January 13, 2022

Before my subsitution appointment ended, I had a chance to meet few of my students. I never thought that I would meet them at that difficult time but I did and I thank God for giving me such oppurtunity.

Two weeks after Typhoon Odette hit, classes were supposed to resume but since the classrooms were not spared and some modules and printers were damaged, we were tasked to do a different job. Experiencing the typhoon's wrath us traumatic. To me, it is by far the strongest and the most destructive typhoon I have experienced in my twenty- three years of existence. Going back, we were told to visit our students and assess their situation. At first, I thought it would all be fun, adventure and excitement until the moment I stood there in front of some students.

My heart beat fast the moment we visited the first student on the list. She was doing the laundry in their devastated home. The teacher who was with me greeted her with joy so the atmosphere would somehow become lighter. As she was narrating what happened during the typhoon, she was smiling but her eyes were sad. There was only the divider left and the whole structure of their house is gone.

In one of the many houses, I saw this cute kid and thought of including him in our documentation.

After walking for a few minutes, students called the teacher who was with me. Apparently, he was their former subject teacher. They were giggling and the ladies were still as beautiful and cheerful as ever like they were not victims of the typhoon. When asked about their houses, they would just laugh about the damages. When asked about the modules, some answered that they really made sure that they were safe and some also honestly said that the modules were also not spared by the typhoon's wrath. Before we left those bunch of students and head unto another homes, we thought of trying on some tiktok dance trends as they were loudly playing songs using their portable speakers.

To get into another neighboring barangay, we needed to cross a hanging bridge that has bamboo trees as an alternative to the other end because it is damaged. The deep green water below added more fun, thrill and adventure to the journey. Plus, when the seewind blows strong, the bridge would swing. I was really thrilled because I was carrying a heavy backpack and seeing the river below made me vomit too because I don't know how to swim and who knows what creatures are waiting for me there. Haha. I won't really forget the priceless experience. It is something I will forever treasure. Good thing that the student who accompanied us took a video of us and the teacher who was with me took a video of me on our way home. It will be a memorabilia that I will forever keep.

The whole experience for me provided different kinds of emotions. The damages were saddening but the spirit of the students as well as the parents were still lively. They still managed to laugh and look at the brighter side of life.

There were parents that were difficult to handle. There were also parents who were welcoming. Thank God I have a cheerful and smart teacher with me, he handles the situation very well and when there were a lot of students, there were no dull moments because he is naturally a clown.

I praise God for the wonderful ending of my substory. I thought I would never know my students and meet them personally. The typhoon has some kind of advantage still.

Thank you so much @TengoLoTodo , @OfficialGamboaLikeUs and @foryoubtc09 for the sponsorship renewal. God bless you more!

Thank you for reading. Until then!