Giving

Today was the day I met a woman who has 7 children and lives in an underpass. Today i gave smiles to 23 children as well as onlooking mothers, brothers, uncles and grandmothers. when all there smiles had been washed away. I met a woman who was desperate for money but settled for juice and crackers.

I had been given the task along with 20 other friends from Payatas to go out and give back to the people. Do something for someone who really needed it for people we didn't know but were struggling. The daunting task of going out and meeting people who didn't share the same language struck. I would have to mumble my way through the little Tagalog i did know and hand gesture the rest. Thankfully the girls saved me they had become like sisters to me. They were the only 6 girls of the team set up to give back to the community. Though they all in one of the poorest slums they were all giving back.

We had no real plan but i suggested we get some juice, sweets, crackers etc and find street kids. Eager at this idea we stormed round a convenience store each of us leaving with a sack of juice and foods. As we went looking for people to share our time with the thought occurred that even though i had only been here for a couple months i had already got used to passing so many people with desperation in there eyes. It didn't take long before we met a woman whose clothes were torn beyond repair and looked like her only. We gave her crackers but she was unsatisfied and asked for money. She soon realized we weren't giving cash handouts and her eyes met the box in my hand. If She couldn't have money she would settle for juice so i gave here three cartons and she stormed off barely giving me time to give her a straw. I watched her leave with a smile a wild look in her eye and an apparent thirst for juice. We carried on walking down the road we found ourselves on without any real direction. We soon found ourselves at a bus stop instantly i noticed a woman who stood holding a baby in front of a box full of single cigarettes and mints. Customers would come and go throwing the correct change for there item in the box as she rocked the baby back and forth. She had the face of someone who had been aged by rough nights sleep and sickness. The girls had seen her too and we moved towards her as they started conversation i got translation for the words i didn't pick up. As we talked me through eager translation we gave her juice and occasionally some more foods. One of the girls took the baby and gave the mother a rest if only for a little while. She told us she had seven children and lived down in the underpass around the corner. At this moment all the air left my body i stood shocked realizing that all the juice jelly sweets and crackers in the world could not help this woman. all the horrible things she must have seen and lived in order to have seven children living in a tunnel. The men that must of been her life made me feel ashamed to be one of the same gender. Though she stood and seemed content in the fact we had shared our time with her. Though it was short and soon i found myself following the girls in a daze they told me she had no husband and she came her from the province for a better life. It was a story similar to many others bright lights big city. But for this lady fear nights in dark tunnels.

i felt determined now to keep going continuing along the same road we got to a bridge. I could see from a distance the houses built underneath they were precariously built up wards made of scrap metal and wood some baring large banners serving as a fourth wall flying the flag of battered corporate advertisements that no longer served there original purpose. As we neared closer to the start of the bridge we passed a young man sitting on the verge we maneuvered around him trying not to be ploughed by three lanes of fast traffic. He was the kind of young man i feared i didn't wish to make eye contact so only glanced at him long enough to see the familiar large white rubbish collecting bags. I set foot on the bridge and peered over the edge for sign of life. I saw rubble. Carnage left by mother nature a few weeks before. Worn down river banks and murky brown waters. We made it clear why we were there and soon children appeared and took the sweets and juice. The grubby faces shining with smiles far from white. Once i had successfully surrounded my self with grateful children and mothers onlooking with pleased curiosity. i looked back the way we had come to see the girls had gone back to the young man whom i avoided for fear of probably in my own irrational mind being shot.

When i came closer it became apparent he was much younger than i had thought. He could only of been about 14 and as he saw me approach he did not pull out a gun and blow me away. He smiled, i felt stupid i sat punching a juice with a straw and handed it to him. We shook hands as the girls introduced me to him and then another kid who must of been a couple years younger. They were from Litex the part of payatas that sorts all the rubbish before it makes its way to the dump. They were out collecting but had taken the afternoon off to go swimming. To go swimming in the same murky waters i had just peered into and known the chance of seeing my reflection was pretty slim. I probably would have been lucky to leave those waters alive but this is where they would spend there free time.

More Kids began to appear word had traveled fast soon we had 23 congregated on the grassy verge of the road. This left us standing infront of them our ankles victim to the manila traffic. We had them singing songs and playing little games the space would allow us the singing grew louder and louder as they grew more excited. It took a good 45 minutes before the juice and candy ran out and the songs stopped. one by one they came and said thank you as they ran back and disappeared under the bridge. We were no longer The spectacle and entertainment for those who were stopped in traffic at our little roadside show.

We walked back smiling more than the kids which was an achievement in its self. we had reached out to the children of Ondoy and though the weeks have passed the destruction hasn't it still sits heavy under that bridge. I leave that bridge content that at least we were the highlight of the day. We brought back the smiles that had been washed away and gave hope to the ones who were passed and forgotten.