In Guinsaugon young people rediscover life after their tragedy
by Santosh Digal
A landslide on February 17, 2006 almost wiped out this community south of Manila, killing more than a thousand people. Among the survivors 21 young students who, thanks to the intervention of a local priest, were able to complete high school and work through the trauma caused by the natural disaster.
Manila (AsiaNews) – For Fr Merwin Kangleon, teaching was always a second calling, almost a mission. For him nothing compares to the fulfillment that comes from shaping young people’s lives. But if the challenge of education got into him early on in his priesthood, the summer of 2006 gave him an experience he would have never believed possible.
It all started when he joined the thousands of volunteers who responded to the desperate call of the people of Guinsaugon, south of Manila, whose village was covered on February 17, 2006, by a massive landslide that killed more than a thousand people.
Fr Merwin was then in a town about one and half hour by car away from where the tragedy struck
Realising the gravity of the situation, he was among those who went to the site on the second day of the rescue efforts to help the thousands of people left homeless, including students saved only because they were in school when the tragedy struck.
Fr Merwin later found out that 21 students who survived the landslide had some courses to do to finish high school. As an educator and school principal, he could not let the opportunity pass him by, and so got the 21 students transferred to Sogod, the town where he works. Every student had lost at least one family member; some lost both parents and were now orphans. Their trauma was immeasurable.
St Thomas Aquinas College, where Fr Merwin is principal, not only waived the students’ school fees but also addressed their psychological needs. In addition to teaching regular subjects, teachers incorporated psychological and spiritual activities as part of the rehabilitation process.
The students, 16 boys and 5 girls, received specialised counselling and were slowly involved in activities that allowed them to relax their minds and cope with post-traumatic stress. They were eventually placed in regular classes where they befriended local kids.
Other survivors of Guinsaugon landslide were taken in by the Cristo Rey Regional High School in the town of St Bernard where they found a refuge and economic aid to start putting their lives back together.
According to Father Merwin, “the path towards recovery is slow and difficult but none of us ever thought of leaving it. Teachers realised that by dealing with the situation we could all grow, together.”
The impact of the Guinsaugon tragedy was such that students started thinking that it was God's way of punishing the residents for their sins. It was a heavy blow on the students' morale and self-confidence. “We had to explain to them that accidents or tragedies can happen to anyone, anytime and that their experience of loss was not isolated.”
As time went by that summer, the students' behaviour became more and more positive. Because they lived in groups, they slowly made friends and began to heal.
“Psychologically, it's important for the person to grieve when he experiences loss because grieving helps him move on more easily,” the priest said.
In school teachers realised that in class the students' receptiveness was very limited, some even unable to do anything but stare into empty space. They could not focus as they experienced flashbacks. But that phase is now over and teachers were quite good at not forcing the pace.
The farewell dinner the school gave the students was very emotional, especially as the kids hesitantly said goodbye to those they had come to regard as friends, almost as family.
“I was moved when the students shared their thoughts and said they had come to realise that they were still blessed to have survived the landslide. They even promised to live their lives as best they could,” Father Merwin said.
“Before [the tragedy], they only thought about the here and now, so we are glad that they have learnt to look to the future, and think about what it will bring them. I hope their time with us will help them accept the reality of loss, that goodbye is part of life,” he added.
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