Quarantine Lessons

Iris Palma in Ang Pinoy Stories

Apr 20, 2020 • 3 min Read

Today is the 34^th day of quarantine. I remain within the boundaries of my small, rural town in Rizal province. There are 14 positive cases as of yesterday. The number is rising. Our single highway is full of parked cars and motorcycles. Many people seem to be in groceries, markets, and remittance centers. The crowd is small, as expected.

I listen to decent news from other countries after getting updates from decent local sources. I am frustrated at our government leaders and their chaotic responses to the crisis, but I still remain hopeful. I am from the lower middle class and I still have food to eat. Most importantly, I have a roof over my head.

How am I coping with the quarantine? What are my takeaways in the past month? I realize that:

1. It’s not the end of the world. My thought screamed on the day before lockdown: I did not want to be holed up with my family for more than 12 hours. Yes, I have domestic issues. I cried the first two weeks and lost it, but I prayed and pressured God to resolve my issues within seven days. He did. The way He solved my issues was brutal and hurtful, but successful. He delivers.

2. I should keep working. Or gardening or singing…whatever keeps me occupied. I thank God that I am a freelancer and my home is my office. Probably the second best reason I am surviving the quarantine. After resolving my issues, I focused on my work and got my mojo back. Now all I need are payments for my work. Gardening, on the other hand, is heaven-sent. Without my pothos, bougies, sampaguita, and other green friends to tend to every day, I could have been a nut case on the second week.

3. I should respond to a need. I am used to helping people and I looked for a way to do my part, and rally people to my cause. Generous and kindhearted people will always respond positively, I assumed. On the 27^th day of quarantine, 12 April 2020, volunteers from my high school group packed, distributed, and delivered food aids to 100 friends. It was a risky move but it felt good to be able to channel help to friends within the community. Our profound gratitude to sponsors and volunteers.

4. I went back to praying incessantly. I mapped out my petitions to my Creator: that He enlightens the leaders; that He enlightens the voters; that we pray for one another; that we help in whatever way we can; that we understand why this is happening to us; that we realize what is our purpose in this world; and that He gives us a big miracle that will be felt around the world on top of the small miracles of recoveries every day. This is my small but powerful ‘ambag’ to this crisis, because I have faith that my God is bigger than this crisis.

5. I need to upgrade and transform myself. Going back to my first lesson, I need to survive so I need to adapt and transform and be relevant. I need to change myself for the better. This is the greatest challenge: to not be angry, to be calm, to empathize, to understand, and more as the need arises.

I am hopeful that I will survive the next 30 days. The quarantine has taught me a lot. I am a Filipino—resilient and unwavering in my faith.