“Hand In Hand To A New Tomorrow”
In response to the needs of the poor suffering as a result of the typhoons that ravage the lives, livelihoods and land of the Philippines, the Oikos Sisters have developed an immersion program.
In many barrios in Eastern Samar:
- people generally only eat once a day because of the lack of food and resources
- because of the distance to the town and the cost of transportation, many people in the barrios cannot leave and they have hardly any access to medical attention, new clothing and shoes, food, hardware or supplies for fixing their homes.
- there is one church per town which can have up to 40 barrios surrounding it, therefore in many barrios mass is only celebrated once a year.
During an immersion, the Oikos Sisters spend 3 days in a selected barrio and bring with
them food, clothing, and shoes for everyone living there. Within the three days they cook for the people and serve them lunch each day, they give clothes and shoes to them, they show a movie, have games and religion classes for the children, faith formation for the adults and have mass on Sunday. They have a m
edical mission day where doctors come to care for the people, the Sisters bring medicine from the Charity Pharmacy with them, plus they also have a dental clinic with Sister Michelle. It is a jam packed three days!! During the course of the immersion, the Sisters develop trust with the people and can determine if they can initiate their livelihood programs in the barrio. Once a connection is made, the Sisters return to the barrio often to see to the needs of the people.
One comment that is made at nearly every immersion the Oikos Sisters have done is “Thank God…we haven’t been forgotten.” You can help the Oikos Sisters by making a donation to continue the great work they are doing in the barrios of Eastern Samar. To help the Sisters prove to the people that they haven’t been forgotten, please click here:
