The world is still reeling from the shocking news about an estimated 63,000 to 100,000 people killed in Myanmar, and hundreds of thousands of others—as much as a million people if U.N. World Food Program estimates are correct--left homeless.

The Red Cross and other aid agencies are now on the move to help the victims of the Myanmar typhoon disaster.

In the Philippines, the general public usually associates the PNRC with blood drives. While the PNRC does regularly conduct blood-letting activities to get blood donations, it does far more than that.

People might be surprised to hear that the PNRC actually engaged in a housing project. The beneficiaries for this are the thousands of families affected by the series of typhoons in 2006 in Southern Luzon—particularly the Bicol region—and Leyte in the Visayas.

More than 13,000 homes have been completed for the Bicol beneficiaries. These families lost their homes as well as loved ones through the destruction wrought by typhoon winds, flooding and landslides. They needed to have new homes as soon as possible, since relocation was not practical for nearly all of them.

The PNRC's friends across the globe are amazed that these 13,000 homes were built within a span of a little over eight months. How could Filipinos accomplish such a feat?

The basic answer to that question is this: bayanihan. After visiting "ground zero", that is, the areas hardest hit by the typhoons' destructive power, I found what I've always known Filipinos are capable of:

Given the opportunity and proper leadership, Filipinos as the grassroots level, Filipinos in even the most disadvantaged communities can find resources to put aside selfish gain and work together for their mutual benefit. They can pool together their talents and work together for the sake of progress and development in their communities.

Yes, the PNRC helped provide the technologies, the system and the organization, the donations of housing materials and other basic necessities—but it was the people themselves who mobilized one another for an amazing example of bayanihan and altruistic volunteerism.

Inspiring stories

Two of the beneficiaries of the Bicol housing project that really touched my heart are Evangelina Triumpante and Salvacion Aguila.

Evangelina Triumpante of Maslog, Legazpi, Albay and her family lost their home in 2006 after massive flooding and mudslides. They were only thankful that they surived.

However, they also lost their livelihood because the devastation also destroyed their crops, which were their source of income. The poverty resulting from the destruction made them unable to pay for the dialysis treatment of one of Evangelina's kids, who was suffering from a kidney ailment.

As a result, that child became ill and died.

The Triumpante family was one of the beneficiaries of the PNRC housing project. Despite the series of tragedies the family experienced, they all did everything they could to participate in the project.

Eight months later, I went to Maslog. I had never had the chance to meet any member of the Triumpante family.

So I was pleasantly surprised when, as I was walking in the area, I was met by an old woman who had come running to me. She hugged me tight and started crying. It was quite an unusual welcome.

I had thought the old woman was just one of the residents saying hello but then I quickly learned she was Evangelina. She told me how the PNRC housing project changed her familiy's life for the better.

Typhoon-resistant

The PNRC house provides the basic shell of the house as well as walls, ceiling and roof. It's made and designed to be typhoon-resistant. However, it is up to each family to turn this basic, yet very sturdy structure into a proper home.

When I arrived at the Triumpante residence, I was amazed. It was beautiful. The family had put in a cement floor, a room, and very importantly, a proper, functioning toilet. That this home became a reality, rising from the wasteland of a typhoon devastated area—after only eight months—was incredible.

The success of the PNRC in helping people like her is this. the PNRC did not give those houses as dole-outs. They were meant to first of all, give victims hope and dignity.

The PNRC did not limit its help to providing just homes. In fact, the total number of homes, health centers, and schools built by the PNRC for communities devastated by the 2006 typhoons are spread out across eleven provinces, including Albay (1,000 homes), Aurora (827 homes), Camarines Sur (5,600 homes), Catanduanes (1,000 homes), Isabela (827 homes), Laguna (204 homes), Marinduque (802 homes),Mindoro Oriental (802 homes), Sorsogon (500 homes), Quezon (502 homes) and Guinsaugon, Leyte (322 homes, 4 schools, 4 health centers, 5 barangay halls, 5 basketball courts).

Climate change

The experience of the Philippines when it comes to devastating typhoons is not unique. What's worrisome is that we would be well-advised to expect more typhoons and more victims in the future. This is because of the reality of climate change.

What happened to the Philippines in 2006 and what Myanmar recently experienced are examples of climate change. The weather simply has become more destructive and more unpredictable. This is because our planet is not the same as a century ago.

Since we humans have been using fossil fuels very heavily—for our cars, for our electrity—the pollution and other gasses released by the burning of these fossil fuels have raised our planet's temperature.

This is because these gasses, known as "greenhouse gasses" create a barrier in our atmosphere. The sunlight enters our atmosphere, bringing us life-giving heat and light. Ideally, that same heat should be able to escape back out of our planet. This would keep the planet at a cooler, ideal temperature.

The phenomenon is like what happens when you enter your car after it had been parked out in the sun for some time. You notice that the car's interiors are very hot. The car's interiors are very hot because the sunlight's heat that entered through the car windows and windshields have become trapped inside.

Instinctively, we keep our car doors open after getting inside, or roll down the windows. Unfortunately, the planet can't release the heat already trapped inside. At least, science still has not found a way to do that.

This heat that remains trapped in the planet wrecks our weather patterns. The result? Killer floods and typhoons, tornadoes and heat waves. Sea levels are also rising, because the polar ice caps are melting.

OFWS, too

The PNRC also helps Filipinos in the Middle East. One OFW in Dubai was repatriated with the PNRC's help. Also, during the war in Lebanon between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, the PNRC helped bring relief supplies to Filipinos stranded there, and was one of the agencies that worked for their repatriation.

Then there's the Fruits of Hope, a livelihood project sponsored by the PNRC for Mindanao farmers. The project helped Mindanao farmers who had difficulty bringing their produce to the markets. What the Red Cross did was buy their produce and bring these to the markets.

The PNRC also provides seminars for communities to teach them proper health and hygiene practices and so prevent outbreaks of diseases.

Everyone knows that the PNRC provides training in First Aid. Well, the PNRC has expanded that into a volunteer training program, in order to equip members of each community with the skills and knowledge to respond to disaster situations.

As you read this there are Filipinos suffering from disasters, armed conflict, disease, accidents or other emergencies. Help the Red Cross help these people. It's your chance to make things better.