This is a photo my aunt took of the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy in Tatalon, a barrio in Quezon City, Philippines. She posted a complete album on Facebook, which, I guess tellingly enough, is how I found out about it.
The shots are emotionally rending, and only partly because of the devastation. You glimpse kids scavenging, people sorting through rubble, and get a sense of what the day-to-day is like: bitter, even without the exacerbation of a natural catastrophe.
A handful more:
There's a power in images that manages to bring a tragedy home, but these also take on a personal significance: my parents left that place. They had trouble doing it, and still more trouble carving a new life out of strange soil.
Still, they succeeded, and succeeded so well that I managed to avoid absorbing their experience. Now I'm elsewhere in the world, feeling all down-and-dumpy because I failed to hold up my end of grocery store conversation today.
Perspective: Priceless™! And brought to you by your social network of choice.
Still, they succeeded, and succeeded so well that I managed to avoid absorbing their experience. Now I'm elsewhere in the world, feeling all down-and-dumpy because I failed to hold up my end of grocery store conversation today.
Perspective: Priceless™! And brought to you by your social network of choice.
Help the victims of Typhoon Ondoy at the Philippine National Red Cross site. You can also follow the goings-on in real-time via #typhoonondoy.
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