“ A writer is someone who sits in front of a computer all day, eyes glued to the screen, fingers flying across the keyboard, churning out bestsellers.” False. I am definitely not that kind of writer. I live a very colorful life.
Same time last year, I was at Howard University Graduate School of Education attending the Summer Institute which changed my life. Since the beginning of the DC Area Writing Project's Invitational Summer Institute I met co-teachers who, like me, are not the stereotype writers. At the same time during the summer 2004, we all fell in love with words and how they fall into stories on page. The transformation was amazing. I found myself a writer surrounded by writers. We would share each other’s manuscripts and discuss openly about them. We would laugh. We would cry. And we would celebrate everyday by writing.
We wrote in any way ---
We wrote poems.
We wrote reflections.
We wrote journals…
***July 6, 2004, Trip to the Holocaust Museum (excerpt)
The class went for a field trip to the Holocaust Museum. It was the first time that I really got a tour of the museum. It was the first time too that I got a bigger overview of the World War II. I never really understood what the Holocaust Era and the Nazi regime was all about, until now.
Throughout the tour I was having goose bumps. It never occurred to me that somebody could be as cruel and evil as Hitler. Anti-Christ. That is the exact word for him. I never understood why my husband’s grandparents migrated from Germany to the Philippines until now. My husband is half-German. Here’s the story…his grandfather who was the Consul (Labor Attaché) of the Philippines to Germany, married a pure blooded German. They migrated during the 1940s in a boat. I couldn’t imagine how they sailed from Germany to the Philippines, half the world, in a small boat. It was impossible, until I saw the pictures of the Holocaust. I was teary eyed while I was thinking about all these. The 18-hour plane ride from my country was exhausting, how unbearable was it to sail half of the world in a small boat?
Another scene was playing in my mind when I saw the “Death March” and the concentration camps – the Philippines under the Japanese regime. The exact thing happened to my country – Japanese soldiers to the Filipinos were like Nazis to the Jews. Filipinos were tortured and executed and was eventually liberated by the Americans with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
I was feeling heavy and depressed all throughout the tour. Just seeing the artifacts and the pictures was unbearable. I don’t know how I could have survived the holocaust if I had lived during that era.
***July 14, 2004, “I Had to Write” (excerpt)
This morning’s journal exercise gave me a jumpstart to compile all my poems and manuscripts since I was in elementary…now I have a long term project. I may not be able to be a published writer but I will have a legacy to leave my children. I want it to be an inspiration for them. Could be something like: My Lifestory According To Me.
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CONGRATULATIONS to Pinoy Teachers Network members who are graduating on July 28 from the same NWP Invitational Summer Institute at Howard University: Irene Taguian, Sonette Carzon and Michelle Ignacio. Welcome new DCAWP Teacher Consultants. YAN ANG PINAY!
17 comments:
we are so lucky dahil hindi natin naabutan ang panahon na yun.... pero masakit pa ring isipin yung mga ganung pangyayari.
nakakakilabot talaga yun...
ikinukwento ng mga magulang ko dati kung gaano kahirap ang buhay nila noong panahon ng hapon, mga musmos pa sila noon. yung pagtakbo nila papuntang bundok para lang magtago sa mga hapon at ang pamumuhay nila doon at ng iba pa nilang mga kapitbahay. nakakalungkot... ang dami pa din talaga nating blessings!
wow! Poems and manuscripts since elementary!-- Napaka priceless niyan!
And congratulations po sa lahat ng kasali at matatapos sa Writing Workshop!
on a more sad note...
And it's not only the holocaust; there are other genocides, too that are just as horrid, but not as recognized, for example, the Armenian genocide.
Makes me think...how did we, as a human race, manage to produce people too angry and too bitter to want to annihilate an entire race?
DARKBLAK, totoo yan, sana matuwa na tayo dahil hindi natin naranasan ang kahirapan noong panahon ng giyera. Kamusta ka na?
MARHGIL, yung panahon ng Holocaust? Malungkot talaga at mabigat sa dibdin, depressing talaga pagkatapos kong makita ang mga pictures, diorama, at mga news clips noong panahon na 'yon. Di ko maintindihan kung gaano asama si Hitler, ubod pala talaga sya ng evil.
NIKKI, grabe ang kwento mo, nakakapangilabot talaga noong panahon ng giyera. Sabi rin yan ng lolo ko, totoo yan. Nabingi na nga sya nang tuluyan dahil sa putukan, tapos marami syang scars sa katawan nya na malalaki, tama raw ng mga bala. Hay! Maswerte talaga tayo ngayon, hindi natin naranasan ang ganyang hirap. Bakit nga ba marami pa rin ang nagrereklamo?
SISCHONG, welcome and thanks for sharing your thoughts. Click mo yung link sa National Writing Project, mayroon area site dyan sa LA na sila ang namumuno sa Writing and Technology. Syempre kasama ang digital story at blogging in the classroom. Pwede kayong mag-apply dyan para dumami na tayo na mga Pinoy Teacher Consultants. Then we can share what we have learned from each other, and share our skills di ba? Teachers Teaching Teachers nga, cheers!
and in spite of the harrowing experience that the jews went through during that time, they're still able to bounce back to normalcy as a people. in fact, jews hold a significant portion of america's economy today. they own banks and other big establishments in the states. remarkable!
They say great writers write from the heart, and they often write the things that have occured to them, or to people near them, and that makes their work truly affecting. Tragedies like the Holocaust and the Bataan Death March certainly makes genuine narrations more affecting and passionate, in order to imbibe and capture the pain and suffering as well as the joys of redemption of each experience, and in the end, we can all learn from it, both the author and his/her readers.
I believe experiences makes good writers.
Did you know that Hitler also attempted to exterminate gay people during the Holocaust? Why? Hitler believed that gays belong to the weaker genes and as such they must be eradicated from the face of the earth. It was some kind of ethic cleansing. But hey! There are other political figures that are as infamous as Hitler. Remember Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge? He massacred 2 millions Cambodians during his dictatorial rule. Slobodan Milosevic also killed hundreds of thousands of Balkans.
likas na kasi yata sa atin ang hindi nakukuntento. may mga pagkakataon din naman kasi na minsan nakikita natin na may mas magandang tanawin pa na pwedeng abutin kaya siguro nagrereklamo tayo kapag hindi natin maabot-abot ito.
Just watched schindler's list couple of days ago after 2 years. It was horrible, and that was just film. imagine kung naexperience mo first hand
ABANIKO, I am still hopeful for our country, the Philippines. Afterall, our country is still very young compared to the really "powerful" countries in the world. We are just beginning to experience what they've gone through. We haven't experienced civil war yet, thank God! Do we want that?
MAJOR TOM, I just write what I think and feel, I transfer my thoughts onto the paper. All people are thinking beings, therefor, we all have the capacity to write. We just have to hone the craft.
GOYONG, alam mo dapat magkaroon ka na ng blog. Kasi napapansin na ng marami na nakakabasa ng comments mo dito na gumaganda ang mga isinusulat mo habang tumatagal. At napaka-insightful ng mga comments mo. Pati ako natututo sa mga sinasabi mo. Ang daming bagong terms na nabanggit mo na kinailangan ko pa i-search para malaman ang ibig sabihin :D Siguro Teacher Sol likas na nga sa mga tao ang makalimot, ang di matuto, ang maging matigas ang ulo, ang maging sakim at mapagimbot kaya tungkulin nating mga guro at muli ay ulit-ulitin na "History repeat itself." nakakalungkot isipin pero parang may katotohanan ang mga obserbasyon mo. kalan kaya matututo ang mga tao sa ating kasaysayan?
JOHN CLARK, I've seen how evil was Hitler to all who are considered "not normal" by them. My heart bled to those children who were killed because they weren't born with blonde hair and blue eyes. Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge, Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein...they are infamous people like Hitler. How about those who are like them but don't make it in the papers? There are many of them in our midst. That's why we cannot turn a deaf ear to these people. The strongest among us must get up and speak up. We are positive. We are hopeful. We can influence the world thru our words and example. Right?
DUKE, oh yeah! I've see the diorama and the pictures of the death camp. The poeple were asked to get totally naked so they can take shower and clean and soap themselves, because "they were going to see important people and hear them talk in the plaza". 800 people would go in the chambers all together, then when they were totally sealed inside, the poisonous gas would come out in the shower instead of water. In minutes, they're dead. Those who survive the gas chamber faced the firing squad outside the chambers. Tell me what could be more cruel and evil than that.
MIKEY, I wish those who watched that film would be reminded by the Holocaust. It's indeed terrible! I better watch again that film, hehe...
Teacher Sol, when the Holocaust hits closer to home, the experience must be more devastating. I guess your forebears found it better to endure the long travel at sea than stay under oppression.
Good luck on your project! I'm sure that as a Filipino rich in life experiences both here and abroad, your kids will appreciate their heritage more.
Finallly, the exams are finish. I can relax while there's a coming strike, expect an extended vacation.
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