Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines Friday, taking the lives of thousands and leaving some MSU students in fear of what will come next.
With eight students who are on visa from the Philippines, the massive storm that destroyed Tacloban and other neighboring cities led to concerned students and fundraising events in the coming weeks.
Biomedical laboratory science senior Patricia Malang, who has family living in the Philippines, had an initial ?reaction of fear for her family’s well being.
“All the phone lines and ?connections were down. It took us a while to be able to get ahold of my family,” she said.
Lucky for Malang, her ?family wasn’t directly affected by Typhoon Haiyan, but for some Filipinos, that wasn’t the case.
According to authorities, Typhoon Haiyan affected at least 9.7 million people in 41 provinces.
Entire villages were destroyed by the huge waves and winds of 150 mph.
Experts are calling it one of the most powerful recorded typhoons to hit land and the Philippine military has already confirmed more than 1,000 dead.
In response to the tragedy, Peter Briggs, director of MSU’s Office of International Studies and Scholars, or OISS, reached out to the eight students through an email, ?to show an overall support from the office.
In the email, Briggs said he asked students to reach out to the organization if they had any questions or ?concerns.
“When it’s a national disaster of that magnitude, you ?never know if someone has a loved one, family member or someone’s family business is affected,” Briggs said.
Next week, MSU’s Filipino American Student Society, or PASS, will be hosting a ?culture night showcasing Filipino culture.
The club will hold a raffle inspired by the latest typhoon, and donate half of the money to typhoon victims.
“It’s such a heart-wrenching tragedy — it’s just so sad,” said international studies in social science senior Kelly ?Ilagan, who serves as president of PASS.
In addition to the raffle, PASS has planned to partner with MSU’s Asian Pacific ?American Student Organization, or APASO, in competition.
The organizations are ?competing to see who can contribute and donate the most items to send back to the ?Philippines to typhoon victims.
Despite the efforts PASS, APASO and OISS are pursuing, Malang said she’s frustrated with the response from ?the Spartan community.
She said not enough people know or care to know what’s going on in the Philippines, considering this as a major catastrophe.
“If a typhoon of this degree happened here in the states, there would be such a huge uproar,” Malang said.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
