Life after

MANILA, Philippines - In the wake of the one-two punch that was the magnitude 7.2 earthquake and Category 6 typhoon Yolanda, it was with more than a collective sigh of relief to be victorious, for a change. When Manny Pacquiao held up the belt, hair matted down with sweat, it was a sign of redemption and for most who have lost so much, it was hope.

This column started out very differently. The assignment was simple enough: to talk about a life in transition or in specific terms,  life after quitting a job “a million girls will die for.” And then Yolanda happened. There was no need to write about life in transition when lives were terminated and millions more were interrupted. The harrowing images that were broadcast through international and local news outlets, of how Yolanda swept into the sleepy towns of Tacloban, Samar and Leyte leaving desolation and despair after it, rendered moot everything else. We watched, in rapt horror, how our brothers and sisters lost everything while we still have our families intact, our jobs and our homes.

#Waray (A warrior spirit)

Crisis is the acid rain that strips you of all hubris and pretense and by this same regard, is also the most effective way to reveal true character. In his latest book, David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the power of difficulty and how what seems like a debilitating setback can actually become the makings of greatness. In the hours following the deadly dance of Yolanda, there was a transformation: fashion practitioners morphed into rescuers and mobilizers, designers became fundraisers, brand endorsers became rallyists for change and selfies quieted down, in an unofficial silent eulogy for the many we’ve lost.

A native of Tanauan, Krizette Laureta Chua, who also happens to be Cosmopolitan Philippines’s features editor, launched Waray Bayaay. I saw how my friend, in what felt faster-than-overnight, turn into a one-woman sagip kababayan center —trafficking medicine supplies, soliciting used bikes, turning her Facebook page into a bulletin board for missing people and even sending her husband out into the trenches of Tacloban with supplies and a mission.

A collective of accessories designers — Vida Tan Lim, Ann Ong, Lally Dizon, Ken Samudio, Dennis Lustico, Joyce Makitalo, Eric Manansala, Maco Custodio and Amina Aranaz (just to name some) — sold their wares with proceeds going to Yolanda victims. Cebu-based young designer Hanz Coquilla auctioned off gowns to raise money for Tacloban.  The Philippine Red Cross launched #aidcouture, a rousing success that was an ukay-ukay-turned-charity drive in Alabang Town Center.

We know her as @iamsuperbianca and although her leanings towards mobilization and social awareness are already widely known, post-Yolanda, she has become an even stauncher champion, activating her audience base of 2.7 million Twitter followers and close to 400,000 Instragram fans with a drive to hold on (kapit lang) and to continue providing help, hope and compassion. In tandem with her friend @lizzzuy, she traded in YSL Tributes and other shoes for relief goods.

#UNSELFIE

And then there were the many, lesser — known acts of help: homes turned into makeshift repacking centers, birthdays turned into fundraisers and corporations foregoing Christmas parties and employees voluntarily giving up their ham to convert into donations.

Naturally, when helping becomes a trending topic, there will be the token selfie-taker who just wants the “charity” shot. There have been stories of poseurs in Villamor airbase (YStyle editor Bea Ledesma’s friend was even pickedpocketed while helping out). Instagram was rife with bags and bags of relief goods and shots of human supply chains, some of them shown against group shots with big smiles. And while there will always be bandwagon riders, these are outshone by heartwarming stories: a young man named Ryan Aguas who just took a backpack of clothes and went straight to the Alphaland hangar (the planes were being deployed to deliver relief goods) to be able to go to the stricken cities and help out, or of another friend, Crystal Anievas, who met grief-stricken survivors to conduct stress debriefs and assist them through the psychological trauma of losing so much.

In ways both public and discreet, there has been an outpouring of support and while it is admirable, there is a greater task of rebuilding still ahead. Eventually the relief goods will run down and the economy needs to be rebooted, businesses have to be reopened, children have to go back to school.  But despite the unimaginable grief, which not even the most accomplished wordsmith can describe (with one exception, maybe:Waray Lourd de Veyra paints a heartbreakingly vivid picture of Tacloban Before Yolanda on Spot.ph) the circumstances that two weeks since still terrorize the areas hit, we can choose to quietly do our part, put our money where our conscience is and give not just dole-outs, but invest in seed money for businesses, new classrooms, a typhoon shelter (for real, this time). Of course, that might mean giving up on small luxuries like new red-soled shoes, but in exchange for a people getting back up on their feet, what a small, small price to pay.