Month: March 2014

Sonia Astudillo led the kids in yoga.

At the fishermen’s cove, there were no boats. A crew was building new ones from plywood at a steady pace under a tent. We were told that we were going to meet the women down the road. Most everybody was living in tents and makeshift huts. There were children playing. Sonia taught them yoga on a tarp because there was no space for it anywhere. I taught qigong and massage on part of the road that had not collapsed under the waves. As I surveyed the scene of destruction, somebody who had my camera took shots of me as I walked around and then sat. Soon, women were coming for qigong lessons. The next day, at 7 am, we resumed the class at sunrise.

Annie, MariCris, Ric and I walking on the remnant of a road in Barangay 89-90 that had been washed away by Yolanda. Our group of 5 had grown by one: Ric, an INAM staffer, joined us for a couple of days in Tacloban City. He had studied with me for 10 years, so did Annie. I had taught them Tai chi, Qigong, massage, Microcosmic Orbit and acupuncture. I am confident in their abilities to share what they have learned, not only from me but also from others. They are excellent healers, as much dedicated to the healing arts as they are to the Filipinos. They have traveled the islands to teach and to heal even in the remotest areas of the country. In a farewell to the area demolished by the typhoon, we went to the San Juanico Bridge connecting Leyte and Samar. The sun was setting. Annie snapped a few shots of Sonia and me. Sonia took a photo of Annie and Ellen. MariCris had gone ahead of us to the airport: she had a conference to attend in Manila. A busy week ahead: a conference on acupuncture curriculum, another with the Dumagats, a Tai chi class, a summing up and assessment of our work in the field and then, for me, a long journey back to Easton, Pennsylvania.

As we were departing, a rainbow showed up beyond the beach.  The shots were taken by Sonia. I took several shots but my camera failed to capture the rainbow. At sea, a gentle rain fell on us. It reminded me of the rains in Bali or Hawaii: soft and short like a blessing from the sky.

The sea was the bluest blue, and calm. Still, we had anxiety about the sudden change in the weather. We can trust the sea, but I have had the experience of sudden squalls and rains in Coron, Palawan just a year ago. We were welcomed by children who were taking lessons in drawing. They were waving their art work when we arrived. The boy was in the house where we had lunch of boiled squid, chicken adobo and fish soup. That’s Sonia sitting on the top of the stairs surveying the scene of destruction and children playing basketball with a tennis ball and a goal put together with a wire for a goal and pieces of lumber for a backboard.