Totally Ryan for totally Tacloban
The alumnae association of my old school, St. Scholastica’s College is in a tizzy preparing for their last fund-raiser of the year for the rebuilding and rehabilitation of the projects of the Benedictine sisters in Tacloban and Ormoc that were destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda in November last year.
The event is a gala Christmas concert by musician-composer, Ryan Cayabyab and his Ryan Cayabyab singers. Ryan’s only concert this year will be held at the venerable St. Cecilia’s Hall in Singalong, Manila on Dec, 11, at 7:30 p.m. When Mr. C., the musical icon, meets the wonderful acoustics of St. Cecilia’s Hall, the event should be epic and magical.
The concert crowns the first year of fund-raising activities called “Totally Tacloban” by the SSC Manila community that started in earnest shortly after Yolanda destroyed the city of Tacloban, including St. Scholastica’s College and the sisters’ convent, rendering tens of thousands dead or displaced, thousands of students with no place to learn, and the nuns homeless. Yolanda also destroyed the Divine Word Hospital, the largest tertiary care hospital in the Visayas run by the Benedictine sisters, leaving much of its equipment destroyed. But the hospital survived. It was the only functioning hospital — although with very limited services — in Tacloban after the winds died down and floodwaters receded.
Immediately, the St. Scho alumnae went to work. Ma-an Hontiveros, who runs Air Asia Philippines, offered free flights carrying water, food, medicines, building materials and other urgent supplies to the sisters. In Manila, the campus became a receiving and re-packing area for donations. Scholasticans here and abroad sent personal checks and mounted fund-raisers that have gone not only to the rebuilding of the school, convent and hospital, but to help students with scholarships, and the community’s fishermen and farmers who lost their homes and livelihoods, get back on their feet.
The need is great and a year after the storm, the fund-raising continues. Earlier this year, the St. Scholastica’s Alumni Foundation Inc. (SSAFI) went Totally Tacloban with benefit jam session in Strumms and a bazaar/rummage sale on campus. The Grade School’s Children’s and Teachers’ Theater did its share by raising funds last October by presenting two short plays. On Dec. 11 is probably TT’s most ambitious fund-raiser when the music of Ryan Cayabyab and his singers fills St. Cecilia’s Hall.
Such aggressive fund-raisers by so-called “Benedictine Children” have made it possible for the hospital to be quickly restored. A benefit dinner, “Hope or Haiyan,” organized by SSC alumnae in North America drew an A-list crowd in Los Angeles last June that topped the organizers’ expected take of $75,000 with collections and pledges reaching $145,000. One immediate result of this event was the donation of a complete, state-of-the art dental clinic to the Divine Word Hospital, which was inaugurated last May.
The proceeds of “Hope for Haiyan” went towards the relocation and rebuilding of SSC-Tacloban. An estimated $4 million is needed to fund the relocation and rebuilding of the school, which means that the fund-raising effort must continue for the next two or more years.
In a recent update, Sister Ana Maria Raca, OSB reported that from their insurance claims, the sisters had seed money to improve the hospital’s facilities and services. Most of the employees and consultants are back at work, and new ones have been hired. With funds raised by friends and benefactors, most of the damaged equipment has been replaced with even better models. However, the MRI machine needs to be changed and the four-storey St. Hildegarde Building is still under repair and renovation. A new building is being mulled to accommodate the overflow of patients. Clearly, much more is needed to fully restore the hospital’s services and equipment.
The donations have enabled the hospital to provide free or discounted services to the needy, and distribute construction materials to rebuild the homes of over 1,000 families and relief goods to feed and clothe over 10,000 families.
Sister Ana Maria ended her report with a note of gratitude: “A year after that dreaded super typhoon, we can honestly say that things are working together unto good. We have seen the world divide toppled; we have experienced extravagant generosity from friends and strangers alike; we have been touched by the care and kindness of volunteers; we have heightened our awareness of our sense of purpose and are more impelled to bring the love of Christ to one another.”
This advent season which starts tomorrow, and the anticipated joy of Christmas, let us not forget that the victims of Yolanda/Haiyan are still in need. We need not deny ourselves much to help. In fact, we can treat ourselves lavishly while giving by supporting the Ryan Cayabyab Christmas Concert on Thursday, December 11, at 7:30 PM in St. Cecilia’s Hall in Singalong.
Ryan, whose wife is a Scholastican, wrote about the concert in a message to SSAFI: “I do only one public concert a year and it is usually a fund raising event for a very worthy cause. This year I have chosen to share my talent with the St. Scholastica’s Alumnae Foundation Inc., to benefit Benedictine Community schools and communities in disaster-ravaged areas in Tacloban…I invite you to come and watch this concert - to benefit the scholars and communities being assisted by the Benedictine sisters. It features the Ryan Cayabyab Singers as we perform a varied repertoire, notably a journey through Filipino music and music that has influenced my growing-up years…I am sure you will enjoy this concert. I hope to see you. Please support this undertaking. Maraming salamat po!”
Mr. C, the Benedictine children are totally thrilled and totally thankful to you for supporting Totally Tacloban!
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Get your tickets at P3,000 for Orchestra and P2,000 for Balcony, at the SSAFI Office. Look for Noemi Laca, telephone number 5241559/5677686 ext 555 or alumnae_office@ssc.edu.ph.
