From Quake to Courage: Stories of Strength and Solidarity

Happy Wednesday Hivers!

The Philippines is one of the countries most prone to earthquakes and typhoons. Every year, numerous typhoons hit the country—some of which are super typhoons causing widespread destruction. Earthquakes are also frequent, and there are years when extremely strong ones occur. These are among the main reasons why many Filipino homes get damaged or destroyed.

One thing I truly admire about Filipinos is our strong sense of solidarity, especially during times of calamity. Most Filipinos never hesitate to help others in need when disasters strike.

Just recently, on September 30 of this year, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9, according to PHIVOLCS, struck the province of Bogo. The quake caused severe damage to houses, buildings, churches, and roads—not only in Bogo but also in nearby areas such as Tabuelan, San Remigio, Medellin, and Daanbantayan.

Because even local stores were unable to provide basic necessities, the people’s urgent cries were for water and food.

In response, the LGUs and volunteers from various private sectors immediately organized and delivered relief goods to the affected areas in the north. My family was among those who took part in distributing aid to the victims.

Our eldest sister suggested that if we were to donate, it would be better if we personally delivered the goods ourselves. In almost every country, corruption or politics tends to exist in some form. This isn’t meant to criticize anyone, but there are really some people who take advantage of situations like this—collecting donations but not giving 100% of them to the intended victims. Because of that, we somehow lost trust in intermediaries. So, to make sure that the aid would truly reach the earthquake victims, we agreed with our eldest sister’s suggestion to personally deliver the relief goods ourselves.

I was quite surprised by what we encountered around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday. We decided to travel at night to avoid heavy traffic, so we left at around 10:30 p.m. and arrived at the boundary between Tabuelan and San Remigio around 2:00 a.m.

To our surprise, there was an elderly woman already awake and waiting by the roadside, hoping that someone passing by early in the morning would stop and offer help. She waved us down, and since we already knew that the people there were earthquake victims, we immediately stopped.

We met “Nanay,” who shared with us that ever since the earthquake struck, they haven’t returned to their home because of fear—especially with the series of aftershocks that continued to hit their area. They’ve been staying under a makeshift shelter made of tarpaulin by the roadside, even though it’s not really safe.

It was truly heartbreaking to see them. All we could hear were people crying out for food and water. By morning, more and more people had gathered along the roadside, waiting and hoping that vehicles passing by would stop. Whenever a vehicle slowed down, they would rush toward it, knowing that most of those who stopped were there to give aid.

There was one boy, around 10 years old. When we stepped out of our vehicle, he shouted, “Let’s fall in line!” I couldn’t help but admire him—despite his young age, he already understood the importance of lining up so that everyone could receive their share properly and avoid chaos during the distribution.

Even though what we gave them wasn’t that much, their overwhelming gratitude made it feel as if we had given them a house and lot. They were so thankful that someone was willing to help them with their daily food needs as they try to recover and rebuild their lives.

As we went around checking the areas affected by the earthquake, we saw many houses, establishments, churches, and roads that were damaged. In fact, I posted about it on my Facebook account with this message:

“You may have fallen today, broken and shattered, but soon you’ll rise again as if nothing happened. This brokenness is much like the storms of life — we go through hardships, trials, and struggles, but the time to rise again will always come. Because no matter how strong the storm, it will always pass.”

Thank you for reading and see you on my next blog. Cheers!

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Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.

Roald Dahl

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Some photos were edited using Canva

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_{Namaste! I am fond of reading books, watching korean, american and filipino series/movies and I am also fond of gardening. I love listening to different life stories and I am always captivated with the beauty of nature so travel is my escape when life turns into blue. But hey, how could I forget my photography hobby? It is one of the best, so follow me as I will be featuring my experiences of the stuff that I am passionate with.}