IN PHOTOS: Hope and resilience in the eyes of Yolanda children

MANILA, Philippines – How are the families rebuilding their lives a year after they were brought to the ground by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)?

Twenty children still living in bunkhouses in Tacloban City will tell you – through photographs they themselves took.

Their works – collectively known as “Through the Eyes of Children – Stories of Hope and Resilience in Tacloban” – are on display at the Robinsons Place Tacloban, and will be there until January 15, 2015. They will also be exhibited at the SMX Convention Center in SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City on November 20.

After Yolanda devastated communities in Tacloban City, UNICEF and the local social welfare development office organized photography workshops to help affected children find a creative outlet for the trauma caused by experiencing a disaster of such magnitude. They were brought to other parts of Leyte as well to see how other families are doing.

“Children are the most vulnerable in major natural disasters, but they are not passive victims; they play a vital role not only in helping to rebuild, but also in reducing risk and strengthening resilience in the longer term,” Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF representative in the Philippines, said in a statement Thursday, November 6, when the exhibit opened in Tacloban.

The initiative is part of the EYE SEE, a project supported by Sony Corporation and which was first organized in Pakistan after the October 2005 earthquake. There have been 17 EYE SEE workshops for children living in 14 countries hit by disasters, such as the 2011 tsunami in Japan.

Since the EYE SEE project “provides a platform for these children to meet with people living beyond their community, [it] not only expands their range of experiences, but also makes known to them that they are not alone,” the UNICEF statement said.

“It opens their eyes opened to possibilities beyond their circumstances. It encourages them to actively participate in their environment and hopefully become instruments of change in their own lives and the lives of their communities,” Sylwander said.

Jopet Arce, 16, whom the young photographers voted as the best among them, said the workshop has greatly encouraged him. He said in his native Waray: “I never really thought I had any talent in photography. Who knew it could open my eyes to a lot of things, and make me look at life differently? Maybe this is where my future is.”

Below are some of the photographs taken by the Tacloban children. UNICEF gave Rappler the permission to publish them:

More photos can be viewed on Sony’s EYE SEE portal and UNICEF Philippines’ Flickr page. – Rappler.com 

For Rappler’s full coverage of the 1st anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), go to this page.