That is not how a Christmas tree should look like, but this one in Tanauan, Leyte, works.
“The tree had no tinsel or pine needles and there was no angel for a tree topper,” reports Wong Kim Hoh in The Straits Times. “The typhoon victims had hung placards, fashioned from pieces of plank and driftwood, bearing the names of all the good folks and organisations which have helped them. The tree speaks of gratitude and hope, thanks and giving and is an arresting sight in the desolate landscape.”
The Singaporean journalist was in Leyte last week to witness the havoc wreaked by super typhoon Yolanda. In his report, he writes about five friends, all former students of the University of Philippines in Tacloban, who have been regularly — and quietly — visiting Leyte to distribute relief goods bought with their own money or donations from people they personally approached.
After witnessing the volunteer group’s sincerity and bayanihan spirit, Wong writes that he had just experienced “the best Christmas present I’ve given myself by far.”
Photo: Wong Kim Hoh
