I was pretty down my first day Manila, trying as hard as I could to find any way out until I had to be back for my flight. It was raining and the last place on earth that I wanted to be in that moment was in a big, rainy, city. That is, until I met Edwin. I had no idea who he was, but he walked up to me, asked me if I wanted to join a free tour the next day, handed me a book and walked off., telling me that the book would explain everything.
In the book, it told the story of a 9 year old kid playing in the street. The kid had no money, and from an outsider, it would maybe look like he didn’t have much of chance. Until the day 2 strangers entered his life. These strangers took an interest in his life the way no one before had. They took him into their hearts, made some dinners with him and went to hang out with him everyday that they were in Manila. By the time they left, not only had these strangers become a good friend to Edwin, but also a sponsor. They sent money to him until he was able to graduate. At the time, he had no idea why the strangers were doing this for him, a strange boy on the street, but now 25 years later, he is trying to do the same, but in a different way. He takes tourist the ‘slums’ of Manila, a place that not many tourists would otherwise get the chance to experience. They tour it, meet the people, and at the end, are given the opportunity to buy food for the families and deliver it them selves.
The tour changed my plans completely. I was automatically drawn to the kids and by the end of the day had many of them hanging on me at all times. I decided in that moment, that instead of visiting other places in the Philippines that I would hardly have time for, I would stay in Manila and spend the money that I would have otherwise spent getting there and during my time there, on helping with this project.
It made me realize how lucky was. I may not be rich, but I do have a family, food to eat, and a home that I can always go back to. I know that I will even get a bunch of gifts for Christmas, whereas some of these people can’t even afford a piece of bread. The way their face lights up when you give them one is unbelievable.
Words cannot describe my time with True Manila. It takes so much more than that. It takes feeling. A feeling that you can only know when you have had a similar experience. I didn’t spend much time there, but that last week of my trip made the whole experience so much more. How different it turned out to be. Once lesson in life: you can never predict it, no matter how hard you try, it will just turn out the way it does weather you like it or not.
The kids are what will stick with me the most. I went to play with them every day, and they were always so excited to see me, chanting my name and climbing all over me as soon as they saw me.
I know that after a few days, the kids will have forgotten about me and new tourists will have taken my place. But it doesn’t matter, because for a few special moments, I was as big of a part in their life as they were in mine.
There were tons of kids, but one specifically, I will remember always. A little boy named Jason, about 8-10 years old. Every day, he would find me and try to hide on me, pretending like he didn’t like me. But then when I wasn’t looking, he would come up to me, tap me, run away and wait for me to chase him. By the end of the week, he was calling me ‘mommy’ and every time I would leave, he would timidly come up to me, tap me on the shoulder and say “one kiss, Laura” (I think that was the only English that he knew) and point to his cheek.
if you are interested, you can find True Manila by facebook: http://www.facebook.com/truemanila
or by the official True Manila website: http://www.truemanila.com/
To anyone who ever finds themselves in Manila, I would highly recommend taking part in this! Contact Edwin for more details.
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