Experiences with Typhoon Yolanda: The voices of young survivors revealed

Abstract

The Philippines has often been visited with natural calamities like typhoons. The perspectives of the children who experienced and survived these calamities were documented to understand the meaning of these experiences to them. Hence, this study explored the experiences of children during Typhoon Yolanda. Through a phenomenological inquiry, rich descriptions captured the uniqueness of the phenomena through the lived experiences of the young and the way they experienced these challenges at a young age. This was conducted in a rural barangay in the northern part of Cebu, Philippines where they were badly hit by the typhoon. Data were gathered using focus group interview of ten children who were carefully selected based on their actual experience of the typhoon, able to relate themselves and were permitted to join in the study. Data were analyzed using Collaizzi's approach using its prescribed ten steps. The following themes emerged: a) helping engagement before, during and after a traumatic event and b) attachment and emotional resilience. Despite the transient trauma that children experienced with Typhoon Yolanda, they were able to move on and learn from such experience.