They say the bamboo plant never breaks under pressure—only bends; and in nature’s resilience there is meaning for those who seek it. As a Bamboo native and relative of residents, I was overcome with emotion by the flood coverage this week. I took away a few things from it. Mostly, I was proud—proud to see the industriousness and level of coordination, camaraderie and kindness any other village would envy.
The second is community. I realised I missed feeling like I belonged to something larger than the life within my personal walls. After years of the growing trends to deviate from a communal modal life to more independent sustenance; and especially after the months of isolation, loneliness and helplessness from the Covid-19 virus and our responses to it, seeing the human response to both natural and political adversity really touched me.
The ministers who visited were lucky they were met with frustration, anger and a more raucous reception than they had hoped. Had they met a rational, calm community, the gap in their physical presence versus their absent plan of action would have left them with no sympathiser. Some people felt bad they got bawled up, so folks rationalised why they ran.
Had they been calmly asked about the status of sandbag arrivals, sanitation, shelter and food support, potable water distribution, transportation for evacuation, repair equipment and tools for the broken banks, to name a few, observers would not understand how they came with empty hands and ironed outfits and left the scene dry like the desert.
The actions of the Bamboo residents showed the rest of the country how it is we took ourselves as farmers’ children and became a large tax-paying, contributing collective. Notice they weren’t begging for handouts—but for just enough support to stabilise the area so that repair could begin.
That is what many of the “is all over the world” mentalists do not understand. We do not care if it’s all over the world—we don’t want it to happen here in Bamboo. And that is why even in commerce, we are community. Ask for a part in one garage and you’ll be sent to three or four competitors without batting an eye.
So, with that in mind, dear Government, please send the necessary infrastructure and equipment so that we can rebuild the village of Bamboo. Hopefully, the tides will turn for the better for us all, and for the other victims of flood and negligence all over the country.
