ONDOY BADLY HITS TWH!

Tahanang Walang Hagdanan (TWH) was not spared from the lashes of typhoon Ondoy and about 300 persons with disabilities fought for their lives when flash floods hit the center and no rescue was available to evacuate them who are mostly on wheelchairs. The water reached up to their necks with more than ten feet of water outside and they all had to help each other reached the nearby building and crawled to the second  floor to save themselves and the weaker ones. Badly affected were the workshops where 350 people with their families depend for their livelihood. The machines, finished products, work in process, raw materials and the dormitories of the residents were soaked in water and mud for hours equivalent to millions of pesos all damaged.

We were visited by volunteer engineers who assessed the extent of damage on our workshops machineries and we made a run test on their motors to check on the damages. We are now pooling the much needed funds for them so we can resume our normal work and operations. It is only the packaging services that are operational at the moment but the woodcraft and metal craft where we have an on-going production on school chairs are stopped.

There were individual donors, private companies and the Philippine National Red Cross who brought food and relief goods for our workers and residents so they have food to eat for a few weeks or so. But our main concern is their livelihood because after the goods have been consumed, what would then happen to them.

This is the first time in 36 years that we experienced this tragedy. None of us was able to save our belongings because it was like survival of lives especially for those who are living and renting outside the premises of TWH. Two of our workers even tied themselves to their wheelchairs and house ceiling while the water was going up so that they will not be carried away by the strong current of the floods. Some were rescued from their houses to move on higher apartments with second floors by passing over the fences.

We are exerting all efforts to rehabilitate and restore our livelihood workshops so that we can go back to normal work and operations. As we strive to recover from this terrible devastation, we appeal to you and are counting on your generous hearts to help us achieve this goal for the majority of the orthopedically impaired in our country.