after tremors of the heart

Santa Rosario is a barangay (neighborhood) on the Island of Bohol, which has now been hit twice; first by an earthquake a month ago and now by the typhoon. I was fortunate enough to be welcomed into this community at a moment it was particularly vulnerable, during a stress debriefing session. The session, much like the disasters themselves, crossed generations and spanned human emotions.

A shy lady, reserved and holding onto her dignity shared the anguish of how a landslide swallowed her home. The stories she revealed described the centrality of her home to her relationship with her grandchildren. As I reflected on the universality of this concept, she continued to speak, resting her head on the shoulder of her neighbor. The heaviness of the memories could not be overcome by the weight of the mud.

That twinge of loneliness was palpable when an elderly gentleman, the wrinkles on his face nearly matching the years in his life, verbalized man’s greatest fear. No matter how proud he was of his children’s success and how he wished them fulfillment in life, when the walls around him shook, he was the only one within them.

With tremendous passion, a young woman reflected on how the community as a whole achieved some sense of happiness through the power of sharing. By opening their fresh wounds together, it allowed them to start the process of healing together. Through this they will be stronger however uncertain future.

The respected barangay captain struggled as she looked at her fractured home and the tent that had replaced it. She is trying to hold it together and be strong for her family and community but even in the saturating rain I could see a tear no one else could escape her eyes.

And a man clutched his heart as he described the anticipation of ongoing aftershocks that accompany an earthquake like a shadow even at night. It seems long after the final aftershock, the after tremors of the heart will remain.