After several days of heavy rain, the river Pasig burst the embankments and flooded the lower parts of Metro Manila. Our house in Baseco, very close to the new container harbor, was knee deep under water.

With nowhere to go, the two upper floors of the Vicente & Sally Salvador House became a refuge for many families who could not stay in their flooded slum huts. Work in the kitchen continued though. We feed every day 500 children. During these flood days, our meal was the only food they got. Cooking for so many children in knee deep water was challenging. Our volunteer mothers managed it bravely though. First, they lifted all electric appliances on tables to protect them from the water, then they got fresh and clean water from faraway since the pipe water was spoilt and finally did all the peeling and cutting manually. Luckily, our stoves do not need electricity but run on gas thus continued to work. The meal preparation took more than an hour longer than usual but everybody was happy that the service did not have to be suspended. Two days after the flooding the water receeded. The big clean up began. It took a full day. Our building took little damage. The professional and careful refurbishment we financed four years ago paid off. We were well advised for not taking short cuts but using high quality materials even though they were more expensive. There was no structueal damage. Some sections of the wall will need a bit of fresh paint. That is all! Our other operations at the Centro and Don Bosco in Tondo survived the storm well as did San Martin de Porres in Bustos, Bulacan

Congratulations to all the mothers and other volunteers who kept the Baseco House during these stressful days!