Kids on Typhoon Reming

a continuation to my Reming news... since i did mention that being a relief operation volunteer became an in demand career after the storm, i became one of them. yes, even if i too have been affected by the typhoon, i know i have the strength to reach out and help those who are a lot less fortunate than i am. so i joined in on our church's relief distribution around evacuation centers. believe me it was hard not to wonder how they'd manage to live inside schools with more than thirty families in each room. though its bad to pity them, you can't help but feel that way and hope they'd find a better way to move in with their lives.

my role then was to take pictures for documentation duing the distribution. and in a way guide the line of people who will receive the goods. when my job is done, i'd help with the packing and distributing as well. practically, im in an all around job. it felt good recieving smiles whenever you reach them the plastic bag of food supplies (proud too knowing we placed there quite an amount of grocery unlike the usual stuffs that they get).

anyway, the most memorable experience from that activity happened when i managed to take the pictures posted in this entry. i was obsessed then of taking good shots because i was in my photojourn aura during the event. it was unavoidable that our plastic bag of goodies would burst because it was heavy. and this little rice grains fell greatly on the ground. we couldn't just sweep it off, and it would be horrible to try and collect it afraid that they'd think we'd put it in the bag again. so we just let it stay on the floor. this kid came over with an empty can of sardines on her hands and i was simply touched when she started picking up the grains and putting it in the can that she holds. before i ask her what she's doing, i took the picture first and other kids joined in and helped her. she told me that she'd collect it, remove the stones, wash it and ask her mom to cook it for the family. right then i know the panic buying that happened along public markets for rice, and i was so ashamed that this kid had the initiative to reuse the rice that we thought was too dirty to be cooked. so i just smiled at them, hiding the tears that we're starting to build up in my eyes and took their photos.

they enjoyed having me taking their pictures so they all continued what they're doing while smiling at me as well. enjoy the pics and may we all learn the lesson that kids could teach us. :')