Seven Point Two: Terror From Beneath

On October 15, 2013 at 8:12 in the morning, the tourist island of Bohol in the Philippines was violently shaken by the strongest earthquake in its history, Reported as a 7.2 magnitude earthquake of tectonic origin, it was stronger than the Haiti Earthquake in 2010 with an energy reportedly equivalent to 32 atomic bombs. Hundreds of lives were lost, thousands of houses were damaged, millions worth of properties were destroyed.

The peace loving people of the tiny town of Maribojoc lost its most beloved treasure - its century-old church that contained all its memories and served as a repository of all its prayers and dreams.

But amid deep shock and grief and facing the arduous task of burying the dead and cleaning the debris and surviving months of living at the mercy of nature and the goodwill of people around, these residents gathered its collective strength and rose literally from dust.

This is the first of a three part story of how these people held on their hope to recover from their losses, rebuilt their lives and regained their dignity in a matter of six months.