Adventure
with a mission, that’s how I described my trip to Guiuan, Samar and Tacloban,
Leyte. I can still remember how our boss broke the news that he needed
volunteers to be sent in Tacloban to turnover the donations from our province
and without a second thought I did volunteer myself.
It was
November 15, 2013, Friday at exactly 7pm when we left Cavite and it was almost
10pm when we arrived at Batangas port. We had dinner and waited for hours. As
far as I knew, the ship was rented by Mr. Cayetano and our provincial governor
made the arrangement that’s why we’re able to join that journey. I was so
surprised the moment we were allowed to enter the ship I saw many volunteers
around. I never expect it since we’re sailing through a cargo ship. Good thing
was lahat ng laman ng barko were all relief goods and volunteers. I don’t know
all of them but knowing everyone aim for one thing and that’s the help our
countrymen in need, isn’t that amazing? :)
Saturday
morning when were able to cruise. Imagine how many hours we waited but that’s
okay at least we’re able to familiarize with the ship and people. Our boss was
with us. We’re only anticipating 12 hours of sailing going to Tacloban but that
12 hours turned into 32 hours into 50 hours at naging 3 days! Lol. :) There
were times we can’t see anything but endless water. Ang lungkot pala sa
pakiramdam nun. No islands just pure water, water, water! We either talk or
sleep or eat.
Along our
way there were times we saw beautiful islands with white sands, we even saw
dolphins and flying fish in the wild. :) But as we get closer to our
destination which was Guiuan, Samar we started seeing partially wrecked islands
from afar. :( Grabe. Feel like something was pricking my heart.
Monday
morning about 8:40 am when we reached Guiuan, Samar yet dahil low tide we we’re
not able to dock right away. We waited for the high tide and that took us
another 6 hours just floating around.
When they
signaled that we were about to dock and that was around 4 in the afternoon. I
ready all the things I needed. Actually, the first thing we wish to do was
makahanap ng makakainan.
Sorry. But
since the time na naglayag kami the only food we were eating was all canned
foods and instant foods. Ang sama sa pakiramdam. I refused to eat. I’m only
eating biscuit na dala namin but still we were thankful dahil without those
foods baka hindi na kami nakasurvive.
We thought
it will just take 3 to 4 days for everything. We never thought that yung 3 days
ehh papunta palang pala and to be honest nag-ulit ako ng damit. Dugyot level
10,000 nga. T___T There were
times na hindi rin kami nakaligo, kung makaligo man sobrang limited ng supply
ng tubig.
I personally
saw the massive destruction made by the typhoon Yolanda. Seeing it with my
naked eyes can’t even explain what I felt. Masakit na nakakakilabot na ewan. It
was indeed a heartbreaking scene. There was a lot of debris in the streets
around. It was totally like the ghost town we see in a horror film. The feeling
of sadness took over me. For a moment I was just staring and observing the
place. Naisip ko tuloy na kung sa Cavite nangyari ‘to, I don’t know. Hindi man
kami, but I have relatives who live near the shoreline kaya ang swerte pa rin
ng Cavite and helping in any ways we can I think that’s the best thing we can
offer.
I uttered a
prayer. I pray for the place, for the people, for everything. I never been to
Visayas and it’s just too sad I saw beautiful places in such condition, TOO
DEVASTATED.
When the
volunteers started unloading the relief goods we grabbed the opportunity to
talk with natives of Guiuan, Samar. We heard their stories before, during and
after the wrath of the typhoon. What broke my heart was nung mga bata na ang nagkwento.
These innocent kids’ ages from 8 to 13 experienced such a ruthless occurrence.
I admire that despite what had happened they are still jolly though I know deep
inside the fear, sadness and trauma still linger.
What amazes
me most was when I heard one of the kids saying, “okay lang mawala lahat wag
lang pamilya.” For countless times I kept holding back my tears. Ayokong
makaramdam sila ng kinakaawaan. There’s nothing to be pity about. It’s just I
was really moved with his words kaya gustong gusto ko ng umiyak.
We stayed in
Guiuan, Samar for a day-and-a-half though sa barko pa rin kami natulog but even
for such a short span we’re able to live with them. Sabi pa noong isang bata, “Alam
mo ate ang ganda ganda dito. Magiging city na nga po dapat ito kaso binagyo.” I
can feel the sadness in his voice. Nakakalungkot talagang narating ko ang lugar
na ito sa ganitong kalagayan. Y_Y
The most heartbreaking part for me was when
we left Guiuan. I was in tears. Hindi ko na mapigilan. :( Ang sakit isiping
iiwanan namin sila sa ganoong kalagayan. Yes, we brought relief goods but those
were not enough. T____T
At hindi
lang naman relief goods ang kailangan nila, more than anything they need people
who will listen to them, who will listen to what they went through. I can still
vividly remember those kids who kept on running and waving on us. Shit. :/ I
wanna break down. T_T Alam mo yung
pakiramdam na hindi pa kami nakakalayo pero gustong gusto ko ng bumaba ulit.
These kids broke my heart. If only I can volunteer myself living there kahit six
months lang. I wanna see this place to rise and shine again. #BangonGuiuan!
After Guiuan we headed straight to Tacloban. We had the usual dilemma kaya
hindi ulit kami nakapag-dock agad. We spent the night floating again. The next
day, finally ng pinayagan na kaming mag-dock. They gave us an hour to do our
task and that’s to turnover all the goods we had sa DSWD warehouse. With police
escorts, we went straight to the warehouse.
Along the way, it’s the same scenes just like in Guiuan, there were
scattered debris all over. Sadly, but we’re able to see dead people along the
street though nasa loob na ng cadaver bag. Even after a week they keep on
recovering dead bodies. T____T What gave me goosebumps was nung napadaan kami
sa isang dump truck. It was a sad scene, saw layers of dead people in a cadaver
bag. Y_Y
Since we’re
in a hurry we were not able to mingle with people from Tacloban and that’s the
bad thing. I did not feel the solemnity I felt back in Guiuan. T_T mas
nangibabaw ang kilabot ko sa Tacloban. :/ Like any time pwedeng may sumugod sa
amin knowing we have relief goods. Iba pa rin kasi yung ambiance, felt it was
still in an aggressive state though nothing bad happened. Kulang lang siguro
talaga kami sa oras.
Felt like
crying when we’re about to get back to the port, I read hopeful messages in the
streets, “TINDOG TACLOBAN” “WE WILL WIN THIS FIGHT. LABAN TACLOBAN!” Ewan ko
pero pakiramdam ko talaga sobrang nahaplos yung puso ko. T_T
Honestly,
mas na-attached ako sa Guiuan. Siguro dahil we’re able to mingle with people.
Nakita at nakasalamuha namin sila kahit sa maikling panahon lalo na yung mga
bata na nakausap namin. I have their photos and videos. T_T I can still feel
they are in pain but despite of it I see them as strong and happy kids. I
admire them a lot. For me, they are the perfect example of a true Filipino, nakangiti
sa kahit ano mang pag-subok.
I have heart
for kids kaya masakit sa aking makita sila sa ganoong kalagayan. If only I can
do more for them. T____T
Kudos to all
the volunteers. I saw all their hard work and eagerness to help people. They
kept unloading all the relief goods kahit gabi na. They worked as a team. Those
people have their own life too pero inisantabi nila muna to help our fellowmen.
Walang
mayaman, walang mahirap
Walang
lalaki, walang babae
Walang bata,
walang matanda
Sa iisang
mithiing makatulong.
