I was doing some last minute packing
before we left for the airport and I was very jittery about what I might need
and what else I should pack. I was very adept with traveling around the country
so I was really thinking to myself why I was worried in the first place. But
then, I already knew this wasn't like any trip I have ever taken. I've never
flown without my family for one. And I'm not sure about the situation that was
going to welcome me. When we boarded the airplane, I don't think it has really
sunk in to me what exactly we are doing there.
We arrived and we saw nothing but field and water. That was Tacloban airport. There was nothing and to think all those spaces were filled with bodies upon bodies in the news. We were literally walking where many have died. The airport was rubble. There were barely anything there and it is so difficult to actually get your stuff and then check out. We took a ride in the city and it was pandemonium. All the buildings were ruined, people were just living off tents and the houses just had tarpaulins to cover up the blown off parts of their roofing. It is really difficult to see a waste land especially after they said that this was a first class province and now there's just turmoil.
So many people died here in an hour. That was just one hour of their life and now there are lives we will never get back. It's just hard to bear that all this happened in that short a span of time. It isn't fair. It's not even the people's fault. You cannot expect them to suddenly leave their homes at your advice. Or blame them from not being prepared. It's crazy to think that just a few days after the typhoon hit them, we were studying them in class and trying to make innovative solutions there. Now I actually believe that what we were proposing before could actually be feasible. Could have actually lessened the emotional trauma that these people have had. (system for dead body collection, identification, tracking, and disposal)
I always thought that Filipinos are really cheery and a smile usually establishes a connection but now, I've tried smiling to some folks here and all they give me back is a smug face. I guess that really hit me hard because it wasn't supposed to happen. It was such a bad thing and there is no one to blame for the injustice. It isn't even injustice exactly. Nature just had a backlash and its everyone and no one's fault at the same time. But then I heard some stories about the water being murky and stinky. That makes you kind of believe Mother Nature had a reason to fight back. Maybe it wasn't the people in Leyte's fault that they got hit but everybody's fault for not taking care of the environment. It sort of becomes an issue of social sin because it was nobody in particular yet it was everybody's fault at the same time.
So after that first bus ride around the city, we arrived at the Leyte Provincial Hospital and right in front of it was the remains of the Provincial Health Office where the immersion group last year had their orientation. We went in and took a look at what happened. It was a complete wasteland. The files and other things were just left there because they couldn't really save it any more. We had our orientation in LPH and they even served us food. I was really overwhelmed that they took the time and effort to prepare that for us. I mean here we are, invading their privacy and all that, and there they are, disaster stricken yet they still cared enough for us to treat us to food and water. I know it was very difficult here and even though we were only there for a short period of time, they still chose to give. I now really think about the concept of generosity. Would I be able to do that ever? In a time when I have nothing, will I be able to give what I already have? It makes me really question just how much I really care for my fellow men. This is it. Tangible reality and it moves me yet makes me feel bad that I don't care enough. Why do I not care enough?
We arrived and we saw nothing but field and water. That was Tacloban airport. There was nothing and to think all those spaces were filled with bodies upon bodies in the news. We were literally walking where many have died. The airport was rubble. There were barely anything there and it is so difficult to actually get your stuff and then check out. We took a ride in the city and it was pandemonium. All the buildings were ruined, people were just living off tents and the houses just had tarpaulins to cover up the blown off parts of their roofing. It is really difficult to see a waste land especially after they said that this was a first class province and now there's just turmoil.
So many people died here in an hour. That was just one hour of their life and now there are lives we will never get back. It's just hard to bear that all this happened in that short a span of time. It isn't fair. It's not even the people's fault. You cannot expect them to suddenly leave their homes at your advice. Or blame them from not being prepared. It's crazy to think that just a few days after the typhoon hit them, we were studying them in class and trying to make innovative solutions there. Now I actually believe that what we were proposing before could actually be feasible. Could have actually lessened the emotional trauma that these people have had. (system for dead body collection, identification, tracking, and disposal)
I always thought that Filipinos are really cheery and a smile usually establishes a connection but now, I've tried smiling to some folks here and all they give me back is a smug face. I guess that really hit me hard because it wasn't supposed to happen. It was such a bad thing and there is no one to blame for the injustice. It isn't even injustice exactly. Nature just had a backlash and its everyone and no one's fault at the same time. But then I heard some stories about the water being murky and stinky. That makes you kind of believe Mother Nature had a reason to fight back. Maybe it wasn't the people in Leyte's fault that they got hit but everybody's fault for not taking care of the environment. It sort of becomes an issue of social sin because it was nobody in particular yet it was everybody's fault at the same time.
So after that first bus ride around the city, we arrived at the Leyte Provincial Hospital and right in front of it was the remains of the Provincial Health Office where the immersion group last year had their orientation. We went in and took a look at what happened. It was a complete wasteland. The files and other things were just left there because they couldn't really save it any more. We had our orientation in LPH and they even served us food. I was really overwhelmed that they took the time and effort to prepare that for us. I mean here we are, invading their privacy and all that, and there they are, disaster stricken yet they still cared enough for us to treat us to food and water. I know it was very difficult here and even though we were only there for a short period of time, they still chose to give. I now really think about the concept of generosity. Would I be able to do that ever? In a time when I have nothing, will I be able to give what I already have? It makes me really question just how much I really care for my fellow men. This is it. Tangible reality and it moves me yet makes me feel bad that I don't care enough. Why do I not care enough?
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