Several months ago I had a conversation about how glass shatters. I had recently dropped something on a tile floor and couldn’t fathom how there could be enough force in the impact to scatter the glass as far as it went. Some pieces stayed right where they had hit the ground, while others flew several yards away. Even after sweeping several times I continued to find random pieces even farther than I imagined they could go. It took less than a second to drop the glass, but at least fifteen minutes to go around collecting the pieces. Even then, putting them back together again would have been a huge challenge.
On November 7th, 2013, typhoon Yolanda slammed into the eastern side of the Philippines. Last week my team and another team had the opportunity to visit Tacloban, the city most affected by the disaster, with Kids International Ministries. Thousands upon thousands of people died in Tacloban and they are still finding bodies over a month later. Next to the coastline there is nothing, just tall palm trees that withstood the storm surge over two stories tall. A bit farther away from the coast there are piles and piles of debris: cars on top of houses on top of stores on top of metal on top of wood on top of memories of what was there before.
At one point during our truck ride from Manila, I sat next to Joy, a woman who survived the storm with her two young daughters. Afterwards they had nothing left so she sent them to live with her mother-in-law while she went to live with her own mother. When I asked when she would bring her daughters back home to Tacloban, she replied, “Maybe after one year.” Maybe after one year the pieces of Tacloban would be collected enough that her family could start their lives again.
Later in the week I met Joy’s mother, who lives on a different island that was not as affected by the storm. She thought her daughter was dead but prayed nonstop as she travelled to Tacloban to find out for sure. She heard that Joy was in a certain area of the city and looked all over before they were finally reunited. She counts herself blessed that everyone in her family is safe, even if they are left without material possessions.
One month after the storm the people of Tacloban have already started to put the pieces of their city back together. The roads have been cleared so there is traffic as usual. Small stands are open on the side of the road selling fruit or snacks, sometimes right in front of the stand that was destroyed. Everywhere there are people building up what has been knocked down. For one week our teams helped cook and distribute a sort of rice stew to people in need. We gave people food to nourish their bodies but what they really need is hope that one day their shattered city will go back to some sort of normal. Their hard work and persevering spirits gave me hope that that will happen. I have no doubt that Tacloban will recover, putting their pieces back together even better than they were before.
If you are feeling generous this holiday season, please consider donating to my support account, as I still need about $4000 by February 1st.
