Heartspeaks

Hi Sherlyn,

We finished our photo workshop last Saturday. We visited the homes of all the kids. Joshua came to school last Friday. Tita Letty talked to him. He shared that his mother sent him to his grandmother and aunts where they scold him a lot and at times beat him. It looks like he has a very low motivation to study.
Last Saturday, we got the chance to talk to him as we walked towards his home.
He said he doesn’t like to go to school because he has very limited shirts and he is at times scolded.
When I asked him if he was made to work he told me “no”. I was able to talk to his mom. His mother said that she sent Joshua to grandmother and she is now the one responsible for him since she is also working in the dumpsite.
She is not sure if Joshua has baptism cert and not concerned much about Joshua getting a birth certificate. I shared with her about acts29’s mission to secure him his birth certificate. She was ‘ok’ with it.

We then visited Angicel’s house with Jane (Angi’s mum and teacher at Payatas).
The kids were so happy to see their house. They think Jane’s house is very neat and beautiful. The kids enjoyed looking at Angie’s pictures and their family pictures framed on the walls. They like Angie’s toys and their appliances. Hee hee… and also her sweet cat…(Hopefully arnil and nicassio didn’t finish their films on her cat) 

-we showed Alvin and Celester the old school site….Alvin has been very curious and he’s happy to walk along Zamboanga Street once more…he asked me to interpret the conversations I had with the family’s and glad that he brought his notebook to record 

After that, we hiked to Nicassio’s home. He was so excited. Running ahead all of us. We met his sister, Johannie and his mum. His mum cannot speak Tagalong very well. But she tried to respond. The kids feel at home in Nicassio’s house. Johannie asks if she can join us. Of course!!! She said she really wants to study. She gave me her birth cert and Nicassio’s too. She told us that they were fake ones. We’ll validate this Tuesday when we go to the govt. office NSO, (National Statistics Office).

I asked her how about her work and her family needs if she was to study. She said that she can still work part time. At least when she study she can fulfill her dream to be a doctor or if not, a teacher. She even speaks to me in English at times. She currently earns 100-150 pesos a week. She said it’s very hard to work since her other sister is not so independent like her. She needed to guide her more.

Then we went to Arnil and Cherylyn’s house right in front of Nicassio’s. We met their step mother taking care of her baby. The house of Arnil and Cherylin is very small, like Nicassio’s. The length is only a few feet. The stepmother, told us they were not able to go to school the other day because they were rushing to finish their work. Arnil and Cherylin help them. I told her of our mission to work. She is ‘ok’ with us getting them birth certs, but sending them to formal school does not seem to be not in her priority. She told us she’s not aware that the kids did not go to school the previous days. The father didn’t talk to us. As we walked Cherylyn shared they cook their own meals. She asked if she could keep her camera with her and Arnil asks also.

Then we headed to Erwin’s house…it was a long hike. Next mountain..hee hee No wonder Erwin Erika and Mariel always look haggard when they arrive at school.
We’re happy to meet Erwin’s cute brothers named Gokul and Gohan and the rest I can’t remember. I just remember these two because they’re named after dragon ball anime characters  The mum is so supportive of Erwin. She is just so worried because she has so many children. But she said she’ll get Erwin’s baptism cert so we can work on his birth certificate. She shared about Erwin’s dream to study in the formal school and how he often asks her for this. She is very happy that her children are learning a lot in Paaralang Pantao.

We all head home. And along the way guess who we met?? Nestor! Your friend from Foundacio. We agreed to share more about BEC and also share mission experience. God made a way for us to meet him and his friend. Hope to keep in touch with them too.

Mayb