Author Topic: When you complain that you don't have enough money... (Read 1620 times)

Lorenzo · « **on:** June 15, 2012, 12:00:04 PM »

...you should consider that there are others in far worse situations than you.

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #1 on:** June 15, 2012, 12:01:26 PM »

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islander · « **Reply #2 on:** June 15, 2012, 03:17:16 PM »

those sights will always be touching, i know. and some are very real. there are those, though, that are mere "special effects". parents are too lazy to work and they have perhaps figured out that staying put and begging is a lot easier. what they've sacrificed is self-esteem, which they couldn't care about anyway. these parents use their children as props. this does not hold true in all cases, of course, but those of their kind that i've befriended (yes, the word is befriended) in these last few months that i've been in manila actually have choices, which they refuse to make.

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bugsay · « **Reply #3 on:** June 15, 2012, 03:22:21 PM »

daw gikumot ang akong kasingkasing nga nag sud-ong.....sa linghod nga pangidaron nasinati nga nila ang ping-it sa tumang kawad-on....

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islander · « **Reply #4 on:** June 15, 2012, 03:32:32 PM »

usahay, nyor bugs, maapil pag kumot ang imong nawong kay sa paghatag nimo naa ni silay kauban nga nag-pick pod sa imong pocket.

pwera sa tinuod nga wa gyoy laing kapaingnan, pait baya usahay nga mga bata pa gani praktisado nag emote. paping-it-ping-it nga mangayo, paluya-luya, hatag ka, pagtalikod nimog pila ka lakang, lingia, di ba nalagsik ug ahat unya nangdukol dayon sa kauban kay ngano siyang gibabagan.

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islander · « **Reply #5 on:** June 15, 2012, 03:47:28 PM »

here they are, street residents with whom i've become very familiar with. the occasion was when i sponsored one of them for his trip back to the province. he's from butuan. so those who belonged to this street community and knew the guy as "one of their own" came to send him off and wish him well. i took this picture with my mobile phone.

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islander · « **Reply #6 on:** June 15, 2012, 03:56:47 PM »

that woman in the green shirt was pregnant when this picture was taken (she has a baby girl now who also sleeps on the street; her second child.) her name's raquel. her father's a retired pensioner, has a house nearby, and appears clean as his daughter is dirty-looking. the father had given up on her, i have learned. she's on drugs and she insists on staying on the street with her cebuano common-law husband who's also on drugs.

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islander · « **Reply #7 on:** June 15, 2012, 04:04:56 PM »

drugs or no, the couple are my friends and they truly are nice to talk to. they were at the frontline in helping me out prepare the dog and the owner for their trip back home.

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islander · « **Reply #8 on:** June 15, 2012, 04:08:08 PM »

if one is wondering why the focus of the people in the picture is the dog in the cage, it is because it is so. i just brought the cage for the dog when this picture was taken. i think the fact that the dog was going home with his owner made them curious as well.

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islander · « **Reply #9 on:** June 15, 2012, 04:25:16 PM »

other angles of that occasion
note: some of them are barefoot

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islander · « **Reply #10 on:** June 15, 2012, 04:39:01 PM »

subjects of the occasion: puppee the street dog
and his owner (to protect his privacy, let's call him "ondo")

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islander · « **Reply #11 on:** June 15, 2012, 04:51:48 PM »

let me put this straight. i'm no do-gooder. most of what i do in terms of extending myself for others are spur-of-the-moment decisions, not planned benevolent moves that define my life. nothing of mother teresa there, really.

the dog came first. i went out for groceries and toiletries and fast food fare when i noticed this very thin dog permanently tied to a water meter railing at the sidewalk. it had no access to water. i just have to know the owner then so i can tell him to at least provide this very basic need of any animal.

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islander · « **Reply #12 on:** June 15, 2012, 05:19:57 PM »

if there's a street dog, then puppee is the quintessential one. other strays once had homes and they either got lost or have chosen to run away because of maltreatment or simple indifference by their owners. puppee had never known a home because her owner was a street guy who accepted her as an unwanted puppy.

ondo left puppy on the sidewalk, permanently tied, while he went somewhere for his day's upkeep. ondo did two things to earn his next meal, "parking" and "mangalakal", two words whose nuances in their street community's lingo are so layered, it's fascinating.

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islander · « **Reply #13 on:** June 15, 2012, 05:29:31 PM »

"parking" means guiding drivers of vehicles when they park, whether such guidance is needed or not. those who do this, like ondo, simply impose themselves. if they get something, fine. if not, it's all in a day. some vehicle owners give as a matter of habit, others do for fear that once they drive out, the "parking" guy had scratched his car with a hidden knife. thus, other vehicle owners even ask "parking" guys to also act as "watch-your-car" boys, for which they give extra. better to get the trust of these guys rather than have one's car scratched, so to speak.

any area, like a building or an establishment with its own security guard, is off limits for "parking" guys. they can't have guards with guns as rivals. besides, it would mean another player in this "job" that has its own politics. the fiercer ones get the better and more income-generating areas. ondo's style couldn't stand a chance. he's too weak to be a street toughie. i learned from those who knew him that he was always bumped off in areas where he chose to operate. so he kept on moving around on any given day.

the average take for "parking" per vehicle: 5 pesos.

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islander · « **Reply #14 on:** June 16, 2012, 12:19:06 AM »

"mangalakal" (root word "kalakal", tagalog for trade, commerce, or merchandise) for the street community is garbage scavenging for recyclable materials like metal, bottles, plastics, boxes, and paper that are weighed and sold to business establishments of the recycling trade. what a choice of tagalog word to describe garbage scavenging, i thought. they're into trading and merchandising, come to think of it. so the word is apt.

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islander · « **Reply #15 on:** June 16, 2012, 12:59:40 AM »

this street community impressed me as tightly-knit. people tend to know the whereabouts of their fellow street denizens. every time i asked where ondo was, they always knew what street he went to or whether he was "parking" or "nangangalakal" at the moment.

oh, i took on the 9 a.m. daily routine of bringing food and water for puppee the dog. he was as thin as his owner, a situation made worse by her being tied and was thus unable to scavenge.

the habit simply evolved. i started with leftover food. then i switched to feeding her dog food. i gave two tiny basins for her food and water and a new leash to ensure her safety in a busy street. the tiny basins were gone in less than 24 hours. they were stolen while he slept, ondo said.

one thing i learned about these street citizens is that their concept of private property is nil.

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #16 on:** June 16, 2012, 11:41:51 AM »

daw gikumot ang akong kasingkasing nga nag sud-ong.....sa linghod nga pangidaron nasinati nga nila ang ping-it sa tumang kawad-on....

my heart ached when i saw this picture. luoy pod intawn ang mga bata...

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islander · « **Reply #17 on:** June 16, 2012, 11:43:59 AM »

islander's story, continued

ondo's average daily income afforded him only some pieces of bread and drinking water. i knew then that puppee had also developed a taste for the same diet. she needed getting used to with dog food. well, if i was concerned with the dog's nutrition, why not with its human owner too? that's how things began to evolve to the next level. if i wanted to help the dog, can't the human be far behind?

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #18 on:** June 16, 2012, 11:44:54 AM »

that woman in the green shirt was pregnant when this picture was taken (she has a baby girl now who also sleeps on the street; her second child.) her name's raquel. her father's a retired pensioner, has a house nearby, and appears clean as his daughter is dirty-looking. the father had given up on her, i have learned. she's on drugs and she insists on staying on the street with her cebuano common-law husband who's also on drugs.

are there no child protection services in the philippines or any social services group under the government that can come and intervene on the child's behalf? an infant living in the streets is prone to disease, and considering the lack of health care , could be prone to invasive pathogenic infection. i also am worried that her child is not getting enough nutrition , perhaps even prone to vitamin deficiency. saddening to hear about this.

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #19 on:** June 16, 2012, 11:47:40 AM »

ondo's average daily income afforded him only some pieces of bread and drinking water. i knew then that puppee had also developed a taste for the same diet. she needed getting used to with dog food. well, if i was concerned with the dog's nutrition, why not with its human owner too? that's how things began to evolve to the next level. if i wanted to help the dog, can't the human be far behind?

indeed, isles, but you are right to be cautious that the one receiving any monetary donations will be using the said donation for food instead of drugs. you were right in being cautious. that is why i prefer to give food to homeless rather than money. dili ta kahibalo og mo palit ra sila og shabu sa kwarta gi hatag nato para nila. God bless you for your sympathy. Dili buta og bungol ang Ginoo...

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islander · « **Reply #20 on:** June 16, 2012, 12:04:08 PM »

are there no child protection services in the philippines or any social services group under the government that can come and intervene on the child's behalf? an infant living in the streets is prone to disease, and considering the lack of health care , could be prone to invasive pathogenic infection. i also am worried that her child is not getting enough nutrition , perhaps even prone to vitamin deficiency. saddening to hear about this.

there are such services, actually. the requirements, as far as i can make out, are that the concerned parent (in this case, the mother) has to ask for these, she has to be registered as a resident of the barangay where she lives, and the result of a background investigation would render her qualified for such services. i believe this particular mother did not make the cut. her background means that she could actually avoid this kind of life if she chose to.

here we do not have the kind of service that the u.s. has, like forcibly getting a minor child from irresponsible and dangerous parents for government custody. such situation could mean countless qualified children it would overwhelm our resources. that, despite the fact that our social welfare department (dswd) has one of the biggest government budgets.

this mother's best recourse actually is to give the child up to dswd for adoption. i don't see it coming, though. on the streets, parents need children as props, right?

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #21 on:** June 16, 2012, 11:37:44 PM »

it is truly a shame that she has refused even to talk to her father or even ask her father for help in caring for the child. then again, drug addiction has the propensity to alter personalities as it destroys large aspects of the cerebral cortex, isles. the concept of guilt and justice, which has a control region in the cerebral cortex, has been reduced due to the damage the cerebral cortex has experienced because of drug paraphenilia (eg, methamphetamines, crack cocaine, morphine, lsd, heroine, pcp etc).

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islander · « **Reply #22 on:** June 26, 2012, 12:27:24 PM »

subjects of the occasion: puppee the street dog
and his owner (to protect his privacy, let's call him "ondo")

bad news from butuan. i received a text message today that puppee, the dog in the pictures, who i tried so hard to save and take off the streets last january, had gone missing for two weeks now. they suspect a dog-eater of a neighbor to have done her in. i want to shout and curse if only i could. hilak na lang ko, huhuhu.

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islander · « **Reply #23 on:** June 26, 2012, 12:35:10 PM »

curses to all the dog-eaters in the world, huhuhu.

never mind that i spent four figures for puppee and her owner's trip to butuan, where the owner came from. it was a logistical nightmare considering the necessary vaccinations and permit to travel. nag-nose bleed ko just to fulfill those things. but i grieve because gentle dog puppee is just less than a year old and she only had a few month's break when she arrived in butuan. hinaot unta nga kagiron all his life ang niihaw niya, huhuhu.

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islander · « **Reply #24 on:** June 26, 2012, 12:36:50 PM »

i have asked the concerned to have the theft of the dog on police blotter. yes, they reported that puppee was stolen. i told them that i'm still hoping she'll come back. they said that after two weeks, they've given up all hope.

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #25 on:** June 26, 2012, 12:44:47 PM »

there there isles. feel better na..

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islander · « **Reply #26 on:** June 26, 2012, 12:47:19 PM »

waaaaaahhhh!

i wish i were a witch so i can go there and take out the innards of those dog-eaters!

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #27 on:** June 27, 2012, 09:08:06 AM »

waaaaaahhhh!

i wish i were a witch so i can go there and take out the innards of those dog-eaters!

may you always have a merciful heart to animals & people in need. we need more people like you , isles. may your tribe increase !

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #28 on:** June 27, 2012, 09:14:23 AM »

i have asked the concerned to have the theft of the dog on police blotter. yes, they reported that puppee was stolen. i told them that i'm still hoping she'll come back. they said that after two weeks, they've given up all hope.

luoy pod intawn...

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