The promise of rain: A story of hope and new beginning

MANILA, Philippines - “Baby, ‘wag ka muna lumabas kasi masama ang panahon,” Amor told the baby in her womb, when Typhoon Yolanda struck their community of Basey, Samar.  Amor was eight months pregnant.

She recounts how minutes before the storm, someone started shrieking, “Tubig!” and immediately, she brought her young daughter and her mother to the safety of their second floor. But when there were signs of a worse wave, they panicked.

“‘Di namin alam kung saan pupunta. Hinigop ang tubig dagat at alam namin na sa maiksing panahon, lalala ang sitwasyon. Kailangan makaligtas kami.”

Their only option was to climb to the roof. But the winds were so strong, the roof was not an option either.mThere simply was no other place to go.

“Ang tubig na itim ang tumalsik sa amin… in a few minutes, wasak lahat.”

Amor Baliclic, a grade 6 public school teacher in Basey, shared her ordeal in a narrative exercise during the recent Sining Galing Arts Therapy workshop for teachers of Basey and Marabut, Samar. This was a project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in cooperation with the schools division of Samar.

“Nakalimutan kong buntis ako. Lahat sinasabihan akong, ‘careful ka, buntis ka’.”

Amor’s pregnancy had been delicate. In her last check up, the baby was in a breach position. The threat of a miscarriage became more imminent, especially with the sight and sound of destruction and death around them.

“Malapit kasi ang bahay namin sa ospital. Nakita ko ang dami nila. Mga taong namatay, andun nilagay sa may harapan ng bakod namin.”

She would feel her stomach harden every time she saw or experienced something distressing. But Amor tried to overcome the feeling. “Sinubukan kong hindi masyadong isipin yung mga nakikita ko.” She would hesitate to move as she needed to rest her feet regularly. “Pero tatayo ako agad kasi alam kong may kailangan pa akong gawin.”

There was indeed a stronger calling, this selfless sense of duty that urges many of our public school teachers to immediately stand as pillars of strength in emergency situations. So despite her condition, Amor was determined to answer that call. 

She rode a motorbike through the debris and muddied roads to reach her school, only to find out that it had been washed out by the typhoon, including all the school furnishings, materials and records of the grades.

This sadness, however, was momentary, for when she saw her pupils, she was relieved. Her students’ faces lit up at the sight of her, perhaps anchoring on the prospect of classes resuming soon. These initial gatherings help the teachers connect with their students, assess their situations and give help when possible.

While the sense of normalcy begins with the resumption of classes, it also puts a lot of stress on the teachers who must continue their acts of stoicism despite personal realities.

What is it like to be a teacher in such times? 

“I am a pacifier,” Amor says.  And instinctively, she used the arts to help in the situation.

“Mga bata, namamarayaw (showing off in Samarnon) kasi mas nagiging happy sila.” They would sing songs solo or as a group: songs like “Hawak Kamay” and “Bilog ang Mundo,” as well as love songs. These enabled the students to express their feelings, relate their stories of survival, cry, at the same time encourage, hope.

Other teachers would ask the students to draw, using salvaged crayons, pencils and papers, and to narrate their experiences.  

In the mat weaving tradition of Basey, a teacher used coconut leaves to make woven eyeglasses, rings and play balls. Her objective was to refocus the students’ energies to something more constructive. It also helps her assess if the students are able to move on.

Some teachers would use play therapy. Using the ball made of coconut leaves, they would play a touch ball game, pahid paheray.

The Sining Galing workshop modules further enhanced the various creative expression tools that could be used by the teachers for themselves and their pupils. They were provided with different artistic forms for release, reflection and redirection. 

Amor also relayed how a few of the students then had clearer signs of trauma. Some were non-participative and quiet. Some were clearly afraid of the rain and when they would hear thunder, they would run away, frightened, with the thought of waves coming soon after.  Some were suddenly unable to write their names coherently, the letters jumbled.

Instead of succumbing to the worst possibilities, Amor tried to inspire her pupils by instilling courage. “Harapin natin anuman ‘yon. Ako nga kinakaya ko,” she says as she feels her regular leg and stomach cramps. And, like many teachers, she would encourage her students to pray.

In reality, many of the teachers’ own houses were washed out. They would often say, “Pinatatag ko sarili ko kasi harap ko mga bata. Kahit gusto kong umiyak, hindi pwede.” This self denial gave way during the Sining Galing workshop, when finally, they found the right time to release their emotions.

While Amor was working on her students, she knew she also needed to prepare for her baby’s delivery. Foremost in her mind was looking for a hospital.

Normally, she would consider giving birth in a hospital in Tacloban, Leyte, which could address complicated childbirths. But that was out of the question now.

In Catbalogan, she was told by hospital staff that they didn’t have working equipment and could only monitor heartbeats. If she had to undergo delivery by C-section, she would need to seek out other hospitals. But other hospitals which were running on generators were full of injured evacuees and victims. 

After struggling through options, she surrendered to the medical limitations, with a message to her child, “Baby, mag-cooperate ka ha?” And, on Dec. 8, at a birthing center, after six hours of labor, her baby came out by normal delivery.  

But the problems were not over. Amor could not breastfeed because of a glandular problem. So again, they had to exert more effort in getting the milk and water supplies for her newborn, from a city three hours away from their community.   

Yet throughout the ordeal, her baby remained calm, oblivious of all the challenges and experiences that Amor went through. “Hindi siya naging pasaway!” 

It was a reassuring kind of calm that promised Amor that things would be better.

Sining Galing focuses mostly on public school teachers as recipients of the program, in recognition and support of their work with children.

“We are grateful that these artists came to share the arts that help teachers in times like this,” says Thelma Quitalig, the tireless superintendent of the Division of Samar. She is also relentless in the pursuit of helping rebuild the affected schools of her area. But she keeps her teachers’ needs close to her heart and mind, providing the necessary programs to balance the teachers’ strong sense of duty as service providers in emergencies.

“I have worked with the CCP before in a similar project, and this is really a good program. Not only are they experts in the arts, they are really a good helpful team,” she says. As the division gears up for the coming school year, the training also provided modules that can be used for teaching the arts to the pupils. 

CCP’s Sining Galing has  been responding to communities affected by disasters and armed conflict for almost 10 years now, having responded to the survivor-teachers  of the Real, Quezon, Cordillera, and the Ginsaugon, Southern Leyte landslides, to the survivor-teachers of Typhoons Sendong and Pablo in Mindanao, and to the survivor-teachers of armed conflict areas (together with UNICEF), and others. 

A week after Yolanda, the CCP, through its Arts Education team handling this arts therapy program, started its response to the relief efforts for Tacloban, Leyte and Samar. This is the second phase of its rehabilitation efforts, which includes post psychosocial activities for both Samar and Leyte, as well as facilitation of “felt needs” such as children’s shoes, cellular service and some relief goods. Funding also came from the “Pass the Hat” donations from the CCP audience and through the benevolence of sponsors here and abroad.

The task of rehabilitation takes time. Many of the population still live in tents and there is slow return of normalcy for rural towns as compared to urban centers.  Much support remains needed for the affected schools of Basey and Marabut, Samar, in terms of classroom furnishings, pupils’ chairs, blackboards, etc.

Months after Yolanda, the grass has started to grow again and the leaves have replaced the dead twigs on trees.

Amor’s baby is named Rhean (pronounced ray-aen), for rain, and for ray, for the promise of hope.

“I want her to remember how she was part of that experience, and how she calmly reassured all of a better future.”