Typhoon Haiyan Victims Get Surprise Visit Justin Bieber

Filipino Typhoon Haiyan Victims Get a Surprise Visit from Justin Bieber

Explore Talent posts about the surprise visit made by teenage pop star Justin Bieber to the Philippines on Tuesday, December 10. He came to the country to visit Typhoon Haiyan survivors, as reported by New York Daily News. The singer travelled from Australia to Tacloban City, one of the places drastically hit by the super strong typhoon in the province of Leyte, where he gave toys, T-shirts and played basketball with children. Bieber went to an elementary school in the city that is being used as an evacuation center. Typhoon Haiyan hit the country last November 8 and caused the death of over 6,000 people and more than 1,700 missing. The storm, which brought on a storm surge that destroyed villages and towns in the central part of the Philippines. Giving Back to Filipino Kids Bieber got to Tacloban onboard a private flight from the last leg of his word tour in Australia. This was not his first visit to the country. He was in Manila a few years back for a concert. This time though, he was not in the Philippines to earn money from concert tickets, but to give back to the Filipino kids by giving joy and hope. In an interview with TV 5 Manila, a young girl explained how she felt upon seeing the young heart throb that she idolized. “It was like were not hit by the typhoon, like Yolanda never came,” she said. In the first school he visited, Bieber checked in on the makeshift learning space, which was packed with some 3,000 kids. He then moved on to a stage that was temporarily setup outdoors for his impromptu visit and where he performed for the kids and other people in the shelter. While he was singing, a boy jumped into the stage and danced along with the singer. “He played a very beautiful set. He played a series of Christmas songs and some of his hits as well, including Baby,” Kate Donovan from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on a report in Usa Today. In the second school he visited, the 19-year old singer shot some hoops with a number of boys. He also hugged some of these boys and willingly posed for photos with his Filipino fans. The charity efforts of Bieber are planned to benefit three non-profit aid agencies, one of which is UNICEF. In a press statement, emergency coordinator for the UNICEF Angela Kearney said, “Justin brought a lot of joy, hope and cheer to the hundreds of children who were there”. She revealed that the funds Bieber will raise are expected to go to the children who were affected by typhoon Haiyan and will be used for education, better nutrition, vaccinations, sanitation and clean water. The pop sensation described his unannounced stop at the Philippines as the “last stop and the most important one” of his global tour, Believe. He said on Twitter that it was the “most touching trip of my life”. Fans Also Asked to Help According to News.com.au Bieber asked his fans to help out in the Philippines’ campaign to rise again after the deadly typhoon Hiayan. Before visiting the Philippines, the pop star posted on Prizeo.com, a fund raising website, asking his fans to give out something to the typhoon victims. The site has tweeted that Bieber has already raised some $600,000 for this purpose. The young star also posted this on Twitter, “Help and get involved. I saw the devastation first hand today. They need our help. #GiveBackPhilippines here – prizeo.com/Justin” One of the donors to Bieber’s cause will have a chance to see him personally in his music studio next year when he will be recording his songs. This was contained in Bieber’s message on Prizeo with his appeal that the “victims in the Philippines need our help – and they need it now”. Justin Bieber is only one of the many international and local entertainment personalities who are helping out in the efforts to rehabilitate the Philippines.