Badjao residents starting to rebuild a Christian Fellowship chapel in Alaska Mambaling after it was damaged by twister.(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Badjao settlers in barangay Mambaling in Cebu City where close to 30 houses were damaged by Tuesday’s tornado have started picking up the pieces.
The twister struck hardest in one of the poorest slums of the city, where settlers who originate from a seafaring tribe in Mindanao, live in shacks built on stilts.
A day after the calamity, several families received a single sheet of tarpaulin to use to repair their shelters.
When the tornado hit their house, 58-year-old Aida Jakira, was home.
In panic, she and her five children ran and jumped into the sea. The roof was blown off.
Blown away
Their television, kitchen utensils, and clothes got dumped in the sea as well.
“Asta akong mga baligya nga chichirya nanglupad sad wala na tawn mi mabaligya karon,” she said. (Even the junkfood snacks I sell were blown away. Now I don’t have anything to sell),” she said.
When Cebu Daily News visited before 12 noon, Jakira and family members, were restoring the roof of their wooden hut.
Tin sheets blown off in the tornado were recovered from the sea.
To cover a hole in the ceiling of the living room they draped one white tarpaulin sheet distributed by the barangay.
Asked if they received food packs from the city government, she said no. Nevertheless, she was grateful for the single plastic sheet.
“Bisag unsa pa na kadak-a o kagamaya magpasalamat gihapon mi,” (No matter how big or small the assistance, we are still thankful),” she said.
Despite the brush with danger, Jakira said she was not willing to be relocated. She said they want stay near the sea.
The tornado also blew off the roof and walls of a wooden church of born-again Christians.
Volunteers put up tarpaulin sheets as temporary side panels when CDN visited a day after the disaster.
Without a roof
“We don’t have enough resources to rebuild. What’s important is that we can hold a service inside. I know our God will not leave us,” said Pastor Bogel Jelmani of the Badjao Christian Fellowship in sitio Badjaoan.
After minor repairs, members were determined to hold a service at 6:30 p.m. and regular worship service on Sunday in the building even without a roof.
The tornado also destroyed their piano, and sound system which were flown outside by the fierce wind.
“We are accepting donations from anyone who wants to help us,” the pastor said of the shambles left of the church set up in 2002, which now has 72 members.
The tarpaulin sheets were given by barangay Mambaling officials last Tuesday night.
Debris
A neighbor, 31-year-old June Pablo, lost half of the roof of his house.
“If only there was a place to live, we would transfer. Sometimes it’s not safe to live near the sea,” he said in Cebuano.
Pablo makes ends meet as a vendor selling pearls from Zamboanga or other dry goods.
When that’s not available he goes fishing using his banca.
When the tornado struck, his family just stayed indoors, afraid of flying debris.
Asked if they received food aid, he said that they only received one white tarpaulin sheet.