Pinay WAHM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now that Thanksgiving is over and done with, we can now concentrate on another important occasion that’s coming up in less than a month…Christmas. We fondly call this as the season of giving simply because this is the time when we literally give the most. Back when I was younger, Christmas meant going to our relatives and friends to pay respect as well as receive our Christmas presents which was mostly money. As I got a bit older, that of course changed. When I started working, I was the one that younger kids go to for their Christmas present. A few years into my job, my brothers and I started some kind of a tradition. We started packing some basic necessities like canned goods and rice which we would distribute to our less fortunate neighbors. The happiness in the face of those who receive the goods is the gift that I would look forward to every Christmas. The fulfillment I felt was just beyond words. So every Christmas season, I look for a way to somehow g...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back in college, one of the requirements I had to do was take a class called Lay Apostolate. Basically, the class was geared towards community service. We had a few choices as to where we wanted to do the community service. One of the places I chose to do my community service is Payatas also known as the ‘Smokey Mountain’ . I went there with a group and we were all floored with the kind of life people had [still have] there. The place is a dump site and they basically live & work on top and around the garbage dumped in the place. But what we consider dump or garbage is sometimes food or clothing to them. During the course of my community service, we visited the place several times to bring necessities, teach some kids and just hang around with them for a couple of hours once a week for a semester. Being able to witness the lives of those who live in Payatas made me realize how lucky I am to have the life I have and made me stop complaining about trivial ...