Rebuilding the Ark

8/8/2019 Rebuilding the Ark

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By: Rexan Dayao



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“The LORD smelled thesoothing aroma, and the LORD said toHimself: ‘I will never again curse the

ground on account of man, for theintent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.’” -Genesis 8:21

On September 26, 2009, typhoon“Ondoy” poured a month's volume of rainfall to Metro Manila and nearby areas in just a few hours, causing severeflooding that resulted in theloss of many lives and the displacementof hundreds of thousands of people.

Some 8,000 children from 2,027families residing in 10 barangays of Quezon City and Pasig City were amongthe thousands who were affected by thefloods. Houses and other properties,especially alongriverbanks, were swept away orsubmerged into water.

Floodwaters, mostly waist-deep andin some cases reaching up to the secondfloor, invaded houses. People needed to

swim their way to higher grounds forsafety. Some members of the Lingapstaff were among those affected by Ondoy.

Children living on Anonas St.,members of Cubao Children Associationand street children in Escopa opted tostay in Lingap compound to avoid beingswept away by raging floodwaters along

Ermin Garcia Street. News reports were, indeed, terribly frightening.Hundreds of helpless people ran fortheir lives and children were seen beingswept away while their parents cry for

help.

The day after, the clouds finally parted and the sunshine touched the

wet earth of Metro Manila and suburbs.But the sight it exposed was notsomething that provided warmth in thehearts. In fact, it was the contrary.

Dead bodies were on the streets, cars were piled up and the environment only spelled disaster. Many families took refuge at evacuation centers with little

food, no safe drinking water, no dry clothes and no decent beds to sleep in.

Few months after Ondoy, the damageto infrastructure, communities, natureand lives were still perceivable. Less

visible were the psychological effect inchildren, who shiver uncontrollably atthe mention of the typhoon’s name.

Lingap knew that it has a role to play in the rehabilitation of childrentraumatized by the horrors of Ondoy.

We were not alone, thank goodness!

The Ateneo de Manila University’sOffice of Social Concerns andInvolvement (OSCI), through theinitiative of Ms. Abi Victoria andChristian Raymundo Bernardo,supplied a bountiful amount of relief goods that filled up Lingap’s conference

On September 26, 2009, typhoon “Ondoy” poured a month

volume of rainfall to Metro Manila and nearby areas in just

few hours.



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room.

Fighting back tear and trying toovercome heavy grief, the Lingap staff packed bottled water, rice and noodlesfor those who were more severely affected.

We went to communities to help, while many others went to Lingap, braving knee-deep mud, for relief goods. We realized that God spared theLingap office from the floods so that itmay be a venue for serving those withnothing left. Lingap office served like anark where people found refuge.

While visiting evacuation centers, wesaw children in particularly challenging

situations. They were sprawled on

untidy floors alone, sick and hungry.They were apparently neglected by theirparents who had their hands and headsfull of many tasks and concerns, most of them about survival.

Unknown to the parents and many others, however, the lack of opportunity and outlet for children to express theirfears, to shout out their negativesentiments, to cry, to laugh and to play

would create a life-long negativeimprint on their subconscious if not

immediately attended to.

We saw the need to talk to thechildren, allow them to play, eat, andprovide them the opportunity to voice



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out their feelings to cope up with theemotional damage cause by the tragedy.

Lingap staff immediately drafted afive-day module focusing on psycho-

social activities for at least 1,000preschool, school-age and adolescentchildren at risk. The module includedtopics or themes on self-awareness,family, community and environmentalawareness. Story- telling, arts andcrafts, music and movements andsupervised play are some of theactivities in the module.

The Advocates for the Recovery of Kid-survivors of Ondoy (ARKO) team wascomposed of more than 60 social

workers, child development workers,church and student volunteers whofacilitate psycho-social sessions amongsmall groups of children in evacuationcenters and in affected communities.

After providing at least 1,500 familiesin ten barangays in Quezon City,Marikina and Pasig, with relief services,the ARKO team identified children’sneeds and those who were separated orneglected using the rapid appraisalapproach.

Other members of the team worked with community elders and leaders toprofile children needing psycho-socialactivities. For four months, at least2,000 children underwent psycho-social activities. Half of them were givenschool kits and toys, while theirrespective schools were given

educational toys and medicine kits.

When asked why she wanted to be apart of the ARKO team, volunteerteacher Ruby Joy Embornas said: ”Kasi

biktima sila; parehas kami. Kapagnagkakasama kami na naglalaro at nag-uusap, nawawala yung

pangamba. Parang unti-unti natatanggap mo na ang nangyari at natututo kang bumangonmuli.” ( Because they [the children] are

victims; both of us are victims. When we play and share stories together, fearand anxiety disappear. Slowly, you learnto accept things as they are and moveon)

One of Lingap’s loan officers, Liberty Pastor, narrated: “Gusto ko langmaibalik yung dating pakiramdam ngmga bata. Yung mawala na yung takot nila sa maraming bagay. Gusto ko ringtumulong sa paraang kaya ko.“ (I just

wanted to bring the children back totheir normal state. To help chase their

worries away. I also wanted to help inmy own little way)

For weekdays and weekends, at least30 members of the ARKO team had to

load up a jeepney with water, food andinstructional materials and a positivespirit to be shared among children who

will attend the psycho-social activity. Tosee them waiting for our arrival wearinga big smile was truly rewarding.

There were numerous “thank yous”from children, but what makes the

Lingap saw the need to talk to the children, allow them to play,eat, and provide them the opportunity to voice out their feelings

to cope up with the emoonal damage cause by the tragedy.



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psycho-social activity remarkable is the

unconditional love reciprocated by every little child we met. Such memory will live among us forever. A typhoonmay have left them with nothing, but wehave found something in each other’slife, and that is love that bridges all

boundaries and cured all the traumasand pain of life’s.

Noah’s Ark is a manifestation of God’slove to His creation. For us in Lingap,there might be a lot of catastrophes andchallenges that may haunt children and

families in our time, but as long as weare alive and can do service to children,rebuilding the Ark through ourcombined efforts is not an impossible

task. We can do all things when we

work together so that we will be able tosee children in communities enjoyinglife in God’s abundance. □

The Advocates for the Recovery of

Kid-survivors of Ondoy (ARKO) team

is composed of more than 60 socialworkers, child development workers,

church and student volunteers who

facilitate psycho-social sessions as

seen in this picture.

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Rebuilding the Ark