I had always wanted to be a tour guide, and as always God had an amusing way of fulfilling my dreams. Ang galing talaga ni Lord. (God is good.)
Just came from a tour stint of Gawad Kalinga villages in Baseco and Buwayang Bato with four Japanese students namely Kenta, Yukiko, Kumi and Miho. They traveled to Manila using their money they saved from part-time jobs in Japan. They worked to save money to go to the Philippines, to see how they can help with GK. I was not supposed to be with them. But at the last minute, a colleague asked for help catching me in the office late in the night. She was tasked to accompany them the following day but had to attend a wedding.
Though she thanked me for the favor received, she did not know that it really was my pleasure.
I spent a great day with newfound friends, sharing with them the work of GK and what it meant. They were inspired. But, so was I.
Though I’ve known the story of Baseco for quite some time, I still am awed about the place. It remains my favorite GK village in Metro Manila.
If one did not believe in miracles, he should go to Baseco in Tondo and see for himself. The place was gutted to the ground in January 2004. A fire broke out from a domestic nuisance and it wiped away a whole community (homes), displacing thousands of families in the process.
The place before this event would be your typecast slum: a muddy, gray, wet wasteland. People had to walk on man-made bridges made of bamboo stilts since the ground often drowned in seawater. You see Baseco was a reclaimed land that sits upon a port area. A resident said many children have died balancing themselves through such steep walkways but still slipping to their deaths.
Baseco literally rose from the ashes. In just 2 years, the place has been transformed into a thriving beautiful community through the help of thousands of volunteers, partners and the beneficiaries who worked to rebuild themselves. You can really feel God’s hand upon this place. That fire was a blessing in disguise. Baseco had to be wiped clean so it can begin a new life.
What used to be a neglected (heavily avoided) area because of its notorious reputation as a habitat for criminals, Baseco has now become a virtual tourist spot. No crime has been reported from the area in the last 2 years since the work of restoration has begun. It is true that when the people are given back their dignity, they begin respecting others as they start respecting themselves.
It was my turn this time to share this blessed story to my foreign friends. Though one could hardly understand English and another could hardly speak it, they understood. I keep forgetting they are from a foreign land because they understood. They even had a meeting at the end of the day to discuss what they have learned, in Japanese of course, while I sat there awestruck.
I was struck because they saved their money to go to the Philippines when they could have opted to use it elsewhere. I was struck because they have embraced a country they did not even have a stake on. I was struck because they loved us and saw our beauty while some Filipinos have not. There I was lost in translation.
But I found it in them, despite our having to relate in broken English and my speaking to them mindlessly in Tagalog while they laughed bewildered at what I had just said.
Yet, they understood.
Whereas, I speak in Tagalog to one who can understand but cannot grasp its meaning. Was there a need to translate?
I believe even language barriers are broken when one speaks from the heart and the other listens with his.
The foreigners who fell in love with the Philippines just inspire me to love my country all the more. I honor Dylan, a British National, who had set aside his homeland to embrace us saying, “the Filipino is worth living for.” His Filipino heart defies his British accent. My faith is once more affirmed through a New Zealander, Jonathan, who is considering to leave a 7-year old lucrative job in NZ (while other Filipinos are migrating there) to work with GK next year.
What do they see that some of us don’t? Sometimes, it takes an outsider to see the beauty you cannot see for yourself.
So, I ended the day with a great admiration for my new found friends and an ever burning zeal for the country of my dreams.
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I think there is a lucid explanation for this overflowing passion for us:) I say it is grace. A fulfillment of God’s promise in Isaiah 60: “Foreigners will rebuild your walls…Day and night your gates will be open, so that the kings of the nations may bring you their wealth… Nations and kings will care for you…”
Praise God for his faithfulness!
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