Life Viewed From Someones Eyes

[Jollygoodfellow]

This post was on the CDO yahoo group. I thought it made good insight of life from an ex-pats viewLike others posting here,I find it very easy to be self righteous andJudgmental. Living here makes it even easier.There is a constant stream of people at our gate either asking for donations or doing the so called caroling, which drives me nuts. I can't sit out front and read the paper without being accosted by someone at this time of year.Then i wake up in the morning and go out and get my daily dose ofreality, which gets me back on center.Many mornings it start at the gate where at 6:00 Am the 14 year old girl with the 2nd grade education wearing rags that i would use to check the oil in my car is waiting. She wants to know if she can work for something to eat. (Yes she can)Then i proceed past the tricycle drivers lined up at the corner hoping to make enough to pay the 40 peso rent on the tyke and have enough left over for some rice at the end of the day which ends sometime after 10:00 Pm.Then it's up the hill past the church where the care taker family (of I can't figure out how many) live in a shanty built out of what ever they can pick up, are out watering plants and cleaning both inside and out.Again wearing clothes that are long since used up.Then it is back down that hill and up Milky way passing the squatters who live down behind the culvert, who are cooking there breakfast over a fire built out of limbs they hacked off what ever tree they could find.Then past the old couple who are swaddled in rags to keep the sun off doing stoop labor growing vegetables on a vacant plot, I see them later carrying bundles of lemon grass and malangay down the street on the way to Cogan to sell it. Then i see the little kids that should be getting ready for school carrying there plastic buckets of slop they are collecting to feed the family pig. I see all the helpers out sweeping the streets or carrying the landlords baby around, or washing the SUV.There are many other sights and sounds just as eye opening. One thing all these people have is a ready smile and a cheerful good morning.These are the same people who sell their vote, they don't complain they are just happy to get a few peso's.I financed my sister in laws election a couple years ago to a barangay position.(Guess that makes me corrupt) She had been working as a volunteer for free, I asked why don't you run for office so you can get paid for what your doing? Her answer was no budget, she then proceeded to educate me on how the system works here.We have two nieces that live with us off and on, 19 and 20 yrs. old. Last year they stood in line for two days to register to vote. I ask why it was so important to them to vote? The answer was we get paid. When they leave here and go home they share a small house with 18 other people. There only source of news and awareness of the corruption come from the constant blame game they see on a 12" T.V.They tell me they like it here because they can eat all they want, and use the computer to look for someone to take them to the U.S. They were raised by my wife after their mother abandoned them when she got a job in Japan, there father refuses to work and talks about how it's ,going to be when they get to the U.S. and can petition him.A couple of us here do a weekly night out every week, we always order a Pizza and usually end up sharing it with one or more of the girls working there.Last night I got a complete run down on life as a bar girl, when one who is usually not talkative had had a couple of drinks and decided to open up on us.She told me she is 29 yrs. old and has three kids from two different husbands. She told me how thank full she is to have a job there so she can feed her kids. Said she thanks god everyday for the nice body she is blessed with even after three kids, and prays for her employer who gave her a chance to dance at her age and prove she can entertain the customers.She thanked us for being nice to everyone there, even if we don't buy them drinks, we treat them with respect. The point of all this rambling is, most of these people are in survival mode, caught up in a situation we can only imagine.To sit back and pass judgment on them for what they do to survive is totally wrong.Last Sunday a group of expat wives did a feed the children at the Carmen dump. They had a budget to feed 200 kids.There were so many showed up they had to give out tickets and then turn the rest away.Do you think they would sell their vote if they had a chance?Most of us here have been used or taken advantage of while living here, it is part of our education process. I'm just thank full to be in a position to not be hurt by it.We are so fortunate to be able to live here, and if it was any different we couldn't afford to. (or at least I couldn't) as xxxx said all we can do is sit back and watch the show, and I might add give thanks for our situation have a little compassion for those less fortunate.

[Mr Lee]

Very good post. I think that definitely tells it like it is, and that is just one of the many reasons that we decided on a condo and not to live in a house. Now no one should take that wrong, I do not mind buying the guards and workmen at our condo food and treats when we are out and seek a treat for ourselves and I do not mind giving the beggars crackers or pan (bread), and I do not mind giving to and helping the poor, but I want to do it when I want to, and when I have the extra money, and not when many someone's approach me on a daily basis. Life in the Philippines is definitely a reality check and I only wish that all the poor in the USA could go to the Philippines and see what being poor is really about and then they would kiss the ground and be thankful that they live in a country that helps the poor, and then maybe they would not always complain about how little they have, when in fact they have a free apartment and food stamps to buy themselves free food, a TV, a telephone, and all the other electronics and many even have cars. If only we could find a way to help all the poor in the Philippines, but I think we all have to start by helping our own Filipino families, if we can afford to.One step at a time!