Hope in the midst of despair

It's more than a week now since the worst typhoon ever recorded hit the Philippines, my home country. Since then, news on TV and radio are filled with stories of despair, hope, blaming, heroism, all sorts of human experiences. For many of the families whose loved ones were taken away by this typhoon, I know I would not be able to get into the depth of their pain from losing a loved one. On top of that pain of loss, are the feelings of frustration, desperation, helplessness - trying to get by everyday with little and maybe even nothing at all to eat.

Pictures of the situation are depressing. People endure long lines just to get packs of food, water, clothes for a temporary relief. With such reality, I couldn't help but feel inspired by these survivors who do all they can to continue on living.

While, many suffer from mental illness wanting to end their lives, here we see thousands of survivors wanting to continue living despite their losses. Those who struggle to live, wanting to end their lives and seeing no hope in whatever situation they are in, can get inspiration from these Filipino survivors of the typhoon Haiyan.

Photo credit: telegraph.co.uk