Good News! – A letter from the Philippines

Hello everybody,

I would like to share five items of good news from the Philippines with you. I arrived in September and after a month of being here I can say that I feel very privileged. I am very happy to be here and to get to know these great and inspiring people.

  1. Both the children and young people accept their situation without complaining.

Some of them are studying with scholarships from other families in different countries. The other day I visited a girl that was living in a simple, but well organised house.  She was sharing the living space with her sister, so they divided the room with curtains. I realised just how responsible she is.

 

  1. These people are very sensitive to beauty.

There are space for plants and flowers in all the houses even if they`re small. This is something that speaks to me of God because despite being poor we can take care of people and things and not live as victims of our circumstances.

 

  1. A generous heart to help others.

When I arrived, I needed to fill in a document that I was missing. The office worker saw me in the embarrassing situation of not knowing how to find it or to fill it in.  He found it in his mobile phone for me and then helped me to fill it in. He spent 10 minutes with me treating me with a lot of love.

 

  1. Their honesty.

Sometimes people think that because we are foreigners, we have money. But here I can walk without any worries. When I go jogging in the park I leave my bag in my bicycle and I know that nobody will touch it.

 

  1. The capacity to welcome others.

It`s like a party for the children since I arrived. They all know my name and they run down the street calling me. Others come up to me asking me to bless them. The neighbours invited us to their houses, even though I still can´t talk to them. They make me feel like I`m a great gift for them. A seven year old girl even brought me a bouquet of flowers. Others bring me their drawings with a message that says: “I love you Sr. Rita”.

These are sacred experiences for me and they`re priceless.

 

Rita

clwakeling2Good News! – A letter from the Philippines