What did the people of Pinamiyagan, President Roxas, Capiz teach me about life? Lesson I: On Starting all over again

Of four barangays where I was assigned for my Rural Immersion, Pinamiyagan is somehow close to my heart.  Pinamiyagan, the most affected barangay in President Roxas, Capiz, Philippines, planted something in my heart which, I could say, is worth remembering. Staying for three days, living their everyday routine, sleeping with them, and listening to their untold stories are gentle reminders of God for me to start living what matters most in life.  

 Balay Mindanaw Foundation, the host organization for my rural immersion,  sent me to tell the barangay a good news.  Yolanda washed all their houses away, gave them a memory that stormed their mindsets, and honestly asked God why He sent Yolanda to destroy their lives. The Foundation chose this barangay, together with the four other barangays in President Roxas, Capiz, Panay Island, to give them a Shelter Repair Kit. Each household would receive ten roofs, ten plywood, ten coco lumbers, two kilos of nails and a hammer. Hence, I had to travel by a small boat without katig to announce that Balay Mindanaw is giving a Shelter Repair Kit for them to assemble the dilapidated remnants of the super typhoon so that they can construct a temporary shelter and call it a home.

 Though, I was bringing this good news for Pinamiyagan, God is also waiting for me in this far flung barangay of President Roxas . I never thought that God is also giving me a surprise, a gift about life. Staying with them for three days, I believe, was visiting a God who stays with people who starts all over again after a tragedy struck their lives and lost almost everything they have.

That is the first gift of God for me. He let me see how to start all over again after losing almost everything.  

The typhoon brought their houses to the sea abyss. Houses were never to be found. Only wood debris were scattered everywhere in the barangay. The moment they returned to Pinamiyagan from evacuation centers in Poblacion, they could not contain the horror of the sight. The only thing they could do, seeing their houses no more, was to cry- to grieve. Perhaps some stared blankly at the sky. They did not understand why God could afford to love this way by sending a typhoon to destroy their homes.  They could not reconcile that. It was not only the walls and roofs, which Yolanda took. Losing a home is losing some fond memories of building the house through the years. And Yolanda destroys those fond memories. 

However, hearing their stories, Yolanda left something for them though she took the house. Yolanda did not take away the spirit of people of Pinamiyagan to start all over again. That spirit of becoming a beginner of life. They have grieved, yes, but they did not stop there. They have to pick those little pieces they have and construct a temporary shelter. They have to yield on 5-6, the Turkish way of pautang and the first thing they have in mind so that they can start something small. They have to go to the sea again to catch fish, to sell it in Poblacion, and to leave some for the table as food for the whole day. They have to set aside little amount so that they can pay the Turko weekly for two years. They have to budget the one sack of rice given by an NGO .  They have to dress their children with few clothes given by some relatives from the other town. They have to send their children to school.   They have to put up that ring again so that the young can play basketball. They have to play hantak when the sun is about to set. They have to cross Pandan, the next barangay  just to charge their flashlights, radios and cellphones. They have to hang that solar lamp under the heat of the sun, given by Balay Mindanaw, so that they have light at night inside their self-construct, temporary shelter. They have to fetch water in Poblacion in order they can take a bath, wash their plates and do their laundry. They have to tie that mosquito net before they sleep. They have to light the candle in the altar and whisper to God, “help us to stand up.”

They have to move on. They have to smile. They have to laugh. The world does not stop after Yolanda. They have to start all over again.

 

I wonder why they have the strength to start all over again. Perhaps, they have each other. No lives were lost. And they have God. They trust God so much, believing that Yolanda is part of the greater scheme of things.  Anyway, they do not worry much about how much Yolanda took away from them because they have only little to worry about. Right from the very start,  they have less in life to worry about.

Now I know why God is waiting for me in Pinamiyagan. God is teaching me how to start all over again through these simple people who lost everything in a blink of an eye. God prepared me, in case, He would send Yolandas in my life. God taught me how to start all over again by simply trust him, like what people of Pinanmiyagan did, and believe that  Yolandas are not the end of the world but they are part of the greater scheme of things.  

To be Continued….