The resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity

Flooding during the North-East monsoon season is a common occurrence, especially to those living in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Feb 27, 2015

By Sr Susan Thomas fmm
Flooding during the North-East monsoon season is a common occurrence, especially to those living in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. But the floods that hit in December of 2014 were the nastiest ever in decades.

The worst affected of the East Coast States was Kelantan. It was incredible to see what the floods had done to the town of Kota Baru. But it was even more unbelievable in other worse-hit towns. People had disbelief and shock written all over their faces as they sat or looked helplessly at their houses, now fallen apart and broken in those early days.

Some of the houses were simply washed away. What was left of the houses were only the brick staircases that had once led them into their homes.

“This was all that was left,” said one of the house owners, pointing at the stairs in disbelief. “We just fled to the hills with the clothes on our back as the waters rose that night,” he continued, as his family gathered around to share their stories.

Another said, “I watched from where I was on higher ground, at my house crumbling. I was afraid. Could those treacherous waters reach us?”

Bishop Sebastian, in his thrust on mission, which he had launched last year on the Feast of Christ the King, made helping the flood victims in the state of Kelantan his priority. The Church of Our Lady of Fatima in Kota Baru was entrusted with the task of monitoring the flood relief efforts. Calls for help were coming in from the contacts of various parishioners and others.

Foodstuffs and other essentials were also streaming in from Kuala Lumpur, Kuantan and Penang. One of the first to respond to the calls of the flood victims was Ozanam Malaysia. They transported milk, water and rice by plane, when roads were impassable.

We brought in a two tonne lorry load of food to an Orang Asli village even though the roads had been washed away. We could only reach the first accessible village, which then became the distribution centre for the interior.

For the past month or so, we have been to many different places where people had been left homeless, to render some relief. From food, we have started giving cooking stoves, mattresses, pillows, mats etc.

What we gave out in cash and kind did not reach multitudes, but those whom we reached were just simply grateful for the help. There was a school we went to clean in Tanah Merah.The Muslim principal hugged us, with tears in her eyes at the end of the day. We had done so little in the wake of what still had to be done to get the school back on its feet again.

“I cannot even begin to express the gratitude I feel in my heart; only the God we both worship can bless you for the kindness you have shown us,” she said.

In early February, we were out at Temangan, another badly hit district of Kelantan, to give out cash donations. The objective was to bring cheer and hope, particularly to those celebrating the Lunar New Year soon. Their looks of gratitude and amazement turning into joy reduced us to tears too.

One elderly gentleman who was sitting on the verandah of his dilapidated house, nursing his wounded foot, thanked us in Chinese, “Not only the cash but also this bag of rice.” He was barely able to control his tears. So too another elderly Malay woman, opening up her ‘ang pow’ packet, thanked us for God’s blessings.

I have yet to meet anyone among the flood victims who was bitter or despairing. I have only sensed an acceptance — ‘that this terrible misfortune has happened, but now it is time to move on.’ What amazes me is the resilience of the human spirit. God’s palpable presence can indeed be seen in the weak and the suffering, and in the faces of the many, irrespective of race or religion, who have reached out to fellow Malaysians in distress. We are grateful that we, too, can be involved in this work of rebuilding lives. But this help we are rendering from the parish of Our Lady of Fatima, Kota Baru would not have been possible if you, the faithful, had not responded so generously to give in cash and kind.

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