Actors, Comedians To Uplift the Spirit of Haiyan/Yolanda Victims
Instead of simply donating relief goods, sending actors and comedians to the damaged sites may have a positive effect to uplift the spirits of the typhoon survivors. This was according to Dr. Lourdes Ignacio of the World Association for Psychological Rehabilitation and Philippine Psychiatric Association.
A catastrophe of unprecedented proportion, Haiyan's wrath has left Tacloban city down to its knees. Typhoon survivors are all losing their self-worth when dead bodies of loved-ones are left unburied, no decent place to rest their weary heads and the only clothes that they have is the one on their backs.
Bringing some form of entertainment to the calamity-hit places will give the victims some sense of importance and boost their self-esteem in this time of tragic loss. These entertainers could make the victims feel important when most of them are feeling desperate with no self-worth. These actors and comedians could help them feel that they are valued and help them see that positive side of being alive amidst the tragedy.
Ignacio also pointed out that comedians who would be visiting the typhoon-affected areas should be sensitive to the plight of people. Laughter is indeed the best medicine but they have to careful in their jokes.
"We should tell them (comedians) to be a little sensitive....We love to smile and laugh at the most devastating in our lives. We take a day, a time to cope," Ignacio said in an interview with Philstar.
According to Ignacio, aside from humor, Filipinos are very resilient and spiritual in nature. The best way to overcome this tragedy is to pray. She said surviving is not an individual effort. Everyone should help each other and do their part to help the community.
Stress debriefing is vital to the victims, especially to those who lost their loved-ones, and providing this assistance should go hand in hand with adequate relief goods. Ignacio noted one of the most difficult to cure is the "survivor guilt," since many of the survivors will question the reason they are still alive and not their loved-ones.
"Our program is to address [survivor's guilt]," Ignacio said. "But this is not just a prescription, what we need is process to make it work," she added.
Local celebrities like Anne Curtis, Angel Aquino, Piolo Pascual, Singer Martin Nievera and Megastar Sharon Cuneta are finding ways on how they can reach out to the victims. Some of them raise some money by selling their own clothes while others are organizing a fundraising project through concerts to gather more funds for the typhoon survivors.