16 February 2011
By Philippe Dulawan
I recently was blessed with a trip to my country of origin and my second home; The Philippines. I travelled there for a whole month, 15th of December to the 15th of January. Whilst over there I visited so much family, so many cousins I never knew I had, went to the beach, shopped and enjoyed the local delicacies. There were several lessons learnt whilst over there...
1. The comforts of home, an appreciation of what I really have.
Here in the great land of Oz we are truly blessed with more than the necessities of life. An example of this is simply a regular trip to the bathroom or CR as its known in the Philippines. So at risk of grossing you out, I walked into the toilet and started doing a "number 2" – as you do. To my surprise as I finished I looked around for the toilet paper. What I found was a bucket of water with a smaller bucket. Uh-Oh! Then I remembered what my mum had described to me about washing your backside… very interesting times.
A similar story can be said about the hot water. My cousins and I were staying in some apartments and we each had a shower. The first 3 of us went in and each found really cold water even though they had a hot water tap. We complained each time. That was until our Filo cousin showed us the switch to turn on the hot water!
2. Australia isn't a reality for all, we are rich and have power to change people’s lives.
Here in Australia we are fortunate to be in a land of opportunity. We are provided with cheap education, the government assists with university, if you don't have a job you can get the dole and training. Here we have all the tools we need to succeed and at times we don't appreciate what we do have.
I witnessed not random people but friends and family who often have large families upwards of 8 immediate family members living in places that would be smaller than our living rooms or backyards. They faced regular brown outs, struggled to make money to feed their family let alone send them to university to provide them with more opportunity. In the Philippines it is a mighty struggle from day to day.
3. Amazing skills of people and the resilience of human life.
It is truly amazing visiting another country. Here English is not the dominant language, in fact the places we were visiting often the locals could converse in several languages. For instance my great cousin Ghana, 12 years old, could communicate in Taglog (Filo national language), Hapit (our local area language), Ilocano (dialect for our province) and English. Amazing! In actual fact the best language that we could communicate with was the smiles on their faces when we simply spent time and played games with them.
With all these issues and problems, not once did I hear anyone complaining about how hard it was/is. I saw smiles, laughs, a can-do attitude. I witnessed an appreciation for the smaller things in life… simply having some chocolate, playing with a new basketball and spending time with FAMILY!!
What do we need to do?
From living in a country which provides such opportunity and wealth we must realise what we have and take every opportunity so we can meet our fellow man’s needs. Having an education or the ability to work in a secure job is a choice that many of the Filipinos are not fortunate to have. They are thrust into making ends meet from early ages. This is not unique to the Philippines but an issue right around the world, Poverty. Poverty exists on all continents. We must take our own opportunities whilst having people like the Filipinos, Africans, Vietnamese and all those who are lesser off than ourselves. We must have them in the back off our mind. Do we really need that next pair of jeans, the luxurious car or can we first help our fellow man get fed.
I guess what has touched me the most and what God has spoken to me through this trip is to ram home that we have a slice of heaven here in Australia and must be able to share it with those who are less fortunate then ourselves. I will work harder and take all the opportunities bestowed upon me to work, continue education and then give back to those who can't or don't have this choice.
Lets first take the step to pray to God and thank Him for what we have. Then ask for the Grace to be able to share with our fellow child of God.
Phil