SPREADING HOLIDAY CHEER ALONG WITH A LITTLE HOPE & HUMILITY FOR ALL

I have made an effort while residing within this impoverished paradise to help those in need whenever possible.  It has been a struggle though as the masses in need of food and medical assistance is far more than I could ever accomplish on my meager income.  Still, I have had the opportunity to pick and choose those few individuals or families with which I could provide a little relief, especially during the holiday season.

A couple of years ago when I had more financial resources I would buy sizable amounts of food and, with the clothing graciously

Candoni - Feb. 2014 - Nipa in the hills

purchased and sent by Donarae, would travel into the mountains in search of the families who existed on little of nothing.  It never took long to find those in desperation and for a few months I would take life sustaining supplies to them.   Unfortunately, the extra funds eventually dried up and I thus was unable to help the people with the basics needed to survive.  Families which had come to rely on what little food and clothing I could provide, again, went without; never knowing what happened to the foreigner benefactor who had brought temporary relief into their difficult lives. 

Since that time, it bothered me that I was unable to provide

Sipalay, Negros Occidental - Lady with seven children barely existing in the hills

something to the many families until finally I could take it no longer.  Scraping some money together, I took the motorbike into the mountains on Tuesday of this week.  What I discovered was that

some of the bamboo houses were gone and families moved on to places unknown.   However, at the end of my

12-24-15 - Sipalay, Negros Occidental - Mother and daughter with Candy Hearts

search, there remained a rickety structure still inhabited by a women with her seven children.  The husband had abandoned her and left her to fend for the family over two years ago.  On one occasion when we had taken food to them, she and the children had walked several kilometers to a funeral for the free meal that would be

provided.  This was the only location where the structure and its inhabitants still existed.  And we were lucky to have found them as a new owner of the land had told them they would have to vacate their shack and move somewhere else.  Had I waited another month, they would have vanished, like the other families, from the face of my earth with no clue as to their fate.  Fortunately, for me as well as for them, they were still there and I told them I would return on Christmas Eve with gifts for the family. 

Their location was 76 kilometers (48 miles) from my residence in

12-22-15 - Candoni, Negros Occidental - Harvesting Corn thw Filipino way

Himamaylan City and because of the winding road conditions along with traversing two sets of mountains to get there, it consumed over two hours travel time each way.  Still, returning to my seaside community, my adopted family began to purchase provisions to make that family’s Christmas a bit brighter. 

What I had come to realize in the beginning of my senior years is that you can sacrifice...live without, when the survival of others is

12-22-15 - Candoni, Negros Occidental - Corn drying on the highway aside a field of Sugar Cane

concerned.  I am not quite sure how that works, but we were managing to scrimp along this month in anticipation of bringing a little cheer into the hearts of a people in despair.  And so, off to the store we ventured.  We purchased cans of sardines and corned beef; noodles and powdered milk; sliced bread and peanut butter.  At the rice mill, we purchased five kilos (eleven pounds) of rice and then we topped the supply off with a couple of bags of candy hearts as well as a generous amount of tootsie rolls. 

On Christmas Eve morning as I worked on my blog, I heard the pitter pattering of raindrops atop the metal roof.  Even though rain

12-22-15 - Candoni, Negros Occidental - Sacking up ears of dried corn

was not in the forecast, it appeared that Mother Nature had the final say as a steady downpour of precipitation made itself known.  I called Diana over and we discussed taking the tricycle on this rainy foray when suddenly the rain stopped falling, the clouds quickly departed and was replaced by a blazing tropical sun. 

Even though it had quit raining in Himamaylan City, it didn’t mean that the rest of the trip would be dry…yet to my surprise as we departed town we discovered that the area of rain we had experienced was no more than a couple of kilometers wide.  That made me quite happy, and although we passed through segments of damp pavement on our way to the mountains, we fortunately did not have to drive in any rain. 

The ride into the mountains was quite beautiful and yet quite scary at the same time.  The vistas were awesome with their panoramic view

12-22-15 - Candoni, Negros Occidental - Mountains on the way to Candoni

of cavernous valleys and towering peaks while at the same time, the traffic we met at the many hairpin curves was scary.  The

motorbikes, sugarcane trucks, as well as buses seemed to have a tendency of driving into my lane when coming around the curves.  Because of those conditions alone I rounded curves with great caution in anticipation of having to share my side of the road with an unscrupulous metallic interloper who would appear out of nowhere.  Also, when I had last passed through the area almost nineteen months ago, the highway commission was just starting to pave the road west of the community of Candoni.  Upon my current arrival, the paving had been completed which created a new hazard for the motorbike and me.  Whereas the residents living along the paved highway east of Candoni had educated themselves to being aware of speeding traffic, the inhabitants west of town had not.  In their minds, the road was no more than a rock littered and pot hole infested trail, requiring slow movement along its one lane path.  Consequently, I had to slow or even stop several times when children as well as adults walked out or ran onto the pavement without looking for the traffic.  Even the dogs, who would move off the roadway with the approach of a vehicle east of Candoni, continued to sleep in complete oblivion of their possible demise.  I would even honk my horn upon approach of those naïve individuals (animals and people alike) with no effect and I wondered how many would get run over by passing vehicles before they became “road wise”. 

We surprised the family with our early arrival.  Five of the children had walked to their Uncles in a nearby barangay center in

12-24-15 - Sipalay, Negros Occidental - Early Christmas for this family of eight

anticipation of a later arrival by us.  Still, we delivered the basic supplies knowing that the family would have a better Christmas week than before.  My only regret was this family was going to have to move somewhere and with no money to pay for building material, I feared for their future.  It would be another family of which I had provided aid in the past who would disappear into that oblivion of abject poverty to never be seen or heard from again.  One of the sadder moments in my life…

On the way home, we again traveled through the pristine land of valleys and ridges; dodged the several law breaking vehicles at those blind curves and even got a cooling rain shower to top off our morning drive.  All in all, it was a personally rewarding and satisfying trek.  We had taken what little extra we had and brought rays of hope into the lives of eight souls who previously had no hope at all.  Having without is not always a bad thing, unless that without involves food.

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Christmas morning, after my adopted children had opened their

12-25-2015 - Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental - Santa's Little Helpers

Christmas presents, we gathered up a couple dozen stuffed toys which had been gift wrapped along with two large bags of tootsie rolls and started walking out to a small hamlet of squatter’s homes by the local cemetery.  Even though the residents there had little in personal

12-25-2015 - Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental - Toy looking at the labels for the right gift

possessions, they did have access to employment and thus were a little better off than those struggling in the mountains.  Still, reality dictated that their meager funds went for food first while luxuries (i.e. Christmas/birthday presents) came last. 

Whereas, the children would always call to me when I would pass on

12-25-2015 - Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental - Charissa Mae with little girl

the motorbike or trike any other morning, on this day of the Lord’s birth, it was eerily quiet.  We did find some youngsters mulling around, but nothing of the great multitude I was accustom to.  However, we did find children and for those fortunate ones,

12-25-2015 - Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental - Santiago and recipient

candy and stuffed animals were their reward.  A few wary preschoolers would not take the packages offered them, but with an older sister or brother’s encouragement they hesitantly accepted the wrapped gifts.  Of course, the shyness was gone once the colorful wrappings were removed and the contents revealed. 

Tootsie rolls was another matter altogether.  Everyone wanted the caramel and taffy flavored candy. In fact, two preteens, who were taking baths, saw us handing out candy and immediately headed for

12-25-2015 - Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental - Santiago handing out treats to the adults

Santiago (the candy distributor) buck naked.  Only when they saw me did they make a hasty retreat into their bamboo shelter for some clothing. Fortunately for me, I only saw their bare butts wiggling as they raced to get covered. As my children passed out the confectioneries, a group of older adults asked if they could have some.  Being Christmas, Santiago immediately

12-25-2015 - Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental - Toddler with her new stuffed toy

went over and distributed a handful to each adult that was sitting upon a bamboo bench.  From then on, adults as well as children were blessed with the chocolate sensation that had thrilled American Children for over a century.  When I had first arrived in the Philippines in 2010, Tootsie Rolls were unknown, but within the past year I have begun to see them for sale in upscale stores in Bacolod.

The Christmas Present and candy distribution mission did not last

12-25-2015 - Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental - Tricycle and its youthful occuments

very long, but as we departed for home, we were all in lighter spirits.  Before I had met and ultimately taken these four children into my life and heart, they had never received a birthday or Christmas present.   While walking toward our compound, fifteen year old Clarisse made a comment to me.  “A Christmas present was something I had always hoped and prayed for, but it never happened. But today, we answered their prayers with gifts they never thought they would ever have.”  And, perhaps, a little hope too.

Here’s hoping that your Christmas Day was a joyous one and that the coming New Year be your best ever!

12-25-2015 - Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental - Billy Goat Posing

Daryl A. Cleveland  a.k.a. Bounder

December 25, 2015