MANILA, Philippines – A team of American soldiers got a first-hand look at the devastation wrought by tropical storm “Ondoy†– and ended up wondering how Filipinos could still smile and give them “high-fives†amid a terrible calamity.
At least 27 members of the 3rd US Marine Expeditionary Force, composed of doctors, nurses, medical aides and a chaplain, the other day conducted a medical and dental mission at Nangka Elementary School, which sheltered thousands displaced by the massive floods in Marikina City.
“We’ve seen things here [in terms of the destruction] that we haven’t seen before. This is really the least we can do. We wish we could stay longer,†said Lt. Commander Todd Endicott, the mission’s leader.
Endicott also shared one interesting observation: “We all wonder how
[Filipinos] keep smiling through all this.â€
“Americans probably wouldn’t handle this as well. Here, people are smiling, saying ‘Hi’ to us, giving us high-fives. This is a pretty miserable situation, how people keep smiling, I don’t know. It’s probably a testament to the culture,†Endicott said.
Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner Jr., AFP spokesman, said the US mission was the first in a series that the group would conduct in the next few days in Eastern Metro Manila, one of the areas hit hardest by storm.
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