MANILA, Philippines?Stories, drawings and songs?these are the ways of coping with the effects of Tropical Storm ?Ondoy? as shown in back-to-back Inquirer Read-Along sessions marking the anniversary of the tropical storm which ravaged Metro Manila on this day (Sept. 26) last year.

Ondoy survivor 9-year-old Luntian Justo kicked off yesterday?s session in Ortigas Foundation in Pasig City with a prayer thanking God for having survived Ondoy before telling her story, ?Ondoy and Me,? which is about her experience when Ondoy hit their home in Montalban, Rizal. Her mother, Ondoy survivor and award-winning Adarna storyteller Dyali Justo read Adarna House?s ?Ang Pambihirang Buhok ni Lola? by Rene Villanueva, a story about how a grandmother?s extraordinarily long and strong hair was able to save a village from a fierce typhoon.

The all-girl singing group La Diva, composed of singing champions Maricris Garcia, Aicelle Santos and Jonalyn Viray, also read Virgilio Almario?s ?Ang Tuta ni Noe,? a tale based on the story of Noah?s Ark, also published by Adarna and released this year. The group ended their story with an a capella rendition of the song, ?Angels Brought Me Here.?

Expressive arts therapy

?Writing, drawing, playing, music [and] movement are different ways of expressive arts therapy. Not one can be said to be better than the other per se, because it all depends on the child or adult what medium he/she is comfortable with as a venue for expressing himself or herself. Some do it by writing poems, composing songs, creating dances, telling stories, etc.,? explained psychologist Dr. Ma. Lourdes A. Carandang.

In the Sept. 11 read-along session in Liberato Damian Elementary School in Pasig, one of the schools heavily affected by Ondoy, 25 grade school children who were victims of the flood underwent a debriefing activity following a storytelling session which featured television personality and Child Rights Supporter for United Nations Children?s Fund (Unicef) Philippines Bianca Gonzalez and teachers from Sophia School, who read ?Si Bituin at ang Malaking Baha? (Bituin and the Big Flood) by Inquirer columnist Ma. Ceres P. Doyo and ?Si Carancal Laban sa Hangin? by Rene O. Villanueva, respectively.

The debriefing activity was facilitated by psychologists Queenie Romina Cezar and Riza G.T. Ng of MLAC Institute for Children and Families, who asked the children to draw what they remember about Ondoy and facilitated the sharing of stories afterwards.

In her story, Luntian recalled that she and her parents Dyali and Mike were having breakfast in their home in Montalban when water started entering their house after only a few hours of heavy rains. ?One Saturday morning while we were eating, water entered our house, and we proceeded to put our things on top of our cabinets,? Luntian narrated.

But as flood waters continued rising, the Justo family soon had to leave their single-level home for the safety of their neighbor?s two-story house. ?My dad cannot open the door because of the water from the outside,? Luntian continued. ?So he removed the glass from our windows and we jumped out from there. Outside, the water was already up to his waist.?

As rain continued pouring heavily, flood waters eventually breached the second floor of their neighbor?s house. ?We were on the roof of our neighbor?s second floor for 18 hours,? shared her mom Dyali. ?From the roof, the flood was already waist-high.?

As she told her story, Luntian?s voice at times shook with emotion. ?Here?s the dump truck that brought us to San Jose Elementary School,? she said, pointing to a drawing she held up for the audience to see. Her story also told of her dad?s bout with leptospirosis.

Prayer about fear

?It all started with Luntian?s homework for her religion class where their teacher asked them to write a prayer about fear,? Dyali said. ?Luntian?s prayer came with a drawing, and I noticed the drawing was about Ondoy. Her prayer was, ?Dear God, I pray that typhoon Ondoy will not happen again.? I realized she still remembers it up to now.?

?I didn?t know that it really scared her,? Dyali admitted. ?Last year, while we were on the roof during Ondoy, she was so confident, telling stories to the other kids so they won?t be scared. She was the one giving hope to them
?I didn?t know that she herself was scared. She didn?t say anything until I read her homework.? (See related In The Know on signs of a traumatized child and tips for parents.)

The lessons taught by Ondoy are not lost on the Justos, a year after the tragedy. ?We?re saving up for a second floor. We?re not considering moving out of our home,? said Dyali. ?We?ve already taught Luntian what to do when we?re not in the house and it starts drizzling. We remind her every now and then that she should immediately go to the neighbor?s house where it?s safer and there are adults. She also has a cell phone and she can text us if it?s raining hard in our area.?

?We have also prepared a box we can grab quickly, should we need to evacuate. It contains basic things like clothes and medicine so we don?t have to look around the house anymore, we can just grab it and go,? she added.

Wacky performance

Meanwhile, singers Viray, Garcia and Santos read like pros, making animal sounds and giving a wacky performance that elicited laughter from the kids.

?It was an opportunity for us to help these children who were affected by Ondoy,? said Garcia, who shared that her birthday coincided with Ondoy?s onslaught last year.

In the audience were 90 children from the ?Iskul ni Bobby? program who were beneficiaries of Ortigas Foundation?s feeding program. Hailing from communities all over Pasig, the children also remembered Ondoy?s wrath.

After the Sept. 11 read-along, Gonzalez, although not entirely new to storytelling, shared that she still had concerns. ?I was still a bit apprehensive because the story that I read was deep and required much sensitivity. It was nice to see that the children were very receptive,? she said. ?I can only imagine the difficulties that these children faced in the aftermath of Ondoy. I remember, I was stuck in traffic for six hours when the storm hit Manila. It was such a hassle and what I experienced was not even a quarter of what the families affected by Ondoy experienced,? she added.

?[The Sept. 11] session was part of our series of activities where we revisit the areas that were heavily affected by Ondoy. Liberato Damian was one of the worst hit. In fact, Ann Veneman, then the global executive director of Unicef, personally visited the school days after the storm,? Pamela Pagunsan, a member of the Unicef communication team, said.

Liberato Damian school principal Arsenia Soriano also attended the Sept. 11 session. ?Not only was it a way for the kids to see that reading is fun, it was also a way for the children to let go of any trauma that they may have had during the Ondoy,? she said.

The Sept. 11 session was in cooperation with Unicef, Vibal Publishing and Marissa Oca of GIG and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation Inc., while the Sept. 25 session was in cooperation with Ortigas Foundation and Adarna House. Both sessions were hosted by Libre editor-in-chief Chito dela Vega.

A special session with Tuloy sa Don Bosco will be held on Oct. 22. With a report from Schatzi Quodala, Inquirer Research