The Molave Clan USA, AUSTRALIA, and PHILIPPINES answered the call of their relatives who badly needed assistance after the Municipality of Boljoon was among the towns in the southern part of the Cebu Province which were severely affected after the onslaught of super typhoon Odette on December 16, 2021,
The Molave Clan is composed of the Medida and Sesante Lineage of the 402-year-old historical town of Boljoon.
#odetteph knocked out power lines, trees, and telecommunications towers which made it impossible for Boljoanons living in the other parts of the country and abroad to get in touch with their loved ones and relatives in Boljoon after the onslaught.
Kristen Marie “Iste” Sesante Leopoldo, the daughter of the late Atty./Retired Police BGen. Napoleon Medida Sesante, a multimedia journalist based in Cebu, is one of the admins of the different Facebook pages of Boljoon immediately tried to get an update about the situation in Boljoon on the 17th.
“We have a family group chat, every time I ask for an update about our hometown, they would immediately respond but on the 17th it was different. We were all waiting for responses from hours to days,” said Kristen.
She added they all got worried since they didn’t get any words from any of their relatives in Boljoon not until after three days. They received a message from her cousin, Maica Mendez Roma, thru their family Groupchat asking for assistance.
“She sent a message in our family group chat and informed us about the situation in Boljoon that the food supply was depleting, and there is a scarcity of potable water,” said Kristen.
Kristen added that after the typhoon, several telco companies were working on restoring their network services that is why Maica was able to get a signal after three days.
“The signal at that time was still weak and was only available at certain areas. Maica would try to look for ways to communicate with us and give us an update. We appreciated her effort in keeping us informed,” said Kristen.
After assessing the situation, Kristen and her relatives from the “ Molave Clan” launched a fundraising within their family circle to give media noche package, solar lamps, and containers of drinking water for their relatives as well to those from the mountain barangay of lower Becerril who either lost their homes or severely damaged by #Odette.
On December 30, 2021, Kristen and her family together with her brother, Atty. Kenneth Kernn Sesante, all went to Boljoon with a truckload of media noche food package, emergency solar lamps, and containers of drinking water.
“We brought something they can prepare for their New Year celebration. Even it’s not the usual celebration but it’s going to be a meaningful one since we are all celebrating for having a new life after surviving typhoon Odette,” said Kristen whose house in Cordova was not spared by #odetteph wrath as well.
Despite it was raining hard on December 30 making the roads slippery at the mountain, it didn’t stop them from delivering the media noche package, the solar lamps, and the containers filled with drinking water.
“Even we were all soaked because of the rain yet it was a fulfilling experience for all of us. It was a mission accomplished. It’s all worth it upon seeing the smile painted on their faces when they received our small media noche package and the containers of drinking water,” said Kristen.
Kristen would like to extend her appreciation to all her relatives who made the relief operation successful. In the United States of America, Madelyn Sesante- Garana, Deling Sesante, Jackie Sesante-Ford, Jude Sesante, Marife Gonzales- Sesante, Joel Sesante, Charito Gabriel, Expedito Sesante-Eborlas .Those based in Cebu, Stella and Tival Sesante-Eborlas, From Molave Australia- Karisna Khate Sesante-Aparri and the rest of the Tribu Nap Sesante siblings.
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