Teacher Rose and Teacher Melorine

There were some aspects of our visit to Pasig that I was not able to include in my story, but stand out to me.

The first is Teacher Rose. Teacher Rose is a day care teacher at Liberato Damian Elementary School. She was stranded during the floods but took charge when hundreds of families flocked to the school for refuge.

She got the families settled into the classrooms and registered each of them herself. While some evacuation centers are marred by fighting over relief goods, Liberato Damian is quite well managed. When relief goods arrive, Teacher Rose calls on family representatives to receive the goods. She is also the go-to person whenever the evacuees need anything.

I mentioned Teacher Melorine. She handles preschool and Grade 2. The teachers were asked to wait for the arrival of UNICEF Executive Director Anne Veneman. Teacher Melorine entertained about 100 displaced children and mothers in her preschool classroom before and after Veneman's visit, reading to them and playing games. Before I left, she was leading them in a dance rendition of "Nobody" (clap clap). Her husband is also a teacher at the school.



At one point during the visit, two boys also began playing with empty donation boxes. I wished I could have included that in my story. I imagine that those boxes were filled with cans or other relief goods at some point. The children have nothing to do as they wait to get back to the lives they knew and no matter the circumstance, a child's natural propensity for play will emerge.

I also met Fortunata Serrano. She has two grandchildren. Carlo has down syndrome and only came to the evacuation center that day. Her other grandchild, Nicole, was involved in a hit and run accident about a year ago and still experiences involuntary seizures. Fortunata's 89-year old mother was still at their home. She had been bed-ridden ever since she had a stroke. Relatives take turns at the evacuation center and their house so they can watch over her.