Had a great Sunday with the street dwellers of NIA road qc. They never fail to teach me something new to better understand the current situation of our country, the side that is not mainstreamed. I honor gkqc management team for extending your efforts to manage this endeavor and a special recognition to our gk kapitbahayans who generously bled time in preparing food and sharing it to the street dwellers. Truly a new age has come. The once beneficiaries are now the new benefactors, the gospel coming to life literally feeding the least of our brethren. An eye opener to those who have more in life. This morning I had the chance to talk with some individuals from the crowd. One of the them is Ester, a settler nearby. She shared stories of the barangays previous efforts while waiting for her turn for the food, after she had gotten her share she approached me and asked me if she can leave and when I asked why, she answered me shyly maghahanap na po ako ng pangtanghalian. It struck me and made me think of the experience of the people from different social classes. For the rich its normally months and years of projection and security that they seek, for middle class its mostly weeks to months but Ester only had a few hours to find a source for their meals. For them, every minute is precious, never having the luxury to plan for long term. And by looking at the crowd I believe shes not alone in that situation. Hand-to-mouth existence becomes mouth-to-hand existence. As I was oriented early on, it was the hand that determines where to bring the money hence hand-to-mouth but now its the mouth that directs the hand what to do and when to do it. In plain sight we may think they are just the same but when we scrutinize the timing of their hunger, that spells out the difference. Every minute of hunger is a threat to their existence. Exposure to them gives me a deeper understanding how urgent the need is. Another story I got is from Rosie an informal settler in a nearby area, she lives a simple life with her own set of problems but still, she volunteers her extra time to organize and help the street dwellers. Another reminder that no matter how difficult life gets, our ability and capacity to care is always there. Based on these two stories I can easlily say that there is hope but i can also say that it will take long without the right people to support this. The challenge now is how to make this bigger to acheive the goal faster. The boggling fact is that our economy is at a staggering rate of economic growth and yet the situation of people like Ester doesnt change significantly. In growing this effort, the perspective should be in connecting the income stream of the country to developing programs to alleviate them from their current situation. And this can only be possible if the people from the other side of the fence include them in their dreams and aspirations, when their equation of sucess includes the poor. To act with understanding and not condescending. To walk in their shoes with the quality education in their heads. By accepting that there are two worlds apart in the same country and the task is to merge it. Hunger is the most basic pain one feels when he is poor and its sustained state drives them to let go of their reasons and consequently do acts that obliterate their dignity and honor. Compared to providing houses and jobs this one is easier to ease but all of them can be solved through sustained caring and sharing. With the same might in building homes in our gk communities maybe we can brave ourselves once more to answer to the challenge in ending hunger on the streets. And like before we take it by faith, going without the certainty of plans but anchored with intelligent heart knowing that caring for the least to rebuild our country will never fail us. I hope that this act will bring more people to join us and journey with our least brethren to at least say goodbye to hunger. Together seeking for the solution to a massive problem that continues to grow and corrode us as a nation. There is abundance around us not only by resource but also by heroes, this may seem impossible but its not, it is just difficult. The more we believe it can hunger the faster we make our mother country proud. #walangiwanan #GoodbyeGutom
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 07:28:51 +0000
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