a wish come true

Today, I realized that small joys can indeed be big joys as well. However simple your wish when it comes true, the feeling of elation is almost palpable. I have an Amazon wish list that is basically a wish list for my baby. It is a short list of simple everyday things. I remember when I was making the list and uploading it in the web. Ask and you shall receive. Well who knows someone might send me one of those. I made the wish in this www universe and received in return. Thank you Father!

It is not a big deal but I feel that it is to have one of my wishes come true. Today, lo and behold, we received one of the items in that Amazon wish list-- A hand-puppet that you can use while bathing the baby. Simple pleasure.

Thank you very much Abbie Tomas-Mendez. Hugs to my inaanak Buhay! Salamat Earl for sending it to Amats!

God is good all the time.

Bakuna

Nitong isang araw nagpabakuna kami ni Isay. Kasama rin namin si Tatay dahil siya lagi ang humahawak kay beybi kung tuturukan na ng bakuna. Naalala ko pa noong una kaming napadpad sa may health center. Noong una hindi pa namin alam kaya't bumili kami ng isang pang bakuna at dinala namin siya sa kaibigang doktor sa may Pag asa QC. Medyo mahirap dahil kahit libre ang labor ng pagturok ang kaso lang gabi na ang clinic ni doc. Nabalitaan ko sa kapatid ko na sa center libre ang mga basic na turok, bcg, hepa, dpt, polio. Sa halagang 10. Opo sampung pisong donasyon sa iyong lokal na health center.

At ayun na nga napadpad na kami sa center na siyang hinanap pa ni Amats dito sa baranggay central. Mga isang buwan pa lamang halos noon si Isay ng dalhin namin siya sa center sa may pinyahan. Ang sabi ng tao sa center maaga daw pumunta dun para mauna makakuha ng number. Mga alas 8 ang bukas nila kaya dapat daw ay bago mag alad 7 ng umaga kami. Karay namin si beybi at dumating kami bago mag alas 8.

Hay! kay dami ng mga beybi. Andun na ang iba ng 6 ng umaga. Ang gaganda at gwapo gid! iba't-iba ang laki at hugis na totoo namang nakakagigil. Natuwa kami na makakita ng ganun kadaming beybi. Si Amats ay ilan lang sa mga 3 tatay doon at puro nanay na. Kwentuhan sa loob ng maliit na kwarto ang dami ng tao ay humigit kumulang mga 80 katao kasama na mga nanay, beybi at ilang yaya, lola, kapitbahay at iba pa. Medyo tumagal kami dun dahil ang tagal bago dumating ni lola nurse na siyang nagtuturok.

Habang nag iintay at pinapawisan sa alinsangan ng umaga, halo-halong istorya ang maririnig mo sa paligid. nakakatuwang makipag huntahan sa mga nanay. Mga kwento sa pag kabinat matapos manganak. Paglalaba kahit wala pang isang buwan ng panganganak. At eto pa, may namatay daw na nanay dahil sa binat kakilala ni manang. Tuloy ang mga kwento wala pa rin si lola nurse. Sa paligid yugyugan dibdib ng mga nanay na nagpapatulog sa kanilang beybi, ilang nanay naman walang pakundangan ang pagtataas ng t-shirt at bigay agad ang suso para kay beybi niya na umiiyak na habang tuloy naman ang pikikipag kwentuhan kay katabing nanay na parang walang ibang tao. Nakakatuwa parang nasa umpukan kami ng mga katutubong nanay.

Habang minamasdan ko itong eksena na ito, dama ko ang hirap ng maraming pinoy na nanay na gustong makatipid. Pero habang tumatagal ako sa pakikinig sa kanila nalaman ko na ito ay isang paraan din para makihalobilo sa iba pang nanay sa baranggay. Isang paraan ng pakikipagkapwa. Natuwa ako ng maiisip ko ito. Masaya na mahirap. Punong puno ng kwento at kulay. Sobrang lumaki ang puso ko na isa na rin pala akong nanay tulad nila.

Ang lahat ng ito dahil sa bakuna ni Isay.

naisip ko rin ang mga katutubong nanay at beybi.


salamat sa www.alibata.org para sa litrato na ito

Isipin mong siya’y may puso rin katulad mo

Ang Bayan Kong Sinilangan
Asin

Ako’y isinilang sa isang bayan ng cotabato
Kasing gulo ng tao, kasing gulo ng mundo
Dahil di magkasundo sa relihiyon at prinsipyo, nagkagulo.
Ang bayan ko sa cotabato, kasing gulo ng isip ko
Di alam kung saan nanggaling, di alam kung saan patungo
Kapatid sa kapatid, laman sa laman
Sila-sila ang naglalaban, di ko alam ang dahilan ng gulo.
Bakit nagkaganon, ang sagot sa tanong ko
Bakit kayo nagkagulo, bakit kayo nag-away
Prinsipyo mo’y igagalang ko kung ako’y iyong nirespeto
Kung nagtulungan kayo, di sana magulo ang bayan ko.
Sa bayan kong sinilangan, sa timog cotabato
Ako ay namulat sa napakalaking gulo
Dahil walang respeto sa prinsipyo ng kapwa tao
Kapwa pilipino ay pinapahirapan mo, ang gulo.
Ako’y nananawagan, humihingi ng tulong n’yo
Kapayapaa’y bigyan ng daan, kapayapaan sa bayan ko
Bakit kailangan pang maglaban, magkapatid kayo sa dugo
Kailan kayo magkakasundo, kapayapaa’y kailan matatamo ng bayan ko?
Kung ako’y may maitutulong, tutulong nang buong puso
Gitara ko’y aking inaalay, kung magkagulo’y gamitin mo
Kung ang kalaba’y walang puso, puso na rin ang gamitin mo
Ituring mong isang kaibigan
Isipin mong siya’y may puso rin katulad mo.
Coda:
Sa bayan kong sinilangan (bakit may gulo…)
Sa timog cotabato (sa timog cotabato)
Ako ay namulat (kailan matatapos…)
Sa napakalaking gulo (ang gulo)
Dahil walang respeto (kailan magkakasundo…)
Sa prinsipyo ng kapwa tao (ang tao)
Kapwa pilipino (kapwa pilipino…)
Ay kinakalaban mo (bakit kinalaban mo)
Ang gulo

Ang kilay lolo

Ay naku minsan talaga mapapataas ka talaga ng kilay. May mga panahon talaga na susubukan ka talaga kung gaano kahaba ang iyong pasensya. Panalo ka pag hindi ka naiinis. Wagi ka sister!

Words

“Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts”.
-Robert Fulghum

It is really sad to be mis-interpreted. I read words today that almost broke my sense of h-humor. Even with the best intention and honestly saying how you feel, I guess things have that probability of being mis-interpreted. People will read differently what you wrote. For the record, I have always believed in the goodness of people and will never try to break their spirit. But the words today that I have received were unexpected to say the least.

I should take my own counsel. Again it is better to be kind than correct. I realized as we grow older, we mellow out a little bit at a time. Today is another learning experience to be more sensitive with my choice of words.

About things

There were some insights that I learned today. I guess I already knew these before but I was reminded once again

About winning games: strength of spirit and character over physical strength. You can be strong even if you are weak physically.

About beauty: for my own definition, I believe that the measure of beauty comes from within. Inner beauty as compared to skin-deep beauty is what really matters. The disposition of your heart when you talk about friends and family.

About respect: respect for other people's privacy. We all are entitled to our own. Thus, we must be really carefull in drawing the line between wanting to help someone who might not be ready to accept any that is unsolicited which can be interpreted as intruding into another person's privacy. Even if you are intimate friends for the longest time. And yes even if it is your brother or sister.

About correction: criticize in private and praise in public. When correcting people, do it in the most loving manner. It is better to be kind than correct.

A birth and a wedding

Congratulations to Ryan and Cherrie for having a baby girl. We hope that baby girl De Pedro be showered with blessings of good health. We send our love from Amats and Isay your batchmate.

Congratulations too to Bruce and Therese our friend from Lakay Kalikasan Mountaineers Rommel Monjandrin a.k.a. Brutz recently tied the knot in Pagadian City. We wish you the best bro!!! May your journey as a couple be blessed indeed. Their wedding pictures were taken by my batchmate Wigwam (Go! batch 3)on his Oct 2 blog post you can view them here.

Storms in our lives

Wow the past week was a roller coaster of events moving in the universe. There was typhoon Milenyo that humbled metro manila residents and got the people to seriously think of getting those billboards down. We were actually expecting Neneng the back to back storm of Milenyo but there is greater power in the universe amazingly if you look into the path of the storm it was a direct hit again but Neneng turned towards the direction of Japan in a most unusual storm path I saw.

I remembered a time when we were out in the open sea on Minerva (the research vessel of WWF Phil for Tubbataha) we were caught in the storm and we were with Dr. T. I will not mention the name but he is a known seagrass expert in the field he is actually already a great grand father (you can imagine his age) well, most of us is not worried but we realized na praning na pala kasama namin as he had his snorkel and mask beside him while he slept in one of the bunk beds. It was really funny at that time. Funny but serious Kung meron ba nun.

This was one of those times that the passage came to me when Jesus and the apostles were in a storm out at sea and Jesus said "Be, still".

Eh kasi walang kuryente!

It was because of typhoon Milenyo last Thursday that hit Metro Manila that damaged most of Southern Luzon and caused the 3 day blackout. We got our power back just last night. When there is no power, there is no pump ergo we also didn't have water. The only good thing is that we didn't have shortage of food and that most of Isay's clothes were clean already when the blackout hit us. A friend said it was crazy in Eunilane and then all of the resto on Matalino St. were closed KFC, McDo, 7Eleven, Bacolod Chicken and others except for Kowloon House which looked like a soup kitchen serving a very long line of people waiting to grab a siopao or a wanton noodle soup.

It was just 3 days without power and yet it really seemed more like a week. It brings back memories of life in the islands and how I really appreciated having piped in water here in the metropolis. The novelty of island living like fetching water from a well didn't really bother me at all compared to the tiresome hauling of pails of water 3 floors up the last few days. Well it's a good thing that Tatay Amats did all the pagiigib ng tubig hehehe.

Without electricity life seems to stop still in the metro. I remember in the islands we really only have electricity from 5 pm until 10 pm from a communal generator. During those days I learned to operate a generator if I needed to do some computer work while working during those months in the field. In the Islands, the laid-back life goes on even without power I guess it's the different way of life and energy of the people living along the coastal areas.

For entertainment we had long conversations on the beach. Our staff house is literally on the beach and every night I am lulled to sleep by the waves coming onto shore. I miss those times when the kids will teach me how to speak survival Tausug under the moonlight until their parents called them in for dinner. We had a guitar and we'll sing till dawn. Haaay...many good memories are un-tucked during these days na walang kuryente.