A Humbling Experience By ADRIENNE VELLA
From 3-17 January 2006, together with my brother, David Vella, good friend, Amanda Bentley, and I were fortunate enough to travel to the Philippines and experience the rich culture and beauty of its people and land. And what an amazing and eye-opening experience it was!
The Philippines is a land of contrasts and the thing that struck me the most was the dichotomy between rich and poor. A large majority of Filipinos live in unbelievable poverty and we witnessed this first hand. Many houses (actually shanties) do not have running water or electricity; families do not know where their next meal will come from, if at all. Perhaps one of the saddest places we visited was a dumpsite in Cebu on which families live, scavenge for food and collect recyclable products for a very meagre return.
I say fortunate however, because despite the many hardships which people face there, we were amazed by the warm welcome we always received and hospitality of many Filipino families. Even families who had almost nothing shared what little they had. Such generosity was very humbling!
Whilst in the Philippines, we were able to participate in two extraordinary programs which are transforming the slums of the Philippines into communities of hope and prosperity. The first program in which we were involved in is run by a non-profit organisation called Gawad Kalinga or GK, which translated means 'to give care'. Its ambitious aim is to eradicate poverty in the Philippines by empowering the poorest of the poor with skills and education, and by developing relationships of mutual respect between care-givers and beneficiaries.
We were able to visit many GK villages, especially in Manila, and observe the significant difference which the program makes to the lives of so many people, especially the ever-smiling kids. I was impressed to learn that one of the villages was colloquially known as "Australian village" because so many Australian volunteers had donated time and money towards the construction of this village. In fact, many villages are sponsored by international donors - there was even a Maltese village!
After seeing the success of the program in Manila, we had an opportunity to actually get our hands dirty and help build one of the villages. We spent 5 days in the northern province of Isabela (about 10 hours drive from Manila) mixing cement, carrying bricks, painting houses and planting vegies- literally building communities! The highlight however was listening to the villagers openly share their incredible and sometimes tragic stories.
It wasn't all hard work though - karaoke was always close at hand and we were never short of opportunities to sing and dance to the Filipino Big Brother song "Pinoy Ako" (the irony of a white Australian girl singing "I am Filipino" did not escape me!). We were also lucky to be a part of the colourful festivities of the Santo Nino parade in Cebu.
The second program we observed was run by an Australian priest, Fr John Iacono, who has established the Bethlehem Day Care Centre in Cebu for kids living on the dumpsite there. With the help of volunteers, Fr John feeds and educates hundreds of kids everyday and sometimes whole families come to him for help. Although we were only able to spend one day there, this place touched us the most. The stench of rotting food and open sewerage at the dumpsite, coupled with the humidity and infestation of flies was unbearable, yet people lived and worked there... happily! We were especially dumbfounded when the people living on the dumpsite dismantled their cardboard 'houses' to create a path for us to walk through the dumpsite.
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience and be embraced by the Philippines - to step out of my comfort zone and challenge my limited view of the world. It made me realise that I take too much for granted and that perhaps I am the 'poor' one - poor in spirit, thanksgiving and understanding. I realised too the connectedness of humanity and that not only are we all part of the human family but that all our actions have repercussions, even internationally. It was a privilege to truly see Christ's face in the most unexpected of places - through the selfless generosity of the poor.
We were able to visit many GK villages, especially in Manila, and observe the significant difference which the program makes to the lives of so many people, especially the ever-smiling kids. I was impressed to learn that one of the villages was colloquially known as "Australian village" because so many Australian volunteers had donated time and money towards the construction of this village. In fact, many villages are sponsored by international donors - there was even a Maltese village!
