Launching the Post-Ondoy Transition from the Relief Response Phase to the Rehabilitation Phase

December 29, 2009

Yesterday, December 29, 2009 100 women and 100 children from Manggahan Floodway, one of the areas of CO Multiversity in Metro Manila had a sort of reflection activity through a painting session.  The children turned out to be more than the targeted number. 

 The activity was aimed at providing a venue for women to talk about their experience of the flash flood

through a paint brush.  Before the actual painting activity, the facilitator asked that the participants think of symbols or images related to the flood of September 26, 2009.

The women were grouped into five groups of 20. Each group was given a two-meter long white coco

cloth , 20 small paint brushes  and a set of  five cans of paint with the colors red, white, yellow, blue and black. The white coco cloth was then placed on a matting of old newspapers to protect the tiles of the venue from being soiled with the paint.

After the painting session, those who wanted to share about their painting were asked to share their story. Most of those who shared cried while telling their story. After the sharing of stories, the women were asked to move away from their painting while a reflective music was played and  they  moved around the room towards the table with candles. As they were holding the candles, the  facilitator, with a prayerful piece in his hand, asked the women to repeat after him.  The piece was a about trusting God’s promises and being free inside oneself so one can fly freely like a bird. To finally say good bye to whatever disquiet  the memory of the flood brought to the women was the core of the piece being read.

Then  the song “I will survive” was played with the women singing along with the record. Then lunch was served.

In the afternoon, 100 children were expected to participate in a painting activity with the aim of being able to let out the discomfort from the memory of the flood. Instead of 100 children 140 came.

The children were grouped into five groups. Each group was given a set of five cans of paint. Each was given a paint brush. The difference of the children’s painting session from the women was that each child in the five groups was given a short bond paper sized white coco cloth.  The instruction was for each of them to recall whatever it was that they did during the typhoon and paint it.

Not all the children shared the story of their painting but from their works the recurring images were people on roof tops.

The next activity was the making of paper airplanes. The children were asked to hold their airplanes first and wait for the instruction from the facilitator.

There was a brief sharing on what the children’s families were doing in the aftermath of the flood. This was to slide into a “closure” ritual which was a reading  by the facilitator with the children repeating.

Fly tantrum fly and don’t come back.

Fly sickness fly and don’t come back.

Fly  fear fly and don’t come back.