During the height of Typhoon Ondoy aid efforts, I came to know Operation Blessing (OB) and met its head, Dr. Kim April Pascual. I was impressed at how her tightly-knit team worked hard to bring aid and hope to hundreds of thousands of Ondoy victims, and they did this not by simply giving out bags of goods. Their relief missions also include medical outreaches to treat the sick in evacuation centers, mobile water purifiers to ration clean drinking water, trauma counseling for affected residents, community cleanup of flooded homes, and livelihood assistance for families who wanted to start fresh after Ondoy. Amazed and inspired at how they did all these efficiently, tirelessly, and humbly—without the loud appeals from celebrities, or huge fundraising gimmicks. While others help because it feels good or it is in season, Operation Blessing always helps, with or without disasters, because at their core is genuine compassion that ignites change in a person and uplifts him from hopelessness. This is what I witnessed with my own eyes and what convinced me to partner with them. Operation Blessing also invited me to Payatas to see how they are investing so much in the young lives of this urban poor community through a holistic project called “Bless-a-Child”, had a great bonding time with the Bless-a-Child kids who were enjoying their nutritious lunch that day. For 10 months, Operation Blessing ensures these underweight children are fed well until they achieve their ideal weight. Plus, Operation Blessing takes care of their preschool education and regular health checkups. With their bodies and minds well nourished, these children are indeed blessed! They are already on the right track because Operation Blessing has started a wonderful work in their young lives.  OB continues to bless more kids by partnering with Orphan’s Promise. Together, they improve the well-being of vulnerable children in the Philippines. I tagged along when they visited an orphanage in Pasig, where they installed new beddings for the orphans and provided them new supplies. The children we met there were so playful and lively, as if they won’t let their sad plight ruin their innocence and joy. As a mother, it pains me to see these kids run short of parental love, but there is Operation Blessing who is ready to meet their immediate needs and, more importantly, shower them with care. It is also their mission to seek out remote, unreached, and underserved places in the Philippines—places where the elderly and the sick have never seen a doctor in their lives, where families are still waiting and praying a way out of poverty, or where children already forgot the last time they received gifts. In Bohol where I saw how Operation Blessing empowered mothers and grandmothers to be the champions of their homes. In Pangapasan Island, I remember how Arsenia, a grandmother and breadwinner to her five young grandkids, erupted in thanksgiving when we gave her a new boat so she can continue fishing and diving for seaweeds. In an upland village called Cawayanan, several women were entrusted with pigs for hog raising, others with raw materials for making bags. I learned that one of them was a battered wife, and I was extremely glad that the livelihood project from Operation Blessing will be her way out of a miserable life.

With all these adventures that I had with Operation Blessing, I came to realize this simple truth: it is not the amount or size of help that we give these people that mattered, but the smile that came with each gift, the unmistakable love and concern whenever we spend time with them, and the assurance that Operation Blessing and its generous partners will help them every step of the way from a life of poverty to a life of fullness. 

If you, too, want to be part of this wonderful organization and make a lasting difference in other people’s lives, please visit Operation Blessing’s website at www.obphil.com