Europe’s way of saying Thank You

“You are not alone, Philippines” was the message that hundreds of thousands of Europeans saw last week on the big screen as Vienna held Porto to a 1-1 draw in the European Champions League. It was not an empty statement.

The local media is awash with heartening stories of post-Yolanda official development assistance pouring in from all quarters of the world. The EU and its member states may be the largest official donor so far, but what I find even more striking is the response from private and civil society fundraising drives in European countries both large and small.

Many Europeans would have some difficulty finding the Philippines on the map, but they’ve had less trouble finding their wallets. In the Netherlands, a country of 15 million people, a joint fund-raising marathon by several radio and TV stations collected over euro 25 million (P1.5 billion) for Yolanda relief. Some of the money came from a special event called “DJs for the Philippines” where some of the most well-known names in the business performed to raise money on November 20th.

Maybe the British remembered Prince Philip recently joking that the UK health system would fall apart without Filipino staff, when they responded to an appeal by the Disaster Emergency Committee by donating an extraordinary euro 78 million (P4.5 billion) to the victims of Yolanda.

In Italy, home to hundreds of thousands of Filipino care workers, the Italian Postal System waived all money transfer fees for the Philippines till January, allowing an estimated extra euro 3 million (P170 million) to get through to typhoon victims. In Sweden the three girls who set up a charity to honour a victim of the 2004 tsunami are now collecting small sums from hard-up s have put together P155,000.

Further south a school near Antwerp, Belgium has been turned into something of a Jukebox for the Philippines with students contributing to relief support in exchange for having their favourite tracks played over the public address system.

As German citizens poured almost euro 50 million (P2.9 billion) into private fundraising efforts, Berlin City Hall hosted a benefit concert for the typhoon victims.

In Southern Spain farmers are selling boxes of vegetables at special prices and sending the income to typhoon victims. Even in little Malta, where Christmas is observed with almost as much fervour as here, the proceeds from the sale of thousands of Ponsiettas will make its way to the Philippines.

One senses that the motivation behind much of this imaginative, grass-roots generosity is more personal than usual. It is less the logic of simply helping a faraway people in desperate need of help than Europeans saying “I know the Filipinos. They have been our caring nurses, nannies and helpers. Now is my opportunity to return their kindness.“

Perhaps this is Europe’s way of saying Thank You.

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(Guy Ledoux is the Ambassador of the European Union)