ten minutes of happiness

Back to PGH at 4 pm. The traffic inside the compound has eased, which favored us. We could park the van closest to the entrance while we unload the foodies.
The guard commented that our van’s so big. Hindi magkasya sa sikip ng parking.

I went back and forth to get the food packs from my van to the guard post, then to the nurse station.

I also brought more than three hundred juices. Left over from the Yolanda relief that we didn’t send to Red Cross anymore.

Elma and Zaldy helped me carry the food packs inside. While we were preparing the meals, the phone right beside where I was standing rang. A nurse picked it up. Someone in the ward has just died. A 42 year old female patient from Tacloban, a Yolanda victim.

The nurse echoed the bad news to the other nurses. But there was no emotion, just a piece of information “may namatay…”

Elma suggested that we use a stretcher as food tray.

It’s a mixed of sad and happy emotions while we were inside distributing the food.
Someone asked me “Tiga Jollibee ka ba?” I could see happiness on their faces upon seeing the food. There’s a woman who was crying beside her mother’s motionless body. she stopped sobbing for a second to get the Jollibee box. She managed to give me a faint smile as her way of thanking me. I smiled back and told her I hope her mom gets well. I must’ve said that to 4 other people.

This is Aling Herminia. She’s been confined here for over a month now. She’s only 56. According to a nurse, they want to advise her family to bring her home but they couldn’t. Baka masamain.

While we were standing there, another person died. Her body was wrapped with the bed’s yellow cotton cover. A sheet of paper was stuck on the part where her head was, it had her name, age. I couldn’t express how I felt while the stretcher passed in front of me. The nurses all said “condolence”. I just stood there. I was gripped with sadness even if I didn’t know this people.
Elma told me this is an everyday occurrence, one, two, sometimes three people die every day, from this room alone. That’s sad.
The death doesn’t stop the problems of the families left behind. They now worry about the money for burial.

Thank you to nurses Elma, Zaldy Pacua, Clarisse Abisola, Chief nurse Cecil Pen~a, Salvacion Pulao, for helping me bring happiness to the families of the patients.

I got very tired but the thought that I was able to make those people forget their troubles even for 10 minutes made it all worth it.