Are You Hungry?

The Manila Bay

This short movie reminds me of a one fine day in Manila, circa 2007. I was in my late second trimester, carrying Benjamin. Hubby was away in Egypt.

Nothing seemed right during those days, the nights were too warm, the clothes too baggy, the food tasted funny, toothpaste tasted awful and the water was not cool enough. The air around me..do not let me elaborate on this. I was constantly sneezing and complaining on how bad it was, how foul it smelt so on and so forth. In short, nothing was right except for my daily cup of warm Milo.

This ATTITUDE problem prolonged until one day I decided to take the kids to visit my parents in the Philippines. At that time, mama was serving at our mision in Makati City.

I realised that I was being an ungreatful overgrown brat when I first saw the living conditions of the Filipinos, especially in Manila.

Many kids were roaming around the city barefooted. I saw families taking shelter under the cardboard 'roofs' of their makeshift 'homes'. There were stray dogs cohabitating with these people. The children had rags on them, I wondered how did they keep themselves warm during chilly nights.

It was difficult to find halal food around here, but there was a Pakistani Restaurant in Manila which served delectable Briyani and Garlic Rice. So we headed there. It was situated in a ghetto like area rather close to the Manila Bay.

My lungs were almost choked by the dusty air as I got off the car. I have seen kids roaming around barefooted, but to my dismay I saw something that no human pride could tolerate.

Right before my eyes, I witnessed a toddler picking up 'things' from the ground, on the pavement. I deduced she was picking up 'food' as I saw her munching on the things scavenged from the ground. I tried to block my kids from seeing this scene. But then, to think of it back, what was I doing? Was I protecting my kids to witness the truth about humanity?

The Briyani was awesome, but too bad I could not finish my food. We were about to leave the place when Sarah nudged me and said, "Mummy, don't leave the food here, let's give it to the baby outside".

My daughter was only 7 then, but she could see the truth about life better than I could.

This is a short movie forwarded to me by an old schoolmate, the ever so sweet Dianti. I hope to share this with you so that we would ponder on the blessings that God has showered upon us.

Click here to view the movie..