i remember growing up and standing in typhoon rains, watching, frightened, as improbable waves washed up the city streets like fresh, angry gashes, threatening property, limb, and life.

i remember ducking for cover on the way to church because yet another aquino/marcos riot exploded between a platoon of police and a determined student protest march.

i remember running through the battery tunnel when the twin towers in manhattan fell, and thought i would suffocate from all the smoke and ash or be trampled by the feet thundering behind and beside me.

disasters are everywhere, natural or man-made. for those affected, choices are small and hard. sometimes the choice comes down to surviving or dying.

my choice is to give what i can to help those who can administer food, clothing, shelter, and medical aid. i chose to give when hurricane katrina devastated new orleans. i chose to give when the tsunami decimated parts of asia.

today, i chose to give to the victims of tropical storm ondoy/ketsana, which has leveled much of my hometown and the cradle of my childhood. it’s a small choice but one that is important to me and my identity as a human being on this earth.

what’s your choice?

UNICEF.

PRNC.

Google’s Help for Typhoon Ondoy Victims in the Philippines.