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I somehow promised someone I’d be posting something ’bout my experience with the Jacinto Boys.
Yea.Yea. Haven’t totally forgotten that yet. It’s just that it really took me a long long time to post it.
Why?? You might be wondering…
Well,  had to wait for my professor to return my paper. HAHA
(Didn’t reserve a back-up copy with me..)
But anyway, at least I’ll already be posting it .
Didn’t really change it. It’s just as it is the way I submitted it as a project.. ^-^

A Day with the Jacinto Boys and a Girl Named Karen

I know this paper is intended to be a school project, expected to be formal, just as how my classmates expect it to be. But then I thought, if I’d make it formal, I won’t be able to express what I really feel about what I experienced. So I decided to take a separate path, making my project a bit different from the others. In this paper would be, not what I have done, but what the experience has done to me.

The experience with the Jacinto Boys (Robin, Balong, and the other two) and Karen, was a once in a lifetime experience. It was the kind of experience that brought a mixture of smiles and tears as side effect.

My interview with them wasn’t a formal, serious, boring one, where they need to adjust to my level. Rather, it was a fun, full of twists, and more like a bonding moment with my brothers and sister, wherein I level down to their kiddo way of thinking.

Our conversations took us to different topics. I didn’t prepare questionnaires like a professional interviewer does. I just approached them bare handed from those professional stuffs which I bet would scare them away.

But even though I was not that prepared, I’m glad our conversations went smoothly. And also, to tell the truth, it was a bit traumatic in some ways. HAHAHA

With their unique twisting statements, I kept on getting shocked. Can’t imagine I heard those from them.

I had several questions raised for them. It might be too long to mention all, so I chose to share the questions and answers that were highlighted in my experience. Their simple answers to my questions moved my whole being.

“ Dili masuko inyong Mama ug Papa nga manglimos mo diri?”

-          “Dili. kay para maka-kwarta, para ipalit ug bugas.”

At their young age, they’re already aware of the reality of life. In other words, “maaga silang namulat sa realidad”. They’ve matured a lot more than normal kids. I can’t tell if that’s a positive or negative fact.

“Kunwari, naa koy power na matupad inyong wish, unsa man inyong i-wish?”

-          “ Gusto ko akong pamilya mabuhi” (more like he meant, he want his family to survive)

-          “Gusto ko, nay gatas akong manghud ug daghan”. (Gusto ko maraming gatas para sa kapatid ko)

-          “
Sana sama-sama kaming family. Sana walang iwanan.”

-          “Unta di na mag-away-away.” (referring to his family)

-          “Gusto ko naa koy kotse para muadto dayon ko sa laing lungsod.”

“NAGA-PRAY KA KAY GOD? UNSA MAN IMONG GINA-PRAY?”

-          “Bantayan ko kung matulog ako, ug akong manghud kay bantayan pud. Ug unta, pagmata nako. MAGANDA !”

A simple prayer from an innocent child…

“ Unsa inyong pangarap sa buhay? Paglaki n’yo, anong gusto n’yong maging?”

-          “Robin: Engineering… Mechanics..” (mechanical Engineering)

-          “Karen: Doctor… Para kung nay sakit akong mama, tambalan nako.”

-          “Balong: Seaman!”

-          “The other boy I forgot to ask the name: Kapitan sa Bangka!”

Like me, they do have their dreams too! They want to have a better future not just for themselves, but also for their family, just as what I want. They want to go to school. But it’s sad that in their present situation, it is necessary for them to stop. How lucky I am to be given the privilege to attend school, and yet I always complain about how stressful it is (it’s true anyway). “I should be really grateful for what I have now. Stop craving for unnecessary things, stop demanding for useless stuffs, and give thanks to HIM for what HE has given me. ”

These kids have taught me a lot. The importance of contentment, and being appreciative of whatever blessings God has showered upon me. These kids… We’ve forgotten, THEY ARE JUST KIDS! But compared to me, they seem to have grasped reality more than I have. These poor kids… Yeah. We’re somehow aware of their existence. Most probably, the case would be, we look at them and see kids. Dirty, stinky, hungry looking kids. I am also guilty of this kind of view. I don’t really give any special kind of attention for their kind. I mean the “I don’t care” type of thinking. But my views now are somehow different from yesterdays’. Now, I have at least a much better understanding for the marginalized sector in our society.

My being not so involved and updated about the things around me made this project really challenging for my part. It challenges me in many different ways. It challenges my being a person, a Christian, a part of the society, and mostly, it challenges my FAITH.

            My moment with the Jacinto boys and a girl named Karen, is an extraordinary moment in my life.

I’m pretty happy I got a hundred percent for this.
But I’m more than happy that I experienced the experience… Hehe ^-^