MANILA, Philippines?Dark clouds, heavy rain and waist-high floods.

The images are still dominant in the drawings of children a year after surviving the havoc that Tropical Storm ?Ondoy? (international name: Ketsana) had wrought on their homes in Pasig City on Sept. 26 last year.

The artworks were produced by 25 pupils in Grades 5 and 6 during a debriefing activity that capped an Inquirer Read-Along session held at Liberato Damian Elementary School in Pasig City on Sept. 11.

Psychologists Queenie Cezar and Rizason G. T. Ng from the MLAC Institute for Children and Families, a foundation that aims to help disadvantaged and traumatized children and their families, facilitated the debriefing.

Ng introduced the drawing session after the back-to-back storytelling. Teachers from Sophia School read Rene O. Villanueva?s ?Si Carancal Laban sa Hangin,? while Bianca Gonzalez, Unicef Philippines child rights supporter, read ?Bituin and the Big Flood? by Inquirer columnist Ceres Doyo.

?Bituin and the Big Flood? follows the experience of Bituin and her family during a storm which caused a huge flood reminiscent of that brought by Ondoy.

The children spent some 20 minutes drawing their experiences. Cezar facilitated the sharing of stories behind the drawings in one group of children, while Ng handled the other group.

Open-ended activity

?The way the activity was introduced was open-ended?we just instructed them to draw what they remember. It could have been positive or negative?it could be the middle of Ondoy, or its aftermath,? Cezar said.

?However, the most striking for me in their sharing of their drawings is that while most of them remembered scenes during the storm, they did not include themselves as part of their drawings,? she said.

One possible explanation, she said ?is that they?re already onlookers or maybe they have already detached themselves from the event.?

?It can also be that they still can?t include themselves in their drawings,? Cezar added.

By drawing what they remember, the children also process it,? she said. ?It?s therapeutic for them.?

Standout

One drawing stood out from her group. It was a scene where people were already cleaning up.

?The drawing was really bright and colorful?for me, that kid is well on her way to recovery,? Cezar said.

?As in her drawing, it seems that color has already returned to her life as well,? Ng said.

Drawing is also an outlet for children?s emotions, Ng said, adding that it is ?a way for them to process and to let out their feelings.?

?Sometimes, especially if children are traumatized, they can?t verbalize their experiences,? she explained. ?This can either add to or lead to depression.?

?If they can draw their experiences, they are able to detach themselves from them, to describe them from the outside?instead of always internalizing it,? Ng said.

Common elements

Ng agreed with Cezar that the prominent elements were dark clouds, floods and other negative experiences.

?But when the children started sharing their experiences with the group, they also stressed that these things were already in the past, that they have already managed to overcome them,? Ng said.

?The kids also said they learned a lot, and they just wanted to focus on their schooling today.?

Cezar described children as ?naturally very resilient.? Most of those who came, she said, ?are already on their way toward healing.?

Sharing experiences

Acel, Abby, Anjelo and Ferris, all 11-year-old Grade 6 pupils, shared their memories of Ondoy after finishing their drawings.

?I was playing in the rain that morning. The next thing I knew, the flood was already high. I helped my family move our things to higher ground,? Acel said. He drew dark clouds, pouring rain and deep floods.

Abby, his classmate, said she was watching television at home when the flooding started. ?The water started rising very quickly,? she said. ?We had to move our things to higher places, too, like tables and our TV. Our neighbors came to help us.?

?Our flood-stricken relatives who did not have second floors came to live with us temporarily. Because of the flood, there was no electricity. We had to wade through the floods. It was a difficult time,? Abby said.

Her drawing shows a girl standing in waist-deep waters littered with trash and black clouds hovering above. Asked why the girl was smiling, Abby explained: ?It?s because the flood is already receding.?

Coping ways

Ng asked the children what they had thought about to cheer themselves up in the midst of Ondoy. Abby answered: ?That it will all be over soon.?

Others chimed in that they distracted themselves by remembering happy memories, playing games, focusing on their homework and even exchanging jokes.

?When evening came, we were already joking around in the house,? Acel said.

Sunshine, another participant, said in Filipino: ?Until today, I still remember Ondoy?s wrath.?

Asked if they thought drawing their memories and recalling their experiences were bad for them, the children said no. ?I don?t think so,? Ferris said.

?We can?t change the fact that it already happened anyway,? Abby said. ?I think it was good that we were able to share these stories with each other.?

Valuable life experience

For Anjelo, the activity lifted his spirits. ?At first, I felt that I was the only one who suffered during Ondoy. Today, after hearing other people?s stories, I realized that I?m not alone.?

The children said their experiences had shaped how they have been dealing with storms that came after Ondoy. ?I remember that time ?Basyang? hit our home, my mother didn?t sleep all night,? Abby said.

Abby and the other children treated Ondoy as a very valuable life experience. ?Our parents don?t have to tell us anymore what to do in the event that a similar thing happens again because we?ve already gone through it and now we know what to do next time,? Abby said.