Ang Kalatas Volume IV February 2014 Issue | Page 3

Volume 4 | Number 5
February 2014
www.kalatas.com.au

03

NEWS

Love is blind
REDFERN woman offers her walker to a disabled
man in Leyte she has never met
THEY are three
thousand miles apart
and have never met,
but an Indigenous
Australian woman
was so touched
by a picture of
handicapped
stroke victim and
Haiyan survivor
Prudencio ‘Mang
Dencio’ Padayao,
63, published in Ang
Kalatas’ January
2014 issue, that she
decided to donate
her walker-rollator to
him.
By MARILIE BOMEDIANO
llThe pain and grief etched in

the old man’s face, his head in
a bandage as he sat in a makeshift wheelchair, brought tears
to 47-year-old Lani McLachlan,
of Redfern, and she asked a Filipina also residing in Redfern to
take her four-wheeled walker to
Mang Dencio.

Lani, who also uses a walker,
had just received a newer walker
from a friend to replace her older one, but chose to donate the
newer walker.
A brand-new walker like it,
with wheels, a cushioned seat
and braking controls has a retail price in Australia of between
$150 and $200.
The walker will now be delivered to Mang Dencio by Filipino chef and activist Marx
Canoy, who is leaving for Leyte

on a brief rehabilitation mission
among Haiyan survivors.
M a n g Dencio survived
three debilitating strokes before facing the wrath of supertyphoon Haiyan in his hometown of Albuera, Leyte. He has
been mainly confined to wheelchair and needs assistance to
walk.
Lani’s spare walker would
provide him some comfort and
independence.
“I have a very bad back, a
case of sciatica, and a walker
helps me move around,” Lani
said. “If someone else needs a
walker more, like Mr Padayao
who can use it, I’m more than
happy to give it to him so it could
improve his quality of life, too,
especially after the trauma from
the recent Philippines’ typhoon
disaster.”
“I’m in a queue for back surgery in July 2014 and I’m on a
disability pension at the moment, but I can manage with
this old walker.”

Philippines says Thank You.
This huge billboard is on display at the Darlinghurst, Sydney area (cnr
William and Darlinghurst street) expressing the country’s gratitude to
Australia and to the international community for the overwhelming support
it received in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. It is a message crafted by
the Philippine Department of Tourism. The billboard in Sydney, unveiled
this month, is one of nine boards in cities around the world as part of the
Philippines’ global campaign of spreading this message of thanks. Similar
billboards have been put up in iconic sites in New York, London, Berlin,
Paris, Tokyo, Singapore, Torono, and Seoul. The thank you campaign
started as a grass roots social media effort by Filipinos is now being
internationally supported by the hash tag #PHthankyou.