A defining stroll at Divisoria

Who would have thought that even a beggar or “pulubi” who stretches his arm out for people’s alms has his own story to tell? Behind the calloused hands and ragged appearance, who would have thought that he too, ignored and dehumanized most of the time, has his own story to share?

Amidst the hustle and the bustle in the crowded Divisoria of Cagayan de Oro, it’s hard not to notice these unfortunate people who do seem to be out of place: the beggars. Today, it is presumably safe to say that this segment of the population we call “mga pulubi” is almost a common sight in almost every corner of our country – a disheartening fact which only affirms how miserable the state of the Philippines has become.

In connection, for our first Formation Group (FG) Social Exposure activity, our group chose to integrate ourselves to the lives of our neglected “pulubi” brothers, particularly those who dwell in Divisoria. In this activity, I, together with John Ed and Micah, had the chance to stoop and listen to the story of Danilo Fernandez, a 70-year-old pauper who has considered Divisoria his home and shelter for almost a year now.

He had just awoken from his light nap on a concrete bench when we spotted him. His clothes, tattered and dirtied with the pollution around him, were on the same untidy state as his shaggy, uncombed hair. The veins of his body were very pronounced, almost matching the long, untrimmed nails of his hands and feet. It was a poor sight that truly made our hearts weep with pity and sympathy.

As we sat beside him, we were all ears to what he has to share. He did not delve anymore into details but it seemed that he was left abandoned here in Cagayan de Oro by his daughter when they were about to set off back to Luzon (as he is originally from Luzon). From then on, he lost contact with his family and relatives and began a struggle for survival as a street beggar, enduring not only the scorching heat of the day and the night’s icy breeze, but also all the humiliation stoned at him, as any other person tagged as ‘pulubi’ would have to brace up for.

It was hard for him. Knowing that his own family has abandoned him has definitely lowered his spirit. Each day passed without certainty of reaching the next. Each day’s sunset took with melancholy, with the lingering fear of not seeing tomorrow’s dawn. It was indeed a daily cycle of an uneventful life.

But it doesn’t end there. In my part, as a mere listener and observer, I was deeply moved by the one thing he still keeps in his heart: his faith, which was evident in the terse statements he uttered that included God, as tears kept rolling down his saggy cheeks. He has not forgotten God even in such bleak situation he is now in. It is that strong kind of faith that helps anyone to see hope to spring amidst the futility of the circumstances. And it is such faith that makes the poor and the feeble likeKuya Danilo to be rich of God’s love and to be strong against the odds.

***

The scanty amount of food (a burger plus a tetra-pack of juice, an apple and an orange) that we gave him served unimportant compared to what we have realized: that we should not judge other people by the preconceived stories our minds unreliably create about them, but instead, by the stories they have to tell when we first lend them our ears... and hearts. :)

2011 plus 1 equals the end of the world

It was just weeks ago when the fireworks were lit up in the sky to welcome New Year 2011. The great relief of triumphantly surviving year 2010 was a common feeling shared by all. However, as we all advance in meeting whatever 2011 has in store for us, we also find it hard not to fear the prospect of drawing closer and closer to 2012— the proverbial year they say would be the end of the world.

Well, I am writing this article partly because I haven’t written anything for ages already, and partly because it sunk in me that recent events – events which are plaguing our minds with questions and doubts – must now be viewed from a new angle. And for this purpose, let me play as your Nostradamus Jr., as we all try to uhm, unveil the future through trying to comprehend the following phenomena/events (LOL!):

***

Manna from heaven?

"A mysterious rain of thousands of dead birds darkened New Year's Eve in Arkansas, and this week similar reports streamed in from Louisiana, Sweden, and elsewhere.”—National Geographic Daily News

The first time I heard this news, I was really taken aback. A huge number of dead birds falling from the sky at the very outset of New Year? Yay, that’s something! The news undoubtedly did not fail to catch the attention of the world. And though scientists already declared scientific explanations for such ‘rain of dead birds,’ people still aggravate the hype by linking the phenomenon to the 2012 end-of-the-world predictions. But then, who wouldn’t? Now that we’re only a year away from 2012, does the idea of 5,000 birds losing balance in mid-air sound normal? CREEEEEEPY omen!

A wave of carnage

Now let’s keep the momentum going. When I was continuing reading related articles from the net, I learned that it wasn’t just birds. From birds showering from the sky, here is another series of unexplainable animal deaths which made my eyes really bulge out from their sockets.

*excerpt: ”Numerous additional mass deaths of fish, birds and wildlife occurred within the same week as the Arkansas birds. These include, among many others:

• 100,000 dead drum fish washed up in the Arkansas River
• The bodies of thousands of turtledoves raining down from the sky in Faenza, Italy
• Approximately 500 birds found dead in Louisiana
• Dead jackdaw birds found in Sweden
• About 80 dead pigeons found on a farm west of Quebec City
• Thousands of dead fish in Spruce Creek, Port Orange, Florida
• Two million fish dead in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
• Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand beaches filled with bodies of snapper fish
• 40,000 dead crabs in Kent, United Kingdom”

A long list indeed! If all these were mere coincidences, then I reckon our world is certainly leading to... never mind. (hahaha)

Not an Aquarian anymore?

To scramble things more, the zodiac sign you thought you were born under, which you held important for your horoscopes, may not have been true all along at all! When I learned of this, it was like a piece of my 16-year existence was stripped away. You see, I am an Aquarian (or so I thought), and now I am totally confused: am I not an Aquarian anymore? This entire buzz was because of this urgh---- Ophiuchus thingy, which astronomers propose to be the 13th zodiac sign.

Well, it’s not actually a new discovery. The debate over this astrological matter has been going on for more than a decade already. And as I see it, it’s kind of a clash between astronomers and astrologers! (To know more about the stand of each of the two sides, kamo na’y research! Haha) I’ve already read a number of articles about this subject and I’m keeping my own stand to myself!

After everything has been said and done, the question that still persists on clawing out from my mind is: ‘Why has it become such a big thing NOW if it already caused steamy arguments long ago? Has it got anything to do with the nearing of 2012?’ (with background music of loud heartbeats: LUB, DUB, LUB, DUB...)

True or not, let us all just remember: “Hindi hawak ng mga bituin ang ating kapalaran, gabay lamang sila. Meron tayong ‘free will,’ gamitin natin ito.”

Tropical snow

Well, I’m not really sure about this one, but when our Logic instructor told us thatHawaii, which is a tropical US state, is now experiencing snow, an influx of horror crept throughout my whole body. To know more about this abnormal climatic condition over Hawaii, read http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/12/hawaii-makes-it-49-states-with-snow-on-the-ground/.

So, d'ya think this is one of the signs?

Party like, like it’s the end of the world!

With rumors about the world’s end mushrooming on every corner, hmmmm...I guess the best thing to do now is just to PARTY LIKE IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD! Before 2012 comes, let’s not forget that there’s still 2011! If it were true (which I strongly doubt) that we are heading to the end of the world on 2012, then the wisest thing to do now is to enjoy our lives, HAVE A TIME OF OUR LIVES! (sounds familiar? Haha.)

Let us not waste our time peeking through the future, for it’ll only lead us to a false path. It’s not the future which paves the way of our present; instead, it’s ultimately the present which determines the future.

So come on now, let’s all together RAISE OUR GLASS! Cheers! It ain’t the end of the world, I tell you. :)

**HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!

The Happy Loner

Blockmate 1: Hello Herald!


Blockmate 2: Hello Herald!? (As if talking to a deaf)


Herald: (With a nervous, shaky tone) Oh, hi there!


[And the conversation stops there]

***

[The bell rings for a two-hour break]


Blockmate 1: Where are we gonna stay now?


Blockmate 2: Let’s go to the canteen! I’m hungry.


Blockmate 1: Eh, how about you Herald? Would you like to join us?


Herald: (so glad that he was actually asked) Uhm, well, uhm---- (B2 suddenly interrupts)


Blockmate 2: Nah! I’m pretty sure he’ll be off to the library AGAIN. Study habits, as they say.


Herald, talking to himself: W-H-A-T?? LIBRARY??!! Are you serious? That place is only for the LOSERS who got no friends! A refuge for the LONERS!


[But Herald silently still proceeds to the library,with his stomach growling loudly]

***

I am the kind of person who is very used to being alone. Surprisingly, it neither makes me happy nor sad.

In high school, although I had my circle of friends, I still felt that I only existed behind their shadows. But I really didn’t mind. Aside from the friendship we were building, the security that stems from it was what I needed. Like any other growing teen in high school, I also dreamt ‘to belong.’ I sought for that sense of belongingness. And in high school where the world seems to be literally small, it didn’t take me long to find it.

But high school was entirely different. I’m now in college where things are tougher and people fiercer. There may be thousands of students from all walks of life here, but the sense of belongingness that I am searching for remains elusive. Friends in college are indeed scarce. Or should I say, friends here in college are unfortunately scarce... TO THE ONE WRITING THIS ARTICLE.

But hey, it doesn’t mean that I don’t have friends at all. I still have. And although they may not be as many as the fingers in your one hand, I think it’s already better than having none at all.

Okay, so I’m still sort of a loser loner. But I’m not the typical nerd-looking loner whose vacant hours are spent in the library (although I’m already getting accustomed to spending most of my time studying). I don’t know why but I’m just happy being alone. It’s like I get to observe the world around me without actually involving myself with them. It’s like I’m just in the level of a spectator who doesn’t care much about what people would say to me. It’s like they anticipate for the every word that my mouth would utter. It’s like I’m creating my own world out of my unbreakable silence. It’s amazing! It’s like I’m baffling people with my aura of mystery. For them, I am puzzling and mysterious. And it just always thrills me whenever I see them trying so hard to figure me out with my imperviousness. And I must say I’m loving it! It’s very different from my world in high school – busy, tiring, noisy, no peace, almost without privacy. Cool! Loner? Definitely! Playing safe? Probably. Crazy? You judge.

But wait. I’m not here to encourage you to detach yourselves from social ties. I, too, am still learning to establish bonds and to socialize with others. I know that living one’s self alone is unhealthy, and it may not do him good in the long run. So instead of distancing myself from people, I know that I should start opening up myself to them. I also know that I must squash the feeling of ‘intimidation’ if I want to gain friends. This has always been the problem with me: I easily get intimidated with the people here in college. (But hey, why would I? Perhaps I just need to have a boost of self-confidence! Go Herald!)

You may think now that I’m insanely faced with a dilemma. But I tell you, I am not torn between being a loner and being a social individual. This isn’t a struggle for me. THIS IS SKILL! (Oh yeah? Lol) Without any intent to brag, I know well how to handle myself. I am a loner and can be silent at times, but I can also be the opposite when I want to. I just happen to discover the ‘peace’ of being a loner and the solitude it offers, and then learned to love it. This is indeed a skill! (Whatever!)

So what if I’m a loner? It doesn't add any bout of misery in my life anyway. At least I could get the chance to view the world from a different perspective. At least I’m honing my intrapersonal skill (is there such a skill?). But more than anything else, at least I could prove to everyone that the *oxymoron ‘HAPPY LONER’ does exist!

You have to believe me. I'm a living testament to that.

***

Instructor: Okay, class. We will have a game and I want you to group yourselves into five.


Herald: Uh-oh!


[Students begin to form groups]


Blockmate 1 (leader of one group consisting blockmates 2, 3, 4 & 5): is it okay if we're six in the group sir?


Herald (to blockmate 1): No, don't bother. I'm fine. Really.


Instructor: Oh I forgot to tell you. The mechanics of the game is for everyone to find a group. He who has no group loses the game. In other words, the LONERS are the LOSERS!


...are the LOSERS! the LOSERS! LOSERS! (echoing into Herald's mind...then fading)


Herald: WOW SIR! THAT HURTS!

***

-end






NOTE: the article above is written quite exaggeratedly :D :D :D
*oxymoron- A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side (examples: open secret, living dead, burning cold, dark light)

WE WERE FLOODED, literally!

Today, November 7, 2010, was a day when the heaven cried a river of tears. I’m not exaggerating. It actually did. Not that a celebrity superstar or a relative of mine died today. It was just that, uhm, we were FLOODED, literally!

At first, the rain seemed to be just a normal heavy rain. Heavy rains in our place don’t usually cause floods. The rains may pour humongous volume of water but the floods they normally create are only small floods enough for the canals to hold.

But today, Sunday, was a different story.

The rain this afternoon wasn’t the first time we experienced a notably heavy rain. However, scary as this may sound, it was our first time to see the floodwater creep in inside our house. Yeah, you read that right! The flood has actually reached the ground floor (murag pila ka storey among balay!haha!) of our house despite its elevation from the ground.

When the floodwater started to flow in inside our house, we immediately carried the must-not-get-wet things from the floor and placed them on the tables and chairs. Fortunately, the waters did not reach the bedrooms and the kitchen. Only our living room was hit by the catastrophe (OA!).

Meanwhile, outside our house was a ‘sea’ of brown, murky water. Almost everything was covered with the out-of-nowhere gush of floodwater, reminding me of some scenes I usually see on TV everytime a typhoon strikes Luzon, submerging the island in flood. And in that very moment, I could hardly distinguish imagination from reality.

Drama aside, I was also able to take pictures of the flood that struck our house, the casualties it left us with, as well as the horrid aftermath of the tragedy.

Sa kasagsagan ng pagbaha

Ang kalunos-lunos na aftermath


-Aba! Ngisi2x pa jud!! wuhaha!

-Mud and stones piled up in our yards

-Asa na ang pares aning slipper nga isa? LOL!

:)

Finding peace behind the clouds

Incessant bombings and killings. Burgeoning corruption and poverty. Chaos--unending chaos.

I turned off the TV. It totally bored me to see all those recurring news regarding our country. Humanity being torn between good and evil, with evil almost embracing victory.

Everything’s just way too disheartening. Way too confusing.

Tired of watching such dismal scenario, I went outside our house. I gazed at the boundless blanket of blue sky above me, tried my luck to seek anything that is possibly there... and prayed. But what could this be that I’m trying to seek? This that I’m deeply longing and praying for?

The fathomless dome above me seemed to be nothing more than a virtual empty space. Yet despite the void that it is, is the presence of a feeling of calmness... a peculiar tranquility giving off an aura of security... but what is this feeling?

I could hardly distinguish this relaxing mood enveloping my very being. What could this be? What could this be that seemed to brush off every dust of weariness that I feel? What could this be that completely silenced all the wailing and the whining inside of me? What could this be that rejuvenated my soul so gloriously?

My consciousness, with all its might, tried to conjure up a reasonable explanation for what it was.
Then my mind fell into one judgment: Peace.

Yes! It should be peace that I was feeling right then. Yes, PEACE--this elusive remedy I was long been searching for, which from out of the blue I suddenly discovered in the midst of my soul-searching. This peace which arrived with an entourage of angels. This that would finally bring solace and relief to my disheartened feeling and enlighten the confusion within.

Oh PEACE! I love this feeling! But if it does exist, why do most people still choose bombings and killings over amicable measures of achieving their goals? Why do politicians still believe that corruption is an effective resort to cultivate and amass wealth? Why do masses of people still have to wallow in poverty’s lair?

Why don’t people just simply dig up the happiness from the simple things? Why choose to listen to an ugly orchestra of divisions, hatred and selfishness when we have the option to sing gleefully in the symphony of brotherhood? Why don’t people just stare at the sky and read behind the clouds the invisible signboard which reads “PEACE” hidden in its vast nothingness?

After mulling this over, I found myself hoping: hoping that people may learn to discover PEACE in their hearts; hoping that people may see the million little things around them worth grinning at; hoping that people would find time to look up at the sky and learn to seek PEACE in their solitude; and finally, hoping that people may learn to kneel in worship and extend both their joy and misery to the one true King of Peace, the Almighty!


Ad majorem dei gloriam!