Courage amid adversity

One cannot thank enough the thousands of volunteers who have in one way or another helped the earthquake victims of Negros Oriental, particularly its hardest-hit towns of Gihulngan and La Libertad.

The personal account of Canadian opthalmologist Dr. Hugh Parsons, who worked with doctors and medical staff of the Gihulngan District Hospital, gave first-hand testimony to the heroism of Filipinos amid the disaster.

“The nurses there were doing a fantastic job organizing casualties. We worked through the night as the injured and even the dead were rushed in,” said Parsons, who had worked in medical missions in China and other Asian countries.

Parsons cited in particular a nurse who worked through the week despite failing to contact her father in a nearby barangay that was devastated by the earthquake. The fate of the nurse’s father remains uncertain, but she continues to soldier on.

The praise wasn’t limited to the medical staff. Parsons was impressed with the local populace who, after being stunned by the sudden earthquake, managed to pull together and cooperated with each other in trying to rescue and treat the survivors.

“Somebody brought us as far he could, never expecting anything for it, and the police and Army helped us move our supplies. The people there all seemed to have this `yes we can” attitude, and the spirit of wanting to help in whatever way they could,” Parsons said.

Little wonder why the Inquirer chose the Filipino volunteer as its Filipino of the Year. Being volunteers, these people don’t do what they chose to do because they expect to receive accolades and rewards for their work. They count helping people as reward enough.

We could only hope the devastation won’t cause the death toll to climb higher. Setting aside the damage sustained by the quake-hit areas, residents have their work ahead in rebuilding their lives.

But as the arrival of supplies and personnel in their area showed, residents of Gihulngan and La Libertad know that they are not alone.

That there are strangers who will extend more than a casual gesture of kindness and in fact do something to help them.

Among their benefactors are their neighbors in Cebu, who despite being rattled by the quake and the resulting tsunami panic, didn’t hesitate in mobilizing resources to help them and Dumaguete City.

With the Filipino’s generosity of spirit, government officials should nevertheless do their part in setting up mechanisms that can cushion the effects of these calamities.

Rather than spend time in the limelight grabbing credit for work done by volunteers working in the trenches and in the background, they should join them in the frontline to assure the victims and survivors that they have someone to turn to in their hour of greatest need.