New Daycare Center for Barangay 66-A, Anibong

Barangay 66-A, Anibong, Tacloban City is another village in Tacloban which was devastated by the Typhoon Haiyan. It is located in the coastal area facing Cancabato Bay and San Juanico Strait.

However, despite the devastations made, the Barangay Chairman Hon. Delia Bato remained hopeful that their village could rebuild the damaged structures through the help of some people who have benevolent hearts.

One of the urgently needed buildings was the daycare center. It was completely destroyed by the typhoon and needed to be rebuilt. According to the Barangay Chairman, the children in their village were already delayed in their proper schooling period and instead of going to school, they were visible in the streets and unsecured. Many mothers were prevented from attending daily matters because of not having a place for them to leave their children.

Full of hope, Hon. Delia Bato, the village Chairwoman, appealed their request to Reverend Bhante Yatirawana Wimala through the assistance of the Liga President, Hon. Eden Chua-Pineda. With his compassion and willingness to help, Rev. Wimala visited the village and immediately responded with a promise to build a new daycare center.

Reverend Wimala appointed me as the project manager and provided me with all the advice and finances. During the two month construction period, he communicated with me almost daily from different parts of the world and re -assured me and provided me with whatever resources I needed to finish the building in a timely manner.

In August of 2014, the new daycare center was successfully inaugurated in the presence of Barangay officials and some City Government officials. During the inauguration, Rev. Bhante Wimala was honored by the Barangay officials and residents. They presented him with a plaque of appreciation as their way of expressing their deep gratitude for this remarkable achievement of completing the new daycare center in such a short period of time.

For months, the village officials had pleaded with the government to help rebuild their daycare center. Eight (8) months had passed already since the devastation happened but none of the government institutes took any action regarding this urgent need. Gratefully, Reverend Wimala promised and rebuilt and handed over the daycare center to the village council.

Now about 60 children who otherwise were left to wander in the streets or were left without much care are attending the daycare center. I feel so happy to be part of this wonderful project and I am grateful to Rev. Bhante Wimala and his sponsors for making it happen.

(Upon the request of Bhante Wimala, this day care was sponsored by The MahaKaruna Buddhist Society in Malaysia. We are grateful to Rev. Saranankara, the chief monk of Sentual Buddhist temple and the devotees in Kuala Lumpur for providing the financial assistance for this wonderful project. )