We did have a turkey at the farm that we we going to prepare for family and staff, but when the typhoon hit, a tree fell on it and killed it, so the farmer caring for her cooked her up adobo style, and sent us our share of the meat. (Usually the deal is we supply the animal and feed, but they care for it and get half the meat).
They have been busy trying to salvage and harvest the remaining rice that was damaged by the typhoon. They are so busy that where our roof was damaged still only has a temporary covering, and the trunks of tthe palm and banana trees are still cluttering out yard, although some of the leaves and fronds have been removed. The larger pieces will sit there until the large farm truck and some of the farmers will be able to come down, cut the trunks in smaller pieces,and haul it off.
We don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but it is Christmas season, so both Joy and Kuya are busy doing deliveries and supervising staff at various trade fairs. Joy is also teaching a class to a business meeting in nearby Pampanga...not a big meeting, but they are holding it on line and they will broadcast or zoom the speech from there.
Lots of sick people coming to the door asking for help to buy medicine and in one or 2 cases to pay hospital bills. The cook's niece age 37 is now receiving dialysis...the mayor has opened a clinic that gives free dialysis, something that was not available until recently,for the poor, but there is still the expense of medicine etc. She should have a kidney transplant of course, but it would mean going to an expensive hospital in Manila and finding a relative who is a match who could afford to take off from work... there is no money for any of those things.
And of course with the virus people avoid the hospitals.
Hopefully we will have a vaccine by spring, and the economy will reopen. But in the meanwhile its sad for folks who were becoming middle class now drifting back into poverty.
Sigh.
No comments:
Post a Comment