Speak my mind

Last saturday Zenia and me saw an episode of a famous program here in the philippines “Maalaala mo kaya” which mean”could you still remember” or “can you remember” or something like that. The program features real life stories of individual. Most of the time its based on love stories of couples which I really don’t enjoy much. Last Saturday’s episode was unique and very touching.

It is a story about the love of a grandmother with her grandchildren. The title of that episode was “saging”, What captivated me to watch the whole episode is that it made me realize how difficult life is for other people, especially here in the Philippines. You don’t need to go far to realize how difficult life has become for most of my countrymen.

The story revolves around a grandmother who struggles to provide the basic necessities to her grandchildren after their mother has deserted them. The family belonged to the urban poor of society, where a meal a day is even hard to get. What made things worst was that the grandmother had no income, no work and no money.The only thing they had was a shanty in the squatters located near the shore.

The first problem the family faced after the mother of the children left was their immediate need for the food. They even reached a point where in all the grandmother could offer to her grandchildren was water to keep their stomachs full. After realizing their dire situation she tried to find ways to feed her grandchildren. Luckily for them a kind hearted neighbor was able to help them.

The neighbor told the grandmother that she can get free food at the ports where they throw rejected bananas and that she can earn some money picking up garbage at the shores and selling it to scrap yards. The grandmother followed the advice of her neighbor and was at least able provide food for her children. Even though things was difficult for her she made sure that she sent her grandchildren to school in order for them to have a better future.

After watching that episode I tried to reflect on their situation. I couldn’t imagine how she was able to make ends meet with the monthly income she earned which was even less than my daily rate. I now know why my parents are very understanding and helpful to those who are less fortunate. That episode opened my eyes and made me realize how fortunate I am to have what I have right now and that I can make a change in a persons life one way or another.

One thing I learned from my parents is that you don’t need to have a lot of money in order to change a persons life for the better. My parents have already helped a couple of people, who were willing to learn and sacrifice, and finish school. Some of them have changed their life and have become professionals. I think will follow my parents foot steps in the near future.

“Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.” — Confucious