attending to everyones questions from home, trying to spread some positivity and keep the fire of service and volunteerism alive whatever the circumstances may be, expecting that by 12:00nn our jobs as volunteer organizers would be turned over completely to the government agencies as the new organizers, until I received an unexpected call. At 12:15pm of Thursday, November 21, I received a call from Mam Nicole asking me to be at Villamor as soon as I could. Packing up my stuff and preparing in less than 15 minutes (which I didnt even know I could do), I left my house and arrived at Villamor at around 2:00pm (yes, I live an hour or so away). Since the influx of inquiries was crazier than ever, I pulled in a team of four people whom Ive only met the day before at the volunteer registration booth and asked them at the very last minute to come to Villamor to help me. Without hesitation, they showed up an hour later willing to help out a complete stranger (me). I passed on answering all inquiries both on the mobile hotline and the Facebook page to them. I can not relay enough how thankful I am that these people have come to my aid. I, together with the Volunteer Management representative from the new organizers end and my four new personal assistants (hi guys thanks for letting me be your boss even if youre all old, haha jk ..1/2), spent all afternoon talking and making sure the transition will go as smoothly as possible. I oriented him as to what has transpired in the past week and turned over all information and guidelines that was with me. We answered inquiries regarding the transition to DSWD and the move to Camp Aguinaldo until the representative left to go to the camp in Quezon City to coordinate there. Another hero that no one knows about -- he is a one-man army who served as the only bridge between the old organizers and the new organizers, especially with regards to the transitioning and turning over of Volunteer Management. At 6:00pm, I went outside of the Officers Lounge where we were and saw that everything was packed up and has been transferred to Aguinaldo. There was only a few tents left, including two or three for soup kitchen and a few for clothes. All of the evacuees were spread out across the area, some eating on the grass or on chairs, some being interviewed, and some just sitting on the sidewalk with their luggage. There were large buses transporting all the evacuees from Villamor to Aguinaldo. I looked around and saw a group huddled up in one corner -- around 10 people, those of whoevers left as marshalls in Villamor, most of them familiar faces as they have been the people who were there day in and day out to help. I ran to them, and soon learned that there were at least 4 more C130 planes coming in that night and there were no more volunteers who will assist them from the plane, give them food, and usher them to the bus. This was the last group standing. Since everybody has packed up and left for Aguinaldo, plus all inquiries were directed to Aguinaldo, there were only a few resources and manpower we could mobilize to cater to the situation. We called up friends, family, and potential sponsors to continue bringing food to Villamor to be fed to the incoming evacuees before they were ushered into the buses to be brought to Aguinaldo. A few minutes later, a group of students from a nearby school arrived and our numbers increased to 30. We acted both as marshalls and food runners for the evacuees of the next 2 or so planes that arrived from 6:00pm - 9:00pm. Right before 9:00pm, Mam Nicole called us all into the grandstand to have a meeting. There she announced that DSWD has just made a statement that the operations at Camp Aguinaldo will be coming back to the Villamor Air Base. At 12:00mn, they will all be back at Villamor and operations will resume here under DSWD. Soon after the meeting finished, everyone was back on their feet and doing their assigned tasks, just waiting for them to be relieved of their work by the new organizers. At around 9:45pm, the Volunteers Management representative I spoke so highly of earlier gave me a call and told me that everyone in Camp Aguinaldo is packing up and moving back to Villamor. As to how they will manage the system here or the influx of volunteers, we were unsure of. All we know is that in an hour or so, there will be a stream of people coming in, setting up, and implementing the new system. Only - there were around 500 more evacuees set to land in Villamor that night. We tried to focus at the task at hand of attending to the evacuees present and leave the rest to the new organizers. At 11:00pm, the transition started to take place. Each one of us from the original volunteer organizers in the next hour or so turned over our tasks to the DSWD and took off our shiny yellowgreen vests and headed home. As of 12:00mn of November 22, 2013, we, the volunteer organizers working under ManComm, has turned over Operation Salubong at the Villamor Air Base to DSWD and their partner agencies. Except for a select few that had to stay because the new system in their area has not been implemented yet, we are all at home, recuperating, going back to our normal lives, and most of all, just being thankful for the entire experience and for being given the opportunity to help our fellow Filipinos. I know this post is already four pages long, but I will not stop here because there are people that need to be thanked. In the four days of being at the Villamor Air Base, I have met so many incredible people; people who are leaders, who take charge or who work behind the scenes, people who have sacrificed so much to be there, people who have undergone so much stress but remain to stand firm, people who were ready to give their lives for others, people who expected nothing in return, people who have nothing else in their motives but a desire in their hearts to be of service to others. You know who you are. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you. To all the volunteers, whether it be marshalls or food runners or clean-up, food and clothes sponsors, medical team, counselors, Oplan Hatid team, DSWD workers, the secretariat, the ManComm, people whom I have assisted and has assisted me, whom I can depend on to be there and to help out after a single SOS text message, who have kept me going when I was on the verge of giving up, people who have seamlessly kept the fire of service and spirit of volunteerism alive whatever the circumstances may be (all of whom I have never met before and are all new friends and acquaintances, whom I have bonded with and will dearly miss, may I add) and to everyone who has been giving all of themselves to Operation Salubong, you are all my heroes. To my boss, Mam Nicole Gamo, who is one of the strongest women I know -- for not buckling under pressure, for keeping your head held high, for not for a single moment gave up or gave in, for sacrificing so much, for taking charge, for leading us, for taking the initiative, I thank you. Thank you for letting me be of service to you. Truly, my experience working with you will stay in my heart forever. To the general public, to everyone whom Ive talked to on the phone or chatted with on Facebook as Operation Salubong Villamor Air Base, I thank you for your support, patience and cooperation. Thank you for helping us spread the right information. Thank you for never giving up on us regardless of what the circumstances may be. Thank you for the kind words and encouragement to continue what we are doing. Without you, I would have already broken down days ago. Without you, Operation Salubong would not be possible. As much as I want to tell everyone the names of all of these people that deserve thanks, I would refrain from doing so as this issue has gone from crazy to bonkers in only a few hours. I would not want to drag you down with me when at some point someone sues me for expressing my opinions.. Im kidding, Im kidding. I just dont want to list down names and miss out on someone. Anyway, you know who you are. If you are still reading this, either I explicitly ordered you to do so or youre just really looking for some answers, but nevertheless, thank you. Now, after everything that has happened for the past week, there is nothing else that we can do but move forward. As I always say as Operation Salubong Villamor Air Base, LET US NOT LOSE HEART. Let us avoid making hasty generalizations or criticizing others, because speaking from experience, this doesnt do anything to help others and instead just makes a big mess of things. If there is anything we wish to express, lets try to stick to positivity and encouragement. This is all that our country needs now -- to uplift the spirits of the Filipino people. My experiences in the Villamor Air Base has been nothing less than life-changing. When I look back at it now, remembering every face of every evacuee who has smiled back at me, who has offered me their hand, who looked at me with bright eyes when I have handed them food, every kid Ive carried and played with, every thank you Ive received, I remember feeling their pain and suffering piercing through my heart, and yet I feel a sense of hope surging through me. This is the goal. This is what were here for. Its not about us, its about them. Forget everything youve heard regarding the system or the organizers or the implementers or whatever issue that sprung up in the past week; all of that doesnt matter, because we are not the true heroes here, the bigger heroes are our family from the Viasayan region who has had to endure the typhoon Yolanda and yet are standing and holding their heads up high, stronger than ever. And now, I encourage everyone to continue volunteering and giving your services to the efforts being done across the nation to help our country get back on its feet, whether it be at the Villamor Air Base or in other relief operations, regardless of what the circumstances may be. I have personally seen the fervor and great desire of every Filipino to be of service; a trait that I personally think runs in our heritage and yes, we should be proud. Together, we will rise again. Bangon, Pilipinas. God bless us all.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 08:35:04 +0000