Typhoon Reming

GUINOBATAN, Albay--For Jelma Mejillano, a single mother of three, Supertyphoon "Reming" (international code name: Durian) did not stop her from going back to her usual job of gathering gravel, boulders and sand, a job normally done by men.

"Since 1998, our livelihood here has been to gather gravel, boulders and sand," the 48-year-old mother says.

Mejillano's house used to be beside a river in Barangay (village) Maipon but was washed out during the typhoon in November last year.

Maipon was one of the hard-hit villages during the typhoon, where houses were buried by mudflow from Mayon Volcano and hundreds of people died and went missing.

She and her children now live in a house made of plastic sackcloths pieced together at the back of the river dike.

For the village residents, gender does not serve as a barrier for the men and women who gather gravel, sand and boulders for a living.

Mejillano admits that at first, she had a hard time with a job usually done by men.

"But as I got used to it, my job became easier for me," she says.

"We do not see any problem doing this job. We just help each other here," Mejillano says.

She says she prefers the job in the river than to work as a housemaid, which would require her to leave her children.

"If I would be away, I would always worry about my children," Mejillano says.

She says many of the women here enjoy helping the men do their jobs.

"Especially when the trucks pick up our gathered sand, gravel and boulders," she says.

Mejillano says they are paid P100 to P400 for every truckload of gravel, sand and boulders they gather, which are used as construction materials for houses and buildings.

The trucks from nearby construction companies go to the village to pick up what the villagers have gathered.

The payment for the construction materials, Mejillano says, is used to purchase things that their families need, especially food, which would last for two to three days.

Mejillano's sister Marilou Marilla, 38, also a stone gatherer, admits that what they earn is just barely enough for their basic family needs.

"Basta lang makaraos (As long as it could tide us over for the day). We are thankful on that alone," she says.

Although they are not happy that many houses were destroyed during the typhoon, they are thankful that the demand for these construction materials increased, which also means added income for them.

"After Reming, our income really increased. We are really happy," she says.

"Almost everyday, a truck picks up our gathered stones here because many are fixing their destroyed houses," says Marilla, whose husband is also a stone gatherer.

Mejillano and Marilla, who try to gather at least 26 sacks of gravel daily, have no plans of leaving their home because "we have no other place to go and this is where our livelihood comes from," they say.

But they are always ready to evacuate if typhoons would endanger the lives of their families.

The sisters welcome the kind of rains not induced by typhoons because, according to them, this kind of rains bring more gravel to the river.

"As the water becomes deeper, we get more gravel," says Mejillano, who prefer to work when it is raining because "we do not feel tired compared to the days when the the sun is out."

Everyday, at around 6 a.m., the sisters would go to the river to gather stones.

And before lunch, they would go back to their homes to cook lunch for their families.

After lunch, they would rest for a while and watch their favorite noontime TV show and then go back to the river to work again until late afternoon.

This is their daily routine, "and we are happy," the sisters affirmed.

After Reming, many of the residents of Maipon, especially the farmers, shifted to gathering gravel, sand and boulders.

But Marilla and Mejillano do not mind.

They say there are enough to gather so there is no problem if there are many of them doing the same thing.