Reaching out to the poor in spirit

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

It was quite a touching graduation ceremony for those who attended a workshop on dealing with trauma through visual story telling at the House of ope in Sitio Palalan, Barangay Lumbia, Cagayan de Oro City last Friday, Sept. 21.

Sponsored by the National  Commission for  Culture and the Arts, I say it was touching because it hits close to home in terms of dealing with the personal demons in our lives. 

There will be times when we feel so low and rejected by society and the hurt is multiplied when the source of that rejection comes from our own family. It is a terrifying emotional storm to be caught up in. 

I was invited to the workshop by people I respect and maintain friendships with through the years--Lina Sagaral Reyes and Patrick Uyguanco, one of the exhibitors and lecturers in the workshop.

There were 20 residents at the House of Hope based my count. I attended the afternoon session and the participants were with facilitators and staff outside the hall as they gathered in a circle.

I learned that the garden represented Mandala and there was an inner circle that according to nurse Ramon Tan represented the inner self. The participants placed some items like grass in one of the squares in the circle.

But first some background. The House of Hope is composed of the Missionary Congregation of Mary (MCM) who administers the foundation upon invitation of  Archbishop Jesus Tuquib in 1997.

It is a charitable institution established to shelter mentally ill patients, a custodial psychiatric care facility owned by the Cagayan de Oro Archdiocese.

The workshops ran for a week. I admit that I attended only half day sessions but I believed that it brought out the best from all those who attended it. At the end of the sessions, the graduates sat on white plastic chairs facing the facilitators.

Their expectations for the seminar were read  to them as a refresher of what they learned and some of them were glad to attend these sessions even if they got tired at the end of the day. 

I was touched by what the participants said and I shared the joy of the staff and nurses who listened to their answers. One of the nurses, Wendilou A. Ruiz Malan, said the participants were 

Wendilou A Ruiz Malan one of the nurses said that the residents participants were,” super-responsive and interacted well with others.” Another nurse named Ramon Tan Jr. said he is happy seeing how the participants responded well with each other.

He also hoped that the participants will eventually be reintegrated back to mainstream society. There are 51 residents along with staffs and nurses from the Department of Health (DOH).

There are also two psychiatrists on call. Tan said the residents are manageable so far. My visit won't be complete without the exhibits of artists of Cagayan de Oro who told their own tales of sorrow of people who suffered mental anguish.

Two of my favorite photos are from Patrick Gabutina. The first photo was in black and white and showed a short haired, uncombed woman staring blankly ahead. 

I wondered if the photo told us that people with mental illness feel an inconsolable emptiness inside them.

Another photo by Gabutina showed what looked like a locked cell with no one inside. It carried the caption “Asa mo? (where are you)” and I can only guess that it spoke of a mentally ill person's desperate search for his/her loved ones.

My heart goes out to the participants, to the families and their friends. Thank you Lina and to the sisters and staff, please take care of them (For comments, questions and analysis email me at susanap.dennis@yahoo.com).