Smokey Mountain Christmas

I told my daughters about Smokey Mountain when we went to the Philippines a couple of years ago. I didn't get to show it to them though. Even my aunts who still live in the Philippines didn't think it would be a good idea to go 'touring' around there. They said the smell is atrocious and the neighborhood is dangerous. So we didn't go. My daughters had to satisfy their curiosity with pictures. We did see similar conditions of abject poverty, but not to the same degree, in the provinces we visited.

My daughters don't complain about Christmas presents anymore. I think they are growing up or maybe they learned something by hearing about places like smokey mountain and visiting similar areas in the Philippines. I can't speak for what they think or what's in their hearts, but they don't whine when they don't get the laptop or fancy cell phone or media player or play stations that their friends get at Christmas time. They know they are more fortunate than a great many other children in the world even if they don't receive any presents. They at least have a roof over their heads, food whenever they are hungry, clothes on their back and even get to splurge in whatever they want or enjoy doing every once in a while.

This holiday, one of the most worthy charities to support is the Christmas For Payatas, organized by Totedaddy.com and the Lighthouse Center for Children Foundation. They provide aid to the children who live there, eking a living from the mountain of trash. Children here, for instance, do not hesitate to throw food dropped on a clean linoleum floor in the trash can. There, the kids don't deem food they find in the trash as rotten until they see worms squirming in it. Here, kids moan and groan for having to get up early to go to school. There, kids wake up early on purpose to get the best trash, if there is such a thing. They would love to go to school because they have never been. Watch this touching video, borrowed from the Christmas for Payatas website to see how even just the smallest act of kindness and charity can make such a big difference.



PRESS RELEASE:

The landfill in Payatas, The Philippines, is notoriously known the world over as Smokey Mountain. For over 35 years, the smoking dump site has grown to become a stark and heart-tugging reminder of the desperate conditions of humanity.

On a daily basis, children pick through newly arrived garbage to
collect material to sell. The earnings made by one child are not enough to even buy food for the day. Hence, entire families are forced to climb the mountain each day, hoping to earn enough to feed everyone. Children as young as four years old are forced to work in this daily struggle for survival.

In response to the plight of these children, Totedaddy.com is working with Lighthouse Center For Children Foundation to bring a little cheer to the children this Christmas.

Totedaddy.com has kicked off with a cash sponsorship of USD 10,000 to enable the children to celebrate Christmas. FusionExcel International has also pitched in a USD 5,000 in cash sponsorship. The money raised
will help fund the projects already in place, and help fund additional projects aimed at providing better housing, and a means of livelihood for the Payatas community.

It is hoped that by creating better awareness to the plight of these children, more support can be garnered towards their betterment. Together we can bury poverty!

Please donate if you can and help spread the word.

The Scent of America

I don't know if it's just a Filipino thing or what, but just about every Filipino person I know of who has a relative in the U.S. will tell you that America smells. No, not the way you think. It may stink for real, especially if you're one of it's jaded citizens, but the smell I speak of is of something foreign, far and different from anything you know. It is the scent that evokes memories of loved ones beyond reach, it conjures up the life they are living without you, away from you, in spite of you. Yet, here is this brown box we call a balikbayan box that when opened releases the smell of love, of family, of caring, of devotion, of America, and once again we are connected to our loved ones. We are reminded that we are loved. That we are cared for. That somewhere out there in this universe, someone thought of us to send this gift.

I read a very touching post about this recently on one of the blogs recently discovered. It is titled Amoy Amerika or Smells like Amerika. It is a story by KC of an anticipated balikbayan box from her brother and family who recently migrated to the U.S. It is the first box from them and she rushes home everyday in anticipation. Read her touching story and you'll get a glimpse of how it is to be on the other side of the balikbayan trail.

JR & Joy Dance

I'm experimenting with uploading videos on photobucket, so I thought I would share this little dance with you. We attended my cousin JR's wedding while we were in the Philippines last December, and this was taken during the reception/after party. As I may have mentioned in a previous post, my people are of the indigenous tribe called "bago". This is a modernized version of a tribal dance. If you watch, the bride was a bit hesitant about dancing, but one of the old lolas (grandmas) got in there and showed her how it's done. It was a lot of fun, and the girls got to witness a little bit of tribal customs.

BTW, Jade and I have been wondering what that background music is. I think it is a malaysian song, but we never did find out the name or artist of the song. If you know, please leave us a comment.

The Balikbayan Box

Most of the time when one goes on vacation, be it for a week or a couple, one or two pieces of luggage usually will suffice. Actually, that is all most airlines would allow you to bring for free. If you decide to carry additional luggage you would be charged an extra fee.

When balikbayans ("balikbayan" means "return to country" and is used to describe Filipinos returning to the Philippines for a vacation) go home, it usually is more efficient to pack things in a box, a balikbayan box, rather than a suitcase. You see, when a Filipino goes to the Philippines, it's not the usual vacation where you pack your personal effects then go and enjoy yourself. A Filipino's vacation usually involves going home to their hometowns, in our case it's Sagunto, meeting numerous relatives, and maybe somewhere in between sneak in a sightseeing trip of two. That was the case for us anyway.

When we went home last December, there was twelve of us arriving in Manila along with 24 pieces of luggage, a motley combination of luggage and balikbayan boxes. It took two huge trolleys and four bell boys to carry it all out of the airport. Why so much you ask?

Months before our departure, my mother, grandmother, aunts and sisters (notice how I left myself out? that's cause I didn't do any shopping! haha!) have been shopping for Christmas presents for our numerous relatives and friends. My mom shopped like we were going on survivor island. She packed every incidental item she thought her grandchildren will need. For the Clone, she is the most finicky of her grandchildren, she packed ramen noodles, spaghetti noodles, spaghetti sauce, pancake mix and powdered chocolate drink mix for just in case she didn't like any of the food. She packed extra tooth paste, soap, shampoos and conditioners, and enough lotion to moisturize the whole town.

The funny thing was, the Clone actually liked the food there and barely touched the food we brought for her! See some of the foods prepared for us in our kitchen.

Sagunto, My Sagunto

When we went on vacation to the Philippines this past December, our final destination was this little barrio in Sison, Pangasinan called Sagunto. How it got it's name, I do not know. I do know it has a namesake in Spain, so maybe some lonely Spaniard during the days of colonization wished to acknowledge his hometown and so named this corner of the world after it? Who knows. Sagunto to me is the birthplace of my mom. It is populated by people who've dubbed themselves "bago". The most that I could glean about the label is that they are a people of mixed ancestry, a combination of the indigenous Igorot people and the Ilocos who are sometimes connected to Chinese and Spanish ancestry. The "bago" are the people amalgamated from these cultures.

Sagunto is located at the foot of the mountains, one of the last towns you would pass as you ascend to the mountain city of Baguio.
This is the entrance from the main highway. The road continues until it runs into the the foot of the mountain called Palina. Its length is probably less than a kilometer long. I remember the time when this road was not paved but more of a dirt road; when there was no electricity and people still used gas lamps and everyone lived is thatch roof houses and bamboo floors. Now the houses are much bigger but the yards have gotten smaller. It is much more crowded now.

Many of the residents of this small village (barangay as it is now called) are OFWs (Overseas Foreign Workers) who send remittances to their relatives and build big, comfortable homes for them to return to when their stints abroad has concluded. It is to the credit of these overseas workers and the local barangay that the road to the village was paved. OFWs continue to provide support for the local government to be able to manage the day to day operations of this small village. They stopped waiting on the government to provide necessities such electricity, running water, roads, sewage, etc. Instead, they have worked on acquiring these things on their own with the help of overseas workers who dream of coming back to this place to live, among their friends and extended (very extended) families.

They are my family, and my friends. This is where we went home to.

I'll have more photos of our trip in future posts.