NARRATIVES OF THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF SCHOOL STAKEHOLDERS IN THE AFTERMATH OF MASARA LANDSLIDE

Education

incident engulfed houses and vehicles, destroyed establishments, took lives, caused the disruption of local schools, and led to the relocation of the community. Thus, this qualitative phenomenological research explored the perspectives of the affected teachers, parents, an officer of the Parent-Teacher Association of the selected school, and an official of the Barangay Local Government Unit of Masara relative to their experiences, challenges, coping mechanisms, insights, and hopes in the aftermath of the Masara landslide incident. To obtain relevant data and meaningful results from the purposely selected participants, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire. This research was conducted to choose schools located in Barangays Elizalde and Panibasan, Maco, Davao de Oro. The results exposed that the majority of the participants encountered loss of homes, possessions, livelihood, and even their loved ones. The outcome of the tragedy caused them to face significant challenges in emotional, psychological, and financial aspects, as well as within the school and community. Despite their distressing experiences and challenges, the participants provide their coping strategies with the assistance of their family, colleagues, faith and religion, and the community. The researcher concluded that everyone is vulnerable to the tragic impacts of a natural calamity. Thus, local communities and schools are encouraged to maintain and broaden their awareness of disaster preparedness, readiness, and response, especially in areas that are identified as high risk to natural disasters by implementing agencies, to reduce the cataclysmic effects. Nonetheless, through their coping strategies, they became resilient and were able to slowly move forward from their situation. Therefore, resilience, developed through coping mechanisms, brings recovery and hope for a better future in life for all in the aftermath of a tragedy.

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