Basey, Western Samar – As a ten-year old girl, Criselda Padoc survived a strong typhoon that hit this town.  A coconut tree fell on their front yard at the height of that typhoon and broke her leg. She then grew up with only one leg but remained hopeful and resilient about life.

Now 54, Criselda once again braved herself to survive during the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda, the strongest typhoon ever recorded that devastated her town and some other eastern seaboard of Visayas.

“Bago po dumating si ‘Yolanda’ ay sigurado po ang kita namin ng asawa ko kada dalawang buwan mula sa copra(Prior to ‘Yolanda,’ my husband and I were assured of income from copra every two months),” Criselda recalled.

“Pero kinuha po ni ‘Yolanda’ ang aming kabuhayan (But ‘Yolanda’ deprived us of our livelihood),” Criselda further related.

“Dati, umaaabot ng 500 piraso ng  niyog ang aming inaani kada dalawang buwan (Before, approximately, 500 coconuts within two months were usually harvested),” she added.

Criselda’s husband, Edgardo, is a farm helper but the couple also owned some coconut trees which helped them in their livelihood.  Now, all these were torn down by ‘Yolanda.’

Thankful

She sadly narrated how ‘Yolanda’ destroyed her home with galvanized iron (GI) sheets and nipa roofings being blown away.

Deeply grateful, Criselda cited Habitat for Humanity for providing her family eight GI sheets to rebuild their house and start  anew.

Criselda added that food is also not a problem even after ‘Yolanda’ as relief goods continue to arrive in their village, Barangay Rojas, even until now.

She is thankful to DSWD and to humanitarian groups for providing these relief goods.

She even cited the recent relief distribution conducted by the Kuwait Red Crescent Society in their community.

On their own

Strong-willed Criselda, however, insists that although she is thankful for all the assistance, her family does not rely on dole-outs alone as she knows that this will end anytime.

“Isa lang nga po ang paa ko pero hindi po ako napilay ni ‘Yolanda’ (I may be one–legged but I was not crippled by ‘Yolanda’),” she said.

She added that being a member of an association of persons with disabilities (PWDs) has empowered and made her stronger.

Criselda knows the importance of standing up every time one encounters obstacles.  In fact, she is already planning on how she can help her husband earn a little  this summer.

With summer promising hot days ahead, she plans to start selling “halo-halo” again in their neighborhood just like in the previous years, giving her a daily earning of around P50 to P100 a day.

She said with resolve, “Gusto ko lang makapagtrabaho ulit para tuloy ang suporta ko sa aking anak na nag-aaral nghigh school (I just want to go back to work so I could continuously support my 15-year-old daughter who is now in high school).”

Criselda knows that typhoons will come and go, but with a strong heart and faith, she believes that no disaster can ever destroy her hope and her will to live a full life. ###