Reading-for-healing helps traumatized school kids in Aklan town

ALTAVAS, Aklan—Nine-year-old Rosie Depedro gets scared whenever there is a strong wind. She can’t help but remember how the strong winds spawned by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” destroyed their house in Barangay Man-op and damaged her school.

“I am afraid that the typhoon will destroy our house again,” said Depedro, a Grade 3 pupil at Altavas Elementary School.

A day before the supertyphoon struck on Nov. 8, Depedro, her parents, grandmother and eight siblings evacuated to the school in anticipation of the onslaught of Yolanda.

It proved to be a wise move since the strong winds uprooted their small shanty located near a creek in Man-op, about 100 meters away from the town’s poblacion.

Unfortunately, Yolanda’s strong winds yanked out the roof of the classroom where they were staying in.

“I was sleeping with my siblings when the strong winds blew the roof of our room. Then the rain started to pour in and we ran to the other classroom,” she said.

Now, Depedro and her family are living in a small house that her father built beside a huge mango tree in their village, using the pieces of wood from their old house.

“We now live in a tree house, away from the creek,” said Depedro.

Despite what happened, she said they remain thankful that they are still together.

“At least we still have a house, and our family is complete,” she said.

Last March 17, Depedro was excited to go to school because she was one of the 96 children who would participate in a read-along session to help children cope with their traumatic experiences during Yolanda.

The Reading-for-Healing (R4H), an Inquirer-initiated activity, was supposed to be held at the makeshift tent which also served as classroom because only about 50 kindergarten and Grades 1, 2 and 3 pupils were identified to join.

But the venue was moved to the playground after the number of participants ballooned to 96 since several children insisted on joining.

Depedro said that of the two books read by school teacher Kanalee Castuciano, her favorite was “Chenelyn! Chenelyn!,” a story by Rhandee Garlitos about the importance of a housemaid in the family.

Depedro said she could relate to the story because her mother used to work as a housemaid to support her and her siblings.

“Because of the story, I realized that my mother’s previous work was really hard. Now, she is at home taking care of us and my grandmother who is sick while my father is working,” she said.

The other book was “Si Haring Leon at si Dagang Bulilit” by Angelita Aragon, which was about how a mouse and a lion became friends.

While Castuciano read the story, 15 Grade 3 pupils acted out the characters to the delight of the crowd.

The Grade 3 pupils also led their fellow pupils in singing and dancing in between storytelling sessions.

The children also had yoga laughter where they were told to laugh loudly. In the “Break your Face” activity, the children made their funniest facial expression.

Castuciano said she was happy to see the pupils enjoying their first read-along session. Many of the children lost their houses during the supertyphoon. The houses of the other children were damaged.