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Children at Lonoy Elementary School watch while we hung a new plywood roof in their Kindy classroom. © 2014 Andrea Rip |
I was pretty wrong. While the damage on the Island was evident as soon as I arrived to Ormoc on the SuperCat Ferry, the people who I crossed paths with showed gratefulness for what they did have left, a resilience to rebuild and help restore their communities, and generosity towards those of us who came to help them with their clean up and rebuilding efforts.
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This very social boy at the Gawad Kalinda Rebuild project site loved to pose. © 2014 Andrea Rip |
Most notable were the children, who with a remarkable curiosity and gratitude, found our project teams working at their schools, churches, nearby homes, and neighborhoods. They watched; the giggled with each other; they picked their crushes from among us; they waited for an opportunity to pick up a shovel, or wheelbarrow, or sledge hammer and work with us; and they loved to ask our names and find out where we are from.
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Two children cleaning up in the morning and watch the workers start heading off to shovel and lay bricks at Gawad Kalinga in Ormoc. © 2014 Andrea Rip |
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Children at Valencia Central School watching us depart the work site for the day. © 2014 Andrea Rip |
Hard not to love every one of them for the henna in their hair, a crooked smile full of missing teeth, shy pokes on the arm, or their exuberance to to wave and beg our names, we all inevitably have photos of the smiles - and memories of signing their tshirts, playing games, and holding them on our laps.
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