story after story poured, and all were heart-breaking.
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employees and students of manila central university (MCU), around 90 of them, gathered at the MCU auditorium to attend to a crisis intervention stress management (CISM) forum. i was given the daunting task of helping them deal with the ordeal they suffered due to typhoon ondoy.
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one participant, a student, tearfully narrated how she was stranded at the roof of their house with her brother desperately clutching onto her for dear life's sake. she felt especially helpless and resigned when her brother asked her whether they were going to die. some of her neighbors had rafts with plenty of extra space but simply ignored her frantic plea for help. at one instance, she even fell through her roof and fractured her arm. despite having survived the floods, she was immersed in her deep feelings of anger towards God for allowing this calamity to happen.
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every so often, i caught myself holding back my own emotions and tears, lest i choke while facilitating the session. at the end of the forum, i felt a strong empathy, a heartful connection with these survivors of the raging floods. as much as i wanted to do much more, all i could do was be present with them in their time of vulnerability.
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quietly, i continue to offer them a prayer of hope, and the strength to pick up and mend the broken pieces of their lives. dear god, i just pray that you comfort them at this time when they need you the most.
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It is very unfortunate for our Filipino brothers to be hit by typhoon Ondoy. I have seen the massive flooding and the flood victims on TV and it is really horrible.
ReplyDeleteNice post. Thanks for sharing. I hope that preventative measures can be put in place soon. One thing that can be done which costs nothing is each individual take responsibility for their garbage and put it where it belongs instead of throwing it all over the streets, rivers, and everywhere else.
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