Dedicate Home (Sharing Observed Poverty) 3

A Personal and Observed Poverty: A Narrative (Part 3)

The only real problem I had with the whole teaching encounter was the lack of funds. Lesson plans, lesson guides, and evaluation forms supposedly given daily were delayed week after week because the parish program didn't have enough resources to reproduce the documents. Finally we volunteers decided to reproduce the documents out of our own pockets, just to ensure the proper working of the program. It was a small price to pay in any case. Another problem was that some children would go to class without taking lunch, because of one reason or another. It's an odd thing, seeing hungry children; some cry, some sit at the corner and say not a word, some try satiating themselves by sucking the dirt from their fingers, and others blatantly ask if I have food. It was at times like these that the seeds of Liberation Theology began to sprout in me. I talked about a loving God who provided for his people, and when asked how God provides for his people, all my students could say was that they were protected by their parents, and that they had friends. Maybe the reason why the urban poor's paradigm is so very social is precisely because there is a definite lack, and all you can turn to in times of need are people close to you, and a God who seemingly never answers your prayers. As one of my students once said, "Mahal tayo ng Diyos KAHIT NA HINDI TAYO MAYAMAN (God loves us even though we are poor). Binigyan niya tayo ng mga nagmamahal sa atin, mga kadamay sa mundo (He gave us people who love us, and people who share our situation)." It's a shame that he thinks God loves them DESPITE their poverty. In the eyes of my students, the eyes of innocents, poverty is disordered. Their condition is disordered. It is not a natural condition. It is supposed to be the other condition, not THE condition. If these children can see it, why can't we? Saying that God loves us no matter our social standing would only serve to confuse them. How can a God who loves us equally allow inequality to exist? Even if inequality is man's invention, how could he allow man to create such harsh conditions for his neighbor? As for the children's hunger of that moment, what else could I do but buy simple snacks or bring crackers and tea (yes, tea. I was a weird kid.) The kids especially loved those 10 peso packs of spicy Oishi. 3 or 4 of the kids would share a pack and walk happily home after class.