Sitting before the TV and seeing on the screen which featured the landscapes, the rivers, lakes and mountains, and seeing the winding roads and skyscrapers spread out over the earth. I have wondered why there were people living in poverty. How they would survive in the smoky mountain of garbage. The astronauts seeing over the blue planet from their space shuttle were so overwhelmed by them to believe that its inhabitants were people having hard time to find what to eat each day.
Distance sometime helps us t get a sharper vision of our human condition and to raise some very good critical questions! Let us take a look at our world not from a distance but from the actual experiences of the lives of our brethren. Let us look at the lives of our scavengers (brothers and sisters) in Umapad dumpsite, Mandaue City.Jesus always looked at the human condition and tried to teach us to look as he did. I had been in Umapad dumpsite for an apostolate imparting the words and love of God. The lives there were too familiar to me because I had been a scavenger once. I met Cerilo and Crystal, both of them were scavengers. There were living together without the sacrament of matrimony yet besides were blessed with two kids; Cyril Mae, three years old and Salvino, eight months old. Salvino has newly recovered from dengue and still suffering another ailment, two months cough without taking any prescribe medicine. His malnourish child and need help for fast recovery.
Moreover, the family came from a catholic genealogy and despite of their own hardships in life, I haven’t heard any single words of regret during our conversation. They were contented of what they have. Neither day nor night Cerilo managed well his time from digging some salable materials in the garbage, to his piggery and then to have quality time of his family. Undeniably, the common ailments of the community are cough and asthma due to smoke from the dumpsite. However, the rest of the people there are untidy or without proper hygiene but healthy.
On the second day of our apostolate, the family was surprisingly received the groceries upon handed it over. I’ve seen no lack of hesitation of my fellow seminarians in helping others. In brief, I had seen only people filled with God’s love. This is God’s wish for us to serve through love in action. Jesus Christ gave us a beautiful blue print for sharing. He shared his body to us in the mystery of the Eucharist. Share and feel the true spirit of Christmas not only at this season but each day of our lives by giving love and time to others as we imitate the love of Christ to us.
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