Back in school, for the first time

Aside from rebuilding their home, Shiela’s major concern was being able to finish her education after her school was destroyed in the storm surge brought by Haiyan, in barangay (village) Old Kawayan, Tacloban City.

The 10-year old young survivor asked her mom immediately after the disaster if she would be able to continue her schooling. “My mom said it will take time for me to go back to school,” remembers Shiela. “I was very worried I might not [be] able to pursue my dream to become a teacher.”

Although many of the school buildings are gone, classes in most public schools in Tacloban have resumed, nearly two months after super typhoon Haiyan (local name “Yolanda”) devastated the city on November 8, 2013.

 Among the six classrooms in Old Kawayan, half were totally smashed by the storm surge. Students from different grade levels must now share spaces and have only limited supplies.

Schools all damaged 

“The damage brought by the typhoon was unbelievable. We need books, chairs, teaching materials [and] major reconstruction of our school to give our children the best education that they truly deserve,” says fourth-grade teacher Catherine.

Students all run away from the school whenever it starts to rain because they are afraid it is another typhoon.  

Teacher Catherine said the students now run away from the school whenever it starts to rain because of their bad memories of the disaster. “They can see the sea from here so they don’t want to be here when it rains,” Catherine said. “I believe that getting them all back to school will help them ease away their fears.”

While the classes resume, tents used for Child Friendly Spaces continue to be used for non-school age children.

 Shiela, who is also a World Vision sponsored child, says she is glad to see her teachers and classmates together again. “All I wanted is to study and play,” the young girl says.  Her house is about 50 meters from her school in Old Kawayan, a mountainous and coastal area in Tacloban.

Her family evacuated to the mountains when their house was engulfed by a storm surge at the height of Haiyan’s onslaught. “We could barely eat after the storm and our house was gone,” adds Shiela.

Thankfully, Shiela’s family is one of the more than 526,000 individuals who received food, water, non-food, cooking sets, hygiene kits, and temporary shelter kits from World Vision that will help sustain them for two weeks.

“A lot of structures and materials have gone but still, it’s better to be in school than to do nothing at all,” says Shiela.

Shiela’s favourite school activities are reading and drawing. On the first day, she drew a house and coloured it with the school supplies given by World Vision. “This house will be our future house. I want to rebuild it after I get a job as a teacher someday,” she said.

"I am so happy to come back to school today. I know my future will be ok if I can continue with my education," says Shiela.