The Basurero's

this Sunday is a special Sunday to me.
While I was on my way to the mountains
of Busay (cebu) hoping to strengthened
my heart by this exercise, instead,
I personally encountered a heart-
breaking scene that changed me. I already passed the Marco Polo Plaza
(formerly Cebu Plaza Hotel) when I
decided
to stop to buy bananas at a small
carenderia located along the road. I
haven't takenany solid food that morning so I need fruits to have the
needed energy to get to mydestination -
the mountain top. I am almost done
eating with the second
banana when I noticed two children
across the street busily searching the garbage area. "Basureros" I said to
myself
and quickly turn my attention away
from them to sip a small amount of
water.
I cared less for these kind of children actually; to make it straight, I do not like
them,and I do not trust them even more.
You see, several times I have been a
victim to these kind of children who are
pretending to be basureros looking for
empty bottles and cans when in fact the 'plangganas', 'kalderos', and
'sinampays' are their favorites. I
remember one afternoon while I was
watching a Mike Tyson fight when I
noticed
that the TV screen suddenly became blurred. I checked outside and saw two
young basureros running away with my
newly installed antenna. Hatred may be
a little bit stronger word
to describe my feeling towards these
basureros, but I do not like them honestly not till I met these three
children. I was about to embark on my
bike again
when I heard one of the two children,
a girl of about 7 or 8 of age saying aloud
to the other, a 12-yr old boy, "kuya si dodong kunin mo kasi tumitingin sa mga
kumain, nakakahiya ”, only then that I noticed a small boy standing near to me
biting slightly his finger. He's a few
inches shorter if compared to my 5
years old son (but I knew later that he's
also 5 yrs. Old). Though he did not asked
for food to anyone in the carenderia, the way he
looked at the customers who were
eating , enough to convinced me that he
intensely craving for it. The older boy
then quickly crossed the street and
gently pulled out the little one who politely obeyed. As I watched the two
crossing back the street to the garbage
area, I heard the tindera saying
"kawawa naman yung mga batang yun
mababait pa naman”. I learned further from the carenderia owner that the
children are from a good family , both
parents were working before, and that
their father got a stroke 3 years ago and
became partially paralized and
their mother died of heart attack while their father was still confined at the
hospital. The parents were still in their
early forties when the catastrophe
happened, and the children became
basureros since then to meet their daily
needs and for their father's medication. Deeply moved by what I heard, I went to
a nearby bakery and bought 20 pesos
worth of bread and gave it to the
children who initially refused including
the little boy. "Sige lang po, salamat na
lang, bibili na lang po kami mamaya kung makabenta na kami, ” the young girl said to me. I explained that they
need to go home
because it started to rain. "Nasanay na
po kami ”, the girl answered again. Again, I explained that the rain can
make them sick and if they'll become
sick there's no one to take care of their
father. Upon mentioning their father,
they nodded and accept the bread but I
noticed that the older boy did not eat. When I asked him if he does not like the
kind of bread I bought for them he
smiled but as he's about to explain, the
little girl, who is the more talker of them
interrupted, "Linggo po kasi ngayon,pag
sabado at linggo hapon lang po sya kumakain, kami lang po ang kumakain
ng agahan pero di na po kami kakain
pagdating ng hapon si kuya lang po.
Pero pag lunes hanggang biyernes, kasi
may pasok, si kuya lang po nag-
aagahan, kami hapunan lang pero kung marami kaming benta, kami pong lahat
(kumakain) she continued. "bakit kung
kumain
kayong lahat, hati-hatiin nyo na lang
kahit kunti lang ang pagkain? I
countered. The young girl reasoned out that their
father wanted that her older brother to
come to school with full stomachs so he
can easily catch up the teacher's
lessons. "Pag nagkatrabaho si kuya,
hihinto kami sa pamamasura, first honor kasi sya ”, the little boy added proudly. Maybe I was caught by surprise or I am
just overly emotional that my tears
started to fall. I then quickly turned my
back from them to hide my tears and
pretended to pick up my bike from the
carenderia where I left it. I don't know how many seconds or
minutes I spent just to compose myself;
pretending again this time that I was
mending by bike. Finally I get on to my
bike and
approached the three children to bid goodbye to them who in turn cast their
grateful smiles at me. I then took a good
look at all of them specially to the small
boy and pat his head with a pinch in my
heart. Though I believe that their
positive look at life can easily change their present situation, there is one thing
that they can never change; that is , their
being motherless. That little boy can no
longer taste the sweet embrace, care,
and most of all , the love of his mother
forever. Nobody can refill the empty gap created by that sudden and untimely
death of their mother. Every big events
that will happen to their lives will only
remind them and make them wish of
their mother's presence. I reached to my
pocket and handed to them my last 100 peso bill which I
reserved for our department's bowling
tournament. This time they refused
strongly but I jokingly said to the girl,
"suntukin kita pag hindi mo tinanggap
yan ”. She smiled as she extended her hand to take the money. "Salamat po,
makakabili na kami ng gamot ni papa
”, she uttered. I then turned to the small
boy and though he's a few feet away
from me, I still noticed that while his
right hand was holding the half - filled
sack , his left hand was holding a toy ?
a worn out toy car. I waved my hands and said bye bye to him as I drove
towards
the mountains again. Did he just found
the toy in the garbage area or the toy
was
originally his - when the misfortune did not took place yet? - I did not bother to
ask. But one thing is crystal clear to me,
that inspite of the boy's abnormal life, he
did not given up his childhood
completely. I can sense it that way he
hold and stare at his toy. My meeting with that young basureros
made me poorer by 100 pesos. But they
changed me and made me more richer
as to lessons of life are concerned. In
them, I learned that life can changed
suddenly and may caught me flat footed. In them, I've learned that even the
darkest side of life, cannot change the
beauty of
one's heart. Those three children, who
sometimes cannot eat three times a day,
still able to hold on to what they believe was right. And what a contrast to most
of us who are quick to point out to our
misfortunes when caught with our
mistakes. In them, I've learned to hope
for things when things seem to go the
other way. Lastly, I know that God cares for them
far more than I do. That though He
allowed them to experience such a
terrible life which our finite minds
cannot comprehend, His unquestionable
love will surely follow them through. And in God's own time they will win.
Credit to: joeydhums of p.