Sunday, September 17, 2006
Seeing Poverty and Living the Day
Before I worked in Finland, I worked for AMORE for 1,5 years. During those years, I was given the chance to experience something that no other 21-year old could have experienced at that time - seeing, meeting and feeling poverty like never before.
I cannot even explain how poor these people are. These people live on the far flung islands of the Philippines. They have no electricity and no source of potable water. The sad thing is this leads to a vicious cycle of poverty. No electricity means for the students that they, don't get to study after 7 pm or if they do, they strain their eyes and their backs. No electricity meant that there was no way to store any fish that might have been caught before the sun has sets. No potable water meant limited water supply for the family. No potable water meant not being able to present one properly when doing transactions for their small livelihoood. No electricity. No running water. Imagine your life without these two things. Isn't it horrible? To them, it's a reality.
These islands are also unsafe places in the Philippines because they were lairs for insurgents. There were trips where bombs were blowing off kilometers away from where I was staying. In the small huts we slept in, there were often people with M-16's guarding our rooms to make sure we were safe. We often had a GPS with us, just in case we were kidnapped. I remember spending nights and days praying for my safety whenever I was asked to go on these trips.
Poverty makes people angry. Poverty makes people feel useless. Poverty makes people feel stupid. If you go to school hungry, how can you even try to learn to count, when all you can think about is when you will eat a decent meal? How can you learn more about history if your schools don't have the proper facility to run a decent library? How can you "help promote peace and work for a better country" when you feel like you are at the bottom of each and every chain possible?
I am posting this as a wake-up call to me more than to anyone else. A lot of times, I need to be reminded of how blessed I am that, inspite of my very skewed version of my "personal poverty," I am able to eat decent amounts of food whenever my body needs it. I need to be reminded that sometimes, I mull over the smallest of things when I can use that same energy showing gratitude for what I have.
So, today I decided to do something about it. By the time you are reading this, I would have sent out one of the free bags I got in Poland to my former nanny's family. That bag will have some shirts, some food, maybe even chocolates. These are simple things yet they are luxurious to a lot of people. I have decided to do this because I wanted this day to count and to at least make one person happy.
I am not a good person. I am sarcastic at times, judgmental, even arrogant. I am not generous. I can be mean. I can be critical. I can be self-centered and selfish. And this one act, does not really make me a wonderful person. But you know what? If anything, this act has proven one thing: every day my existence can make a small, minute yet positive difference. It is that simple. And your life is making a difference too. I know that you have made mine by taking the pain of reading this long post. :)
Until the next entry about people I love.
4 comments:
Hello Erica. I saw your blog in some other theresian's blog. I am a theresian too and also in finland for work. I have been going back and forth manila and finland for the last 3years. Are you in helsinki area? maybe we can meet up and have dinner. send me an email if you can. lisa.deguzman@gmail.com
Oh yeah sure I will Lisa. :)
We will see each other soon. :)
Sweet Erica!!
I love your bloggin and your reflections!!
It has turned out to be one my favourites! :)
Take care, Sweet!
And we talk soon! :)
Hugs,
Ces
Thanks for the comment Ces. Yes, we talk soon. :)
Hugs,
Erica
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