US troops to end ‘Ondoy’ relief work Saturday
10/08/2009 | 09:55 AM
US Navy personnel help distribute used clothes to victims of tropical storm 'Ondoy' who are temporarily sheltered at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City since Monday. Mark Adrian
US Ambassador Kristie Ann Kenney said in a radio interview Thursday that only a few will stay for a "long-planned" military exercise at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija province.
"They are actually leaving this Saturday because the emergency part is winding down. The Armed Forces of the Philippines thinks that after [a] few more days of work, they can handle the rest, (they) don’t need the help. So our military assistance part will end Saturday," she said in an interview on dzRH radio.
Heartwarming memories
But she said many of them will go home with "heartwarming" memories of their relief work with Filipino victims.
She recalled one instance where a girl in an evacuation center insisted on having a pink dress, prompting the US soldiers to search the boxes of relief items for the item.
"[The] Marines were going through [a] box to find a pink dress, (it was) as if she were in a fancy store. Clearly it was important to this little girl. These guys have daughters themselves, they understand, pink is important. It was very cute to have the little girl saying, I want a pink dress and our guys looking hard for the pink dress," she said.
Kenney said there are some 2,000 US troops who took part in helping out in the relief work for Ondoy victims. These include those on ships and helicopters providing relief supplies.
Ondoy left at least 295 people dead and several areas flooded after dumping rains and causing floods last September 26.
A SMILE. A young evacuee smiles for the camera inside the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said similar smiles greeted US servicemen helping in relief oeprations. Joe Galvez
On the other hand, Kenney lauded the flood victims not only for their resilience but also for their sense of appreciation for help.
She said she was “impressed" when she saw the victims in evacuation centers smiling and stopping US soldiers to shake hands and say “Thank you."
Kenney said that in the first days of relief operations, she had expected to see victims “tired, angry and depressed."
“Instead you saw these people who are happy, couldn’t have been friendlier, wanted to shake hands, wanted to say hello. They were very resilient but I also have to say very appreciative," she said.
“These were people coming to be saying ‘thank you,’ stopping members of our military and saying ‘thank you very much,’" she added. - GMANews.TV
