Gina Malate, who currently lives in Carlyle and can often be found working at King's Department Store, is originally from the Philippines.
Last year at the beginning of November she remembers getting word that her father, who had been ill, had passed away. Wanting to be with her family she booked a flight home, despite warnings in the Philippines of a tropical cyclone heading towards the island nation, which was expected to become a devastating typhoon (hurricane).
Though she arrived a couple days after Typhoon Haiyan, a category-5 super typhoon, struck her home, Malate experienced the aftermath and spoke with friends and family about their experiences during the typhoon.
Malate's home village of Burauen on Leyte, one of the central islands of the Philippines, saw winds reaching speeds of 275 km/hr, while 15 minutes away towns and villages along the beach would also see five to six metre (15-19 ft) waves.
The destruction and devastation was wide spread throughout the country, but Malate took solace in the blessing of what turned out to be her father's death. Though a great loss and sadness to the family, Malate described his death as a blessing because the majority of her family, including most of those who lived along the seashore, travelled inland far enough where only the pounding rain and high winds struck as opposed to the great waves which surged from the ocean.
Her cousin's neighbours in fact were taken off guard by the amount of water which would accompany the typhoon nearer the shore and had simply locked their door to stop the wind. In a one-story house it would mean they would not survive.
"One neighbour, they all died," Malate relayed the story. "They lock their house, our lock is with a chain, but then the water comes. Oh my God. The whole family, just imagine five kids and the parents, all of them died because they were unable to go out because they were thinking it was only the wind. They never think about the water."
"When the water comes, like, they were there and when the water goes they were still there; they were drowned."
Her cousin also told Malate of their survival during the storm in a nearly submerged two-story house as she, her two daughters, and her grandmother made it through the storm which had killed her neighbours unbeknownst to her at the time.
"When the water comes, the water is really fast," Malate explained. "When she was telling me this she was shaking and the trauma was in her."
"... the water was already up to there," Malate paused, lengthening her neck upwards indicating with her hand to the area just below her chin. "And there was no way they were going to survive because already there's a roof."
With very little space left between the water and the ceiling, Malate explained that her cousin grabbed the two girls and hoisted them onto the hanging cabinets where there was space, while the cousin and the grandmother clung to an air mattress which was floating.
These were stories she was told once she arrived home, but Malate's own experiences travelling were shocking as well.
Originally Malate was to fly directly from Vancouver, B.C., to Tacloban City in the Philippines, however, this was no longer possible. The typhoon had destroyed the airport and Malate was redirected to Cebu, which caused unease in the traveller as she still needed to travel by sea and by land to find her way home.
"Everything was broken," Malate said. "Everything was destroyed. Everything was nothing."
This created pandemonium across the devastated country as people were in need of food and shelter, though there was nothing for them.
"It was scary because I had heard that people were violent already," Malate remembered. "They became violent because during that time, after two days, the people didn't receive any help."
Businesses were holding onto their goods and there was nowhere to buy food initially. This eventually led to people ransacking businesses and doing what they could to find food or other necessities, though there were others who were simply looking to steal anything they could in order to make a profit.
Malate would stay in Cebu for a day before continuing her journey to Burauen, her hometown. She needed to figure out a way to let her family know she was now in the Philippines and would be home soon.
Concern for her safety weighed on her mind, however, especially after seeing the destruction in Cebu and hearing about the criminal activities due to people now having nothing.
"I was thinking, 'How am I going to go home?' because you get scared," Malate stated. "I was thinking, 'I'm scared with my safety because people know you're from here [Canada] and they'll think you have something and they might just rob me.' So, I was scared of that."
Since, power and internet was inconsistent across the country Malate found herself communicating through text messages with a cousin who lives in Foam Lake, SK. Her cousin then posted on Facebook what was going on with Malate in hopes a family member might see the post.
"So... the husband of my sister... he was able to see the message on the Facebook that I was already here because he is a policeman, so he was able to already travel," Malate explained.
With this knowledge Malate's sister then made her way to one of the two ports the ship Malate would be travelling on would dock at.
In addition to attempting to let her family know in this way Malate also contacted her ex-husband who is in the Philippine army.
Unsure of who all actually received the messages Malate was on her way, with provisions she had been able to purchase in Cebu.
It was during this time that Malate's sister had attempted to get a message to her through their cousin in Foam Lake.
"She said, 'Don't come here because there was a big store that was just robbed and a policeman was just killed,'" Malate explained.
But, Malate was already on her way, with bags of rice and canned goods; however, she arrived at the other port. Her sister had gone to meet her at the wrong location and Malate's port experience was much more positive as she stepped off the ship to see soldiers.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, I feel relief,'" Malate said. "I see the Philippine army."
Asking what travel conditions to Burauen were like, Malate was told that she would be fine as roads were already cleared and soldiers were posted along the route for travellers' safety.
Travelling by land through her home was extremely upsetting to Malate.
"The biggest house, you think it wouldn't be destroyed, but it was," Malate explained.
"The big house, even more the small house, they have nothing... When I was there I can't imagine how people survived, but we were thankful that they were there."
Four days had passed since the typhoon had hit and Malate had now rejoined her family, but was extremely disappointed with the relief efforts as they were focused on larger centres.
"Their focus was on that city where lots of people died, but then the typhoon, it didn't just hit them," Malate exclaimed. "If you have 375 km/hr for the wind then the same thing for here, for the town."
It wasn't until the next day that relief would finally reach the town.
"So, just imagine that. If you haven't received help for five days," Malate pauses to let her point sink in.
"You know what, my family, even my dad, our way of living, is from a farm. We have big lands, but from that typhoon all the people now are equal. If you had big lands or nothing it was all destroyed. You cannot get anything from there [the farmland] anymore."
The land which Malate's family owns used to produce coconuts and a small amount of rice before the typhoon struck. Following the storm, however, the coconut trees were completely destroyed and will now take years before new trees will grow and be able to produce again.
"...everything is fallen or broken... and you're going to have to cut it and plant again and it takes you seven to 10 years," Malate explained.
The rice paddy was flooded with muddied waters from the typhoon and Malate says this is something which can be cleaned up more easily than the coconut trees.
"The coconut trees will take you forever and what if you have seven hectares of land of coconut trees, how can you [start again]?"
Malate and her family have since encouraged those who work on their farm to plant vegetables for their own sustenance.
Though Malate arrived days after the typhoon, she saw first-hand what people were having to go through and how the land was affected by the storm.
Though stories of death were told to Malate and she saw rubble piled high, she questioned where it could have all come from. The toughest part of being home in the Philippines, however, was seeing people in need of food and shelter.
"It's really hard," Malate explained as tears came to her eyes. "When I see the people when they are starving, you cannot take it."
"The food they eat, my family they had me and I could help them, my mom still has money, but we cannot help all the people. There's lots of them to feed and you're going to see them starving, even if you have something you cannot help. You only have enough for your family and some of your neighbours."
Malate went on to state that the little that she had was given to her large family of over 30 as well as some of her family's neighbours.
Overall Malate empathized with her family and did everything she could to help her people.
"It was a sad experience, like a nightmare for them," Malate said. "Now, even just a little bit of rain and they're scared, like it's kind of a trauma. It's kind of a trauma because, oh my God, everything is nothing, like nothing."
At one point Malate recalls finding her way to her parents' house, but found herself unsure of her surroundings because of the mass amount of rubble.
"I went home and there was a point, so I don't get lost, I can't even see where to turn, where am I going to turn? Now I'm going to get lost because everything was just broken and you can see that on the news. Everybody has nothing!" Malate exclaimed.
She went on to explain that Filipinos continue to struggle and this has led to heightened criminal activity, according to Malate.
"...there are people just knocking at your house and then they'll just rob you," Malate said.
This was followed by a story her family had told her of a pharmacist who was robbed and killed, while a woman also in the house was raped by the intruders.
Despite the death and destruction which struck the Philippines, she has told her family to look for the positive.
"I was thankful, my family is all safe," Malate stated. "We have nothing but it's okay. Like, it's very hard for them to take because all the properties they have, everything they have they work[ed] hard for that and then it's gone. It's hard for them to accept and then they're going to be starting all over again."
"They've been working hard so many years and like that, click, [it's all gone]. It's so hard."
Malate only wishes she could do more for everyone there.
"If I were a millionaire I could have done something," Malate said. "I can't think too much because how am I ever going to help them? They're going to be living like that for the rest of their lives because what are they going to do if they're not working? They have no income. What is going to happen to them? It's going to be like that forever..."
The resilience of the Filipino people, however, is something Malate said is something that cannot be broken.
"It's okay. That's the type of people we are, even if it's not okay, it's okay," Malate explained.
She will now be returning to the Philippines in March, having decided to come back to Canada in between time so she could work. Malate will be going to the Philippines to bring her daughter back to Canada and give further aid to her family and friends there as they continue to deal with this catastrophe.
