At any moment, in an instant, life can change and the 6.1 magnitude earthquake last April 22 validated that. After the tremor, once the dust had settled social media was in frenzy and EAC, this institution was challenged. In a matter of hours, EAC’s building 7 was all over the news, the building tilted and “leaned” on its neighboring green building that was the picture shown repeatedly in most news reports.
Early the next morning, structural engineers and building experts were called upon to inspect not only building 7 but all the buildings of EAC. From 9am to 10pm, the team of building experts inspected each and every building, from ceiling to floor, every nook and cranny and they found out that aside from a few minor “scratches and bruises”, the buildings did not incur major damages and as such they were declared safe and pose no threat to the EAC community.
As to be expected members of the media swooped down in EAC and made inquiries, interviews were granted, still the inaccurate reports lingered but rather than being overwhelmed by the incessant media reports, we took a wider perspective. We cannot stop the unexpected from happening but we can choose how we respond.
Many lessons were derived from this experience, first and foremost, we have realized that we have to be prepared and be better equipped for life’s dips and knocks. More than ever we have learned “ways of looking’ and “learning to see” in different ways. Is it the rendering of physical details, the visual exactness, well maybe it takes someone with encyclopedic knowledge of photography to distinguish and see the real picture, but for us ordinary mortals, thank God for Google map.
Presently, there are still clouds in our sky, but we just have to trust that all things will work out eventually for the good. Things will get better. It’s just a matter of time. We must always remember that determination gets results and persistence counts.