Story and Photos By Georgene Quilaton-Tambiga
“I pity my dogs. The flood swept them all away.” Anne* shared while holding an emotion card. She added that her beloved pets were dear to her but she could not save them and that one of them was even expecting to deliver new puppies.
While many families struggled to find their footing after the Typhoon Tino hit the Visayas, Canlaon City, in particular, children remained among the most vulnerable victims of the impact of climate crisis.
Keeping this in mind the Colegio de Sto. Tomas-Recoletos, Inc. Community Extension and Development Office (CEDO) and the Student Development and Placement Center (SDPC) conducted a psycho-social support program for children evacuated at the Macario Española Memorial Elementary School (MEMS) and Linothangan Elementary School in Canlaon City last November 15, 2025.
Using group games, coloring activities, emotion cards and balloons, the team from CST-R, that included student peer volunteers from the College Department and the Basic Education Department and the Thomasian staff members, de-briefed at least 50 children right where they were camped.
Countless, Heartbreaking Stories
“That flood took away my bike,” shared Eric*, a fourth grader. He revealed this as a stressor while a peer volunteer helped him give meaning to his doodle art.
Another girl revealed that when the surge of lahar, flood mixed with volcanic debris, rushed to destroy their home, she survived only by clinging to her elder sister. Together they made it out of ground zero alive.
Another survivor, whose father volunteered to work with the St. Joseph Parish Social Action Center, bowed her head as she shared that she was sad because one of her classmates drowned during the flood and lahar.
Gratefulness Against the Gloom
Despite the tragedy, a girl camped in Linothangan Elementary School with her family revealed to Ms. Ma. Nita V. Bolo, RGC, PhD, CST-R Guidance Counsellor and head of SDPC, that she remained grateful because of the social workers from the Department of Social Welfare and Development Office (DSWD), who facilitated their stay at the evacuation center and because of her parents, who made sure that she survived the typhoon. The girl, decked in a Sunday dress from the pile of relief goods, also thanked God and “Mama Mary” (the Blessed Virgin Mary) for letting her live through the tragedy.
After the de-briefing, the children received snacks and envelopes containing school supplies from the Sisters of the Holy Family of Villefranche, a congregation of religious sisters that collaborated with CEDO. Many of them lost or damaged their learning materials during Tino’s onslaught. Thus, when they received their colorful envelopes, many shyly said “Thank you.”
Sr. Julia Mendez, representing the Sisters of the Holy Family, joined the Thomasians during its fifth operation after the typhoon.
