Loved ones of people killed in Lapu-Lapu Day Tragedy find escape

It was an intimate healing art workshop where loved ones of victims from the April 26 Lapu-Lapu day tragedy were present.  

The aunt of Jendhel Sico, one of the 11 people killed in the tragedy, became emotional as she shared the painting she created with OMNI News. 

“I miss Jendhel so much”, she says. “We love to draw. We love to paint. She (Jendhel) has painted the coconut tree.” 

Led by award-winning Filipino Canadian artist Chito Maravilla, the attendees gathered at a private residence in Surrey, B.C. and were guided on how to express emotions through painting.

“It’s an outlet,” Maravilla says. “To paint, to put what you have in mind. It can be a release.”  

Alejandro Samper lost both his parents, Daniel and Glitza Maria, and his sister, Glitza Daniela, in the tragedy. He painted a bird and used the colours of the Colombian flag: red, blue, and yellow, representing the country where his family is originally from.

He says in art, the image of the bird symbolizes freedom, new beginnings, and hope.

“I’m not saying art is going to heal you,” he says. “What it does is it gives you a break from pain because you are immersed creating.”

Samper recently created the not-for-profit group, Samper-Caicedo Legacy Society, in honour of his family.  

He says the society aims to provide activities and workshops to victims of traumatic events and to those experiencing grief, a feeling he says he knows all too well after losing his family. 

“I’m not good. I’m broken,” he says. “Nothing is the same as before.” 

Flight: A Healing Art Workshop and Exhibit 

On November 30, the Filipino Canadian Friends of the Libraries and the Samper-Caicedo Legacy Society will bring Flight: A Healing Art Workshop and Exhibit.  

Maravilla will lead the workshop that will be open to anyone who wants to express their emotions through painting. The event will honour the victims and those affected by the Lapu-Lapu Day tragedy.  

Filipino Canadian artist Chito Maravilla. (Submitted image)

Samper’s and his relatives’ paintings, together with the paintings of the loved ones of Sico, will be on display at the Surrey Public Library, City Centre branch.  

“If you are going through a hard time, there are things that you can do to distract you. It’s a long process. The healing can only come from yourself,” Samper says.  

“I promised myself, dad, mom and sister that I would carry their light and love forward. I will carry the beauty that they brought into this world.”