(Not) Boracay

You see this picture and you thought I was off to some island like the dreamy Boracay. No. I was at Wawa, Pulanglupa in Las Pinas City. It’s a place smelled like rotten fish. Really.

Wawa actually means “unfortunate”. I first saw it when our Pastor displayed few photos at the church wall. Seeing them, I think they are one of the poor people living in the city. They are separated by a floodway on one side and a dike on the other. And they need to pay one peso to cross the blackish water to go to other side. They said that dike dries up when the tide is low and becomes full again when it’s high. As a result, the soil is always wet and stench with sea water. You thought you live in a fish port. People- and dried fish- live together in this area. They have no running water and not all houses have comfort room. I couldn’t stand the smell, but they lived in it.

So, what can I—a single person—do in the face of such detestable condition? That was when our Pastor announced that we will have a feeding program there- and asked if we wanted to help. Yes, I said.



My paralysis was gone. Finally, I could do something. We went there, together with others friends. Since we cannot put kids and adults in one place, we divided them. I busied myself with 10- year olds. Hah. You thought that was easy? They are one rowdy, disruptive but happy and high-spirited kids. They are either breaking other’s ribs, pulling one’s hair, or poking another kid’s eyes. I guess our “The Boat is Sinking” game helped a lot in distracting them from killing each other.

Atty. Yu, a missionary, shared the God’s words. One can sense their need for hope and chance to live better lives. This is not the first time that such an activity was held there, and their unfailing humor and cheeriness suggest they were happy to see us.

So what have I really done? Nothing much. Except perhaps be happy that I can actually contribute, no matter how little, to a cause that that can actually change one person’s life.