Sense of community begins to develop in ‘Pablo’-hit village in Davao Oriental

It has often been said that tragedy, disasters and unfortunate events often bring out the best and worst in humans; they also unite or divide a people.

Typhoon Pablo (Bopha) was no exception: It galvanized the world, especially local organizations, to positive action to help the survivors cope with the devastation as well as assist their communities get back on its feet.

In the eco-tourism resource-rich barangay (village) of Ban-ao, the farthest barangay of this town which borders the municipality of Cateel and Baganga, a sense of community is starting to develop in each survivor—a feeling of unity, commonality and oneness with one another.

A sense of hope for a brighter future is pervading Ban-ao and “visitors” can’t help but notice the unity of the people here.

“I often wonder what the overall feeling in this village before Pablo was. But now, the feeling of unity and oneness is so palpable in everyone that I can’t just feel or sense it but also see it in the people, in the way they help each other cope with the disaster,” Ed Cox, expert disaster response and humanitarian volunteer of the Rotary Club’s Disaster Aid International (DAI) said in a casual conversation with the BusinessMirror on board one of the vehicles of the Balay Mindanaw Group of NGOs (BMG) on the way to Ban-ao from Cateel.

Cox, who admitted his frustration at people who don’t understand his “job,” said that there were times that he felt so frustrated at and disappointed with the response from government and so-called expert disaster response and “But then, I see the survivors and then hope springs back to life. Yes, you can see sadness in their eyes. But you can also see there the fire of hope burning. And it is our job, our work, our responsibility to make sure that this fire of hope in them is not extinguished. It is our job to convert this hope into positive action for them to be able to help themselves. That’s the meaning of assistance,” he said.

And this hope is what’s driving the survivors in Ban-ao forward into rebuilding a devastated community and rebuilding lives, even if it means literally picking the pieces and putting them back together.

Teary-eyed, Punong Barangay Mera Ching said that despite the unfavourable fate they had in the past year, there is always a reason to celebrate a new life, a new beginning. And this should not be missed especially by the little children,” Rochelle “Bibing” Mordeno, executive director of Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc. (BMFI) said in BMG’s DR and humanitarian interventions update report to donors, partners and the general public.

Ching, at 42, is ably leading Ban-ao’s slow but sure recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Because of Ching’s leadership, purok (sitio) leaders of Ban-ao are also taking very active roles in the “new Ban-ao,” consisting of several Tent Communities.

“This also helped unload the burden on the part of the punong barangay [as] all of the seven purok leaders are actively involved especially on major decision-making and planning related to the tent community and the barangay in general,” Mordeno said.

Sunday 20 January 2013

http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/news/regions/7939-sense-of-community-begins-to-develop-in-pablo-hit-village-in-davao-oriental