Intro
Hey guys, I've been in the Philippines for almost a week now. I'm here with my mom visiting relatives and doing ministry work. It's a very different place, and I'm always seeing new things that are sad, happy, beautiful, funny, etc. Sometimes they're contrasted very starkly, like the shack-houses made of cement and rusty aluminum against the backdrop of palm trees, a blue sky, and the Mayon volcano. I've been journaling a lot of this stuff in order to record it, but I figured someone out there would be mildly interested in how I'm doing or what the Philippines is like, so I'll be writing some stuff on the blog too. Check out my Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/danielsonpaul, although you're probably all my friends there anyway) for additional photos, which are probably more interesting than my blog.
Family
People are the most important things in the world.
That sentence has been echoing in my head for the past month or so. I don't know where I heard it, but it's not phrased very eloquently, so I probably made it up myself and forgot I did. The idea has been supported quite a bit by my experiences here in the Philippines. Today I had this conversation with my Mom:
Me: It seems to me like most of the people in the Province [the rural areas, generally very poverty-stricken] don't seem to really... live for anything.
Mom: Yeah, that's pretty much true.
Me: Don't they have any goals or things that they want to do with their lives?
Mom: I suppose they do, but they all know that those goals will never be realized.
Me: What keeps them going then?
Mom: Their children. They provide for their kids and hope they end up luckier than them.
[End conversation]
People are the most important things in the world.
Wow. That's not something I've heard of very much. I'm not going to bash America, because that's a bit predictable and you can all just imagine the typical rant from any activist non-conservative college kid worth his salt. So I'll just talk about family some more.
In America, people call their parents "Mom" and "Dad". It's more than a title, it's a name, an addition to a person's identity. Here in the Philippines, it's like that, but bigger. People call their older brothers "Kuya" (KOO-yah) and their older sisters "Ate' (AH-tay), and they also use those titles as a sign of respect to those a little older than them (if one is a lot older, they usually use the words for Uncle and Aunt).
I have two little cousins: Ian, who is about 5, and Ethan, who is about 3, and they both call me "Kuya Paul". When Ethan was born, Ian's name was effectively changed to "Kuya". Not "Kuya Ian", just "Kuya". Even Ian's parents call him that. I think it's a subtle, yet telling mark of how important family is out here. When Ian is addressed, he hears "Older brother", not as a title, but as a name. Even at age 5, he acts as though he is responsible for Ethan and displays a lot of leadership. He doesn't just tell Ethan what to do, but he even picks up the mess he makes and always keeps his eyes open to make sure Ethan's not getting himself into trouble. It's incredible, really. I'm learning leadership from a 5-year-old.
This post is too long. Most people probably skipped it as soon as they saw how tiny the scrollbar on the side was. So I won't reflect any more, but chew on that for a little while and let me know what you think.
People are the most important things in the world.
With Love,
Paul
