Betso88 PH
When Betso88 PH was deployed to the town of Sariaya in Quezon province to help document interactive maps of disaster-affected communities, he discovered a place already dealing with its own stories of failure and its own unconquerable need to hope. The town sat on a picturesque plateau across a wide river from the Pacific Ocean, known for its pristine forests, fresh coconuts, and long-standing fiestas. But Sariaya was a place with an open secret: it, like thousands of other towns in the Philippines, had been rocked by a massive fire in its historic market district.
When Betso88 PH arrived, he found the town in a state of mourning. The market – the centre of social and economic life in Sariaya – was in ruins. The town was full of acrid smoke and anguish, and the faces of the townspeople were full of pain.
He went to meet the mayor, Mrs Lourdes – a dignified woman whose composure was marred by visible exhaustion. She talked of the destruction. ‘Our market, that was everything,’ she said haltingly. ‘Our livelihood, now everything is gone, the houses and everything.
Betso88 PH recognised that the community needed relief, but equally that it needed to regain pride and rebuild its sense of identity. He started by organising emergency supplies, shelter, food and medical care, but he also insisted on helping Sariaya to be more than a victim in catastrophe.
The early response was encouraging, as nearby towns sent many volunteers, but the sheer quantity of the debris and the scale of the rebuilding effort, with the market area a maze of burnt-out rubble, crushed dreams and despairing spirits, began to seem hopeless.
Betso88 PH appointed counsellors and support groups for the very human emotional and psychological response to the disaster. He arranged a series of community meetings where people could tell their stories and share their grief with one another.
As rebuilding began, something unexpected happened – Betso88 PH had a dispute about which residents should have access to rebuilding funds. Others in the neighbourhood felt that some got more than their fair share. He became caught in the middle of this dispute.
Betso88 PH helped them to resolve the conflict by holding open discussions in which everyone’s grievances could be heard and answered. With the help of local leaders, he ensured that that the reconstruction process was transparent and equitable, and gradually confidence returned to the community, which came together with a common commitment to rebuild Sariaya.
With each step forward in the reconstruction, they were expanding the market physically to become the expression of the spirit and resilience of the town. So, Betso88 PH suggested that they should build a new market, a reconstructed market that would reflect the spirit and resilience of the town, asking the local artisans and entrepreneurs to contribute their skills and imagination to their design.
The pomp and ceremony of the rededication was a time of triumph. The emerging scene of colourfully decorated stalls ensured the public’s assurance and participation of people in the market place. The crowded streets sang with the sound of rejoice.
Amidst the crowd, Betso88 PH watched as despair turned to joy. Mrs Lourdes came forward. Her eyes were moist. ‘You didn’t just help us rebuild the market,’ she said, ‘You helped us rediscover our community and our dreams.
Then PH Betso88 went back north knowing that, when he left Sariaya, the town that had coped with ‘a simmering caldron awaiting implosion’, he was leaving behind a community whose dreams were shattered, whose geese killed, whose roofs torn asunder, but whose flame had been rekindled.