I ended up in Tacloban, perhaps one of the least touristy cities in the Philippines, as the southern gateway to the island of Samar, which in itself is not exactly on the main traveler circuit of the country. Suffice to say, this is a gritty city, the one that endured a tragic fate back in 2013 when supertyphoon Haiyan ravaged through Tacloban’s poorest neighbourhoods, or barangays, killing thousands.
The destroyed areas have been rebuilt, and although they are still desperately poor, you see a whole new crop of children running the streets who were either born after the devastating storm or do not remember it. You see kids almost anywhere you go in the Philippines: running, laughing, playing – no matter in what conditions they live. That makes grown-ups happier too, and although overpopulation is most certainly a problem for the country, seeing happy kids gives us all hopes for a better future.
As I was walking around barangay Anibong with my camera that morning, as usual, I kept taking pictures of herds of kids wanting to be in the photo, crowding and pushing each other out for the better spot in front of a foreigner’s lens. But then, a downpour started, and very soon, everybody was hiding in the their shelters. I took cover under some shop’s tent, and somehow, this made me invisible to everybody for a while, including a group of boys running around in the tropical shower, happy and playful as ever. I took a a few photos from my makeshift cover, and this boy’s image was my favourite of the bunch. In some ways, it reminds me of how little we need or care as children and how much I miss that time.