kyuzoaoi: Flag of the South China/West Philippine Sea
Here I am in the Philippines, after de-planing (read: getting off the plane – my new favourite Filipino phrase makes me giggle every time!) in Manila almost a month ago as the Philippines Coordinator for JDC, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. http://www.jdc.org/where-we-work/asia/philippines-relief
I am lucky enough to be one of 20 Jewish Service Corps Fellows this year, who are placed all over the world working with JDC. Each role is unique and the work in Argentina differs to the work in Turkey or the work in Ethiopia. I recommend checking out other blogs here: http://jdcentwine.org/jsc
This year I will be based in Manila and working with partner organisations all over the Philippines to assist in the recovery effort after the destruction of Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013.
However, a word I’ve heard repeatedly here is ‘resilience’; the Filipino strength, integrity and resilience remains.
It has truly been an honour to be here on behalf of JDC and represent the Jewish community in assisting the recovery in any way we can. I’m looking forward to learning more throughout my year and hopefully to share with you!
I will be spending my first Filipino Rosh Hashana this week with the small but vibrant Jewish community based in Manila. More about this wonderful community in a future blog…
Shana Tova
Hannah
