- Power of two -
They met at a cash-for-work programme run by a foreign aid group six months ago, with a joke from the incomprehensibly effervescent Luana borne from their similar first names and shared tragedies an unlikely icebreaker.
"I told him: 'I am a Jo, you are a Jo. I am a widow and you are also a widower. So we were meant for each other'," Luana said with a big smile as they stood outside their shanty hut recently just a few metres (yards) from the sea on the outskirts of Tacloban, one of the worst hit cities.
Luana, 31, said she unexpectedly felt hope after meeting Aradana, nine years her senior.
"I realised we both had similar values... and he is loving, he is caring, he is responsible," Luana said, pointing out Aradana worked hard as a fisherman and construction worker, yet also helped do the laundry and cook.
"He would make a good father."
Aradana cited companionship and the power of two over one as initial attractions.
"Since she likes me and I like her, I told her it is much better that we live together so we can move on with our lives together, rather than doing it alone," said Aradana, who speaks much more quietly than Luana and is seemingly less able to mask sadness.
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