When you lose everything, how do you move forward? What do
you do to keep your head up? To be brave? Where do you find your strength?
A few
of the volunteers and I went to an elementary school on Wednesday where parts
of the roof were torn off from the typhoon. One class was being held outside
while another had the debris from the roof stored in the back of their
classroom, underneath the gaping hole. We asked one teacher, Veronica, what was
needed at the school. She kept talking about a bathroom… Rightfully so as I
watched several of her students walk outside of the classroom, go into the
alleyway that separates her room from the next, and go to the bathroom on the
wall or the ground. After asking about the unpainted walls and lack of school
supplies, Veronica mentioned that the school could use these, as well. I’m not
sure if anybody outright even mentioned the roof, but one of our country
directors took measurements anyway just in case. I will say that I find it
amazing that we saw so many things that could be improved at the school but,
when asked, Veronica mentioned solely the biggest need (a bathroom) over and
over again. In fact, when we agreed to fund and build this bathroom (called a
“comfort room” here), the community was so excited, that the parents came out
after school and dug a hole for a septic tank.
While at the school, the teacher in
Shawney, Bonnie, and I just couldn’t escape. We sang Head, Shoulders, Knees,
and Toes with the kids in 1st grade, taught the order of the planets
in 6th grade, and played with several kids that were hanging out at
the school during their lunch break. When, we were leaving, Frederick (although
his peers joked and told me that his name is “Biscuit.” Naturally, I call him
this now. It’s too awesome not to!) was standing on the ledge of his classroom
window, making faces and laughing.
Jessemae and Juliabelle, along with several other students, chased the
truck down the road as we were leaving. As we were driving away, Jessemae said,
“Bye, older sister Meg” in the native language. Adorable, adorable, adorable!
On Thursday, our country directors
took us to a mass grave where locals told us that 2,000+ people were laid
shortly after the typhoon, only to be taken and properly buried later. (Although
we, in the U.S., call the typhoon by it’s international name, Haiyan, the
people here have nicknamed it “Yolanda”.) Although thousands of people were
reported as missing or killed, it’s argued that not even half of the people
were publically accounted for. After seeing the destruction that is still in
“rebuilding” mode and seeing this former graveyard on the outer edge of the
city, I believe it. If 2,000+ people were buried in this fairly remote
location, how many people were killed in the more populated areas of Tacloban? This
moment was very moving for me as it helped me to grasp the intensity of this
devastation just a bit more. (Side note: I also believe that thousands of
people are unaccounted for based off of several stories that I’ve heard, many
of which are too gruesome or sad to share on here.)
On Friday, several volunteers spent
the day working in Pago, a village that is being constructed entirely by it’s
future residents with occasional help from volunteers like us. This community
is for the people whose homes were completely destroyed by the typhoon in San
Roque (a village in Tanuan) as they are being relocated further from the water.
When we arrived, they asked if we could help dig holes for septic tanks. We
spent the next couple of hours without shoes on as we jumped into muddy holes
in the ground, digging deeper and emptying out buckets of ground water that
filled these holes. After lunch, I spent the afternoon carrying pails of water
around the community to keep the cement wet and using a hammer to straighten
previously used nails that were pulled out of old pieces of wood so that they
could be re-used. During this time, I met Ruby, a 32 year old woman. Although
she speaks little English, we formed a great relationship quickly, as she
called me “smiley” and “friendly” while I called her “helpful” and “honest”.
She taught me how to straighten the nails, cheered for me when I did a good job,
and even started helping me out when I couldn’t get one right (“That one’s too
hard for you. I’ll do it!”). She loved my coral-painted nails (thanks, Fran!)
and was very concerned that I would hurt them by working with a hammer. Before
I left, I asked if she would like me to paint her nails the next time I came.
She was so excited about something so small and couldn’t suppress the smile
from her face!
It’s
crazy to me that all of these projects and everything that is driving this city
right now is still a result of the name I hear most often: Yolanda. This
typhoon has a tragic identity, uniqueness, and meaning to these people. They
don’t want handouts, they don’t want unnecessary items… They just want change.
The motto for HELP ends with, “…helping people to help themselves.” Here, they
already know how to help themselves… they just want somebody to help them in the
wake of a tragedy.
So,
when you lose everything, how do you move forward? What do you do to keep your
head up? To be brave? Where do you find your strength? I’ll tell you: You focus
on the future and begin working diligently and as a team to make things better.
When I see signs that say things like, “Choose to be Brave” or “Stronger than
Yolanda,” I know that the Filipino culture has something that they could teach
everybody worldwide.
Lastly,
some important things to note: Shawney’s luggage has arrived (!!!), the
electricity went out on Wednesday night (while Bonnie was mid-bucket shower!)
so we played Farkle by candlelight, and I rode on the top of a jeepney
yesterday. We have pictures and videos of all of these things which would make
my stories SO much better, but the internet is typically too slow to upload any
media. We have a million stories to tell (some of which may be told by other
volunteers on here in the future, as they keep saying things like, “Be sure to
put that on your blog!” and I’m probably forgetting all of them), but I’m just
trying to summarize our experience as best as possible. In a nutshell, all you
need to know is that we are having an awesome time, constantly laughing, and
loving helping these people. More adventures to come soon!
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