For as long as there is a sky above us, there is still hope,” Maverick wrote on a card in Baguio. He made the brightly colored cover with a woodblock print of a candle and a bird.
The card was the final output in a woodblock printmaking workshop for 17 art students of Baguio City National High School, organized recently by the Cordillera Green Network (CGN) with Japanese artist Haruka Furusaka.
Each card had six copies, three of which were distributed to students in Leyte in the Message Cards to Leyte Project, supported by Japan Foundation, Manila.
Weeks later, at Alangalang National High School in Leyte, Metran wrote: “Salamat… ’Wag tayong mawalan ng pag-asa.” The student received Maverick’s card, and wrote on a card decorated with ferns and leaves.
In Supertyphoon “Yolanda”-devastated areas, CGN held a three-day workshop for 51 students with strong interest in the arts. Alangalang was the last leg. The other schools were San Jose and San Joaquin national high schools in Tacloban and Palo.
The volunteers, mostly Cordillera-based artists, taught the teenagers to use commonly found objects—things lying or growing around—to embellish their projects. One used sand and shells to say, “Thanks for the support.” Others used petals, whole flowers and leaves.
Project coordinator Vincent Navarro’s team arrived in Tacloban on Feb. 17, bringing 51 bags containing cra-yons, a pencil and colored papers, among others, to bring art back into the lives of the students.
The city looked dull from the smoke and debris that Navarro expected melodramatic sessions. “But there were no tears,” he said. The students were very happy and responsive.
To begin each session, the students were made to draw their “ideal Leyte,” which yielded pre-Yolanda narratives. But the memories were not reasons to grieve. They were reasons to hope.
The students were upbeat and positive. “For every thorn in life, think that there will be a bright tomorrow,” wrote Aubrey. Derick chipped a log among the debris to use as the trunk for his illustration of a tree, Navarro said. His message: “With every tree that grows, there is hope for all.”
Sheil wrote: “There is always a time to mourn and a time to dance!” Perhaps the students thought the time to mourn was behind them. It was the time to enjoy one’s youth.
“We always welcome those who would like to help,” Alangalang National High School principal Ofelia Nuñez-Alcober said. But she added that the activity was “kakaiba,” a break from the usual relief assistance.
“Art is important. It goes into the students’ inner parts,” she said. The students underwent stress debriefing when the school reopened only weeks after the supertyphoon, but a little more wouldn’t hurt.
Seven classrooms wrecked by the strong winds were a testament to the devastation brought by Yolanda. The strong pounding on walls and the objects thrown were a wholly unforgettable experience.
“The students enjoyed the activity, especially the last part,” the principal said, adding that she wasn’t expecting the grand closing performance.
In the final leg, the project ended with a Kabukumai showcase by Japanese Jun Amanto. The upbeat, funny pantomime is his modern twist on the Kabuki theater. All the almost 2,500 students watched, among them, the principal’s own child.
Life after the storm means rising up to face reality. This was what the Baguio students saluted their counterparts in the Visayas for in their message cards—through prints of rosaries, smiles, hearts and a family holding hands.
In Alangalang, they displayed these on a bulletin board, Alcober said. It reminds students of the concern from fellows somewhere they might not have gone to.
“There’s a different weight to each stroke, each hand-written letter,” Navarro said, referring to the experience of card-making. “You somehow feel how they felt when they worked.”
Until Metran received the card from the high school student up north, there was no Maverick from Baguio. Until Maverick received the reply, the devastation down in Visayas had no Metran.
But the warmth that even a third-party viewer gets from the artworks makes one think they can now be friends.