Dear Yuri,
Outside, the rain poured heavily.
For her, the rain was a blessing – a welcome respite from the scorching summer heat. For those who were not too fortunate, the rain meant flooded house interiors and chances of catching a different disease.
Safe at home, protected from the chaos outside, she mindlessly unlocks her phone and scrolls her feed for anything that might pique her interest:
A poor street vendor was arrested for daring to venture into the streets to earn a measly few pesos for his family. A powerful figure violated lockdown rules and got away with it. A new policy was implemented by a government that seemed to have made silencing critics its first priority amid a global pandemic.
Thread wars on social media; people relentlessly spewing hate, conveniently forgetting that the person on the other side of the screen was also human.
Each story represented a small warning of larger problems that have been left to fester for too long – both in the psyches of people and in the structures of society.
Safe at home, she felt detached. Her reality was that of air-conditioned spaces and home-cooked meals punctuated by bouts of laughter with family. The news she read seemed so distant, so surreal, so akin to the fantasy worlds she knew as a child…
Safe at home, she goes back to scrolling.
This time, she was met with better narratives: public servants raising funds to enable online learning for school children; frontliners tirelessly showing up daily to fulfill their mandates; people showing the Bayanihan spirit she takes much pride in as a Filipino.
Still safe at home, but this time, mindfully, she searches for a fundraising campaign, and clicks Donate… praying that despite her own helplessness, she gets to help someone in need.