Typhoon Ondoy in the Philippines
In case you don’t know, there was a typhoon in the Philippines
4 days ago.
It’s bad.
I’m writing this blog post for 2 reasons:
1. A call for donations
2. Answering questions I’ve gotten
————————–
1. A call for donations
————————–
I’ve never asked people to donate to anything before,
but this disaster really hit home.
One of the girls I employ in the Philippines lost her uncle.
Someone else I know has a VA who lost a sister.
People there don’t have water, food, clothes, blankets, shelter.
I hooked up with an organization who normally ships stuff
to Africa but now is sending their normal stuff to the Philippines.
If you can donate anything, please do:
http://purecompassion.org/urgent-shipment-needed-in-phillippines-now/
Whether you can donate $500 or $5, it’s going to help.
On that page, be sure to click the link right below the “Donate” button
to read more.
Please don’t wait on this, people are suffering right now.
I talked with the guys who run that website. They’re not a huge organization,
but they’re very well organized and have a lot of experience with this.
Also, Google has a page where you can find other places to help:
http://www.google.com/landing/typhoon-ondoy.html
————————–
2. Answering questions
————————–
I had quite a few people ask me the question today:
“How does this affect your ability to outsource to the Philippines”
I have 2 answers:
1. Short term: My people are not working for a few days
2. Long term: It doesn’t!
A similar typhoon came through the Philippines 2 years ago and
some of my GUYS were very affected by it. They didn’t have
power for 4 days. They struggled for a while. I sent them money to
rebuild their houses.
Short term I lost a week of work from them. Not a big deal.
Long term, it didn’t affect anything. I still continue working with them.
They still continue doing great work for me.
Please consider donating some money if you can:
http://purecompassion.org/urgent-shipment-needed-in-phillippines-now/
Filed under outsourcing by John
Comments on Typhoon Ondoy in the Philippines »
Hey John,
I heard from my web guy in Manilla Tuesday and he tells me that he spent the night of the typhoon on his roof with his son and wife in the dark with driving wind and rain, During that time there were vehicles, dead animals and one dead person floating by in the raging water. He said there was a loud roar and suddenly the house filled with water and mud. They escaped through a second floor window onto the house and the water was up to the eaves. On a 2 story house!
They lost everything. Everything except what he had on his computer. He had everything on a portable hard drive and wrapped it in a plastic bag before fleeing.
And his primary concern???
That he will lose his job with me!
Well that’s not gonna happen!!!!
And the first thing he told me??? That he wanted me to know that he saved all the work he was doing and that I should not worry.
“ME” not worry??? WOW! I could not believe after everything that had happened to him and his family the biggest thing he was worried about was making sure that I knew that his work was safe and he was ready to go back to work. 48 Hours after losing his house and everything he owns!
And he is working 48 hours later while living in a small furnished room. I told him to take as much time as necessary but he’s working. I sent him money to help get back on his feet. And he is extremely appreciative.
I have learned several things from the disaster in the Philippines:
1. While the Internet makes it possible to hire people in remote places like the Philippines it also allows people like us to help in a timely manner.
2. If it was not for remote working arrangements there is a good chance that my guy would be unemployed right now.
3. I wish I had more people like him. He is dedicated and a professional.
And he works for me because of you John. If it was not for your outsourcing information I would still be working with people in India and Pakistan or another spoiled, overpaid american developer who thinks I owe him the world.
For everyone else out there that reads this pleas keep the people in the Philippines, Indonesia and the Samoa’s in your prayers and donate anything you can to help them.
Thanks Again
Bob Moldashel
Yeah, this was quite the storm. One of my guys lost his father – he drowned before anyone could get to him. He also lost his home. Tragic! But he told me he plans to be back to work in a week! I told him to take as much time off as he needs and I definitely sent some extra money to help. My other two guys were okay.
Typhoon Ondoy in the Philippines | My 4 Hours @ 12:33 pm
[...] the “King of outsourcing to the Philippines” believes that the situation quickly should get back to normal though. var addthis_pub = ”; var addthis_language = ‘en’;var addthis_options = ‘email, favorites, [...]
Just donated $1k, thank you for bringing this to my attention and providing an easy trusted place to donate to. I plan to do a lot more with workers in PH soon so the least I can do is start off on a generous foot. I’m sure it will come back to me.
Jonathan