The first day of Supervisor’s Conference was filled with great anticipation as we waited for our site placements to be announced. They announced the volunteers by region. We were all at the edge of our seats listening to which volunteers would go where trying to guess how far away we would be from our friends. Each name was carefully announced by the sector managers. Volunteers walked up to the stage where they took their picture and placed it onto a map of the Philippines, then they were handed a binder filled with information about their site placement. When my turn came my sector manager said, ‘Working in Cebu City doing prostitution outreach and sex trafficking prevention will be Amelia Kent.” I was so excited I almost jumped out of my chair. As I walked across the stage my mind flooded with images of what my service experience might be like.
That night I met my supervisor a Nun named Sister Tonet. She is very kind, friendly and really inspiring. She brought me a beautiful folder with photos of the agency as well as my future host family. It was filled with information on Cebu as well as a letter from my counterpart a 25 year old Social Worker. Sister Tonet also spoiled me with pasalubong (gifts) from Cebu, a necklace (shown below), some cookies and dried mangos. I felt so incredibly lucky to have her as a supervisor and I really feel like I will be well taken care of. We spent the next few days attending trainings together and getting to know each other a little bit I am really looking forward to working with her.
On September 30th we drove to Manila for our CYF Street Immersion. We stayed at an amazing organization called Bahay Tulan where all of the staff are youth enrolled in a job training program that gives them the skills necessary navigate a highly competitive job market . The organization also trains youth leaders to do outreach with street children and does advocacy for children’s rights.
For lunch we went to the mall and observed mall prostitution which is commonplace here. Although our sector manager gave them the option of how to respond, many of the male volunteers were approached by women and played along as though they were interested customers. Only afterward was the morality of this act questioned, but once the point was made I felt more or less ashamed for not taking this point into consideration beforehand. As usual our training was rushed and we didn’t have enough time to ask the important questions that should have been brought to the table before, during and after our exposures.
Afterward we went out for a two hour outreach session with street children. Our sector manager broke us into groups and sent us to different neighborhoods. He challenged us to use the training we had thus far to engage the children without having time for a planning session beforehand. We played games, sang songs and acted out some skits. It was completely improvised and the result was beautiful, the kids had a great time and asked when we would be back.
We spent the next morning visiting Smokey Mountain, a garbage dump that people have been living on for three generations. The people live in extreme poverty, scavenging the trash for things they can sell and burning it to make charcoal, as result many of the people are very sick. The reality of the situation was unbelievable and the smell along with the flies made me feel sick. Some agencies had gotten involved. There was a health clinic providing prenatal care. A Christian organization built a basketball court and there was some basic infrastructure in place. All of the children seemed oblivious to the fact that anything was wrong with this picture, many of them walking around barefoot in a black muck that clung to our shoes. As I walked around with this huge group of Americans I thought about what our impact or lack of impact was on this community. I felt ashamed to have visited them in the same way people visit a zoo. I felt an overwhelming concern for the moral capacity of humanity.
Once again there was no time to process as we went directly back into the streets for our second day of outreach. I went into it feeling exhausted but was surprised by how much energy I got from working with the kids. I was so impressed by their resiliency and dreams for a better future. I asked many of them what they want to be when they grow up and heard SEAMAN! ENGINEER! DOCTOR! PILOT! When it comes down to the things that matter… kids are all the same they all want to be loved and encouraged to follow their dreams.
After dinner we met up with some outreach workers and got an opportunity to go serve coffee to some people working on the street. We walked to a bridge that was a well known spot for prostitution and I was able to have a conversation in Tagalog with a female pimp. She told me that the girls make 400 pesos an hour and she complained that lately the police have been more of a problem for them; keeping customers away. She had a family to support as well as two siblings who lived close by. I didn’t catch how many girls she had working for her but I was surprised at how openly she shared her life with me. I also was surprised at myself. Instead of feeling anger or disgust at this woman’s chosen profession, I only felt sorry for her wishing that she had more options in life than to resort to this.
Next I was introduced to a woman who had been living on the street for many years in front of restaurant, and had recently obtained a job there. She had her first child when she was only 13 years old. Her first two children she put up for adoption, the next two were currently living in a shelter and her fifth child was nine year old Casey. Casey was a shy but friendly little girl who clung to her mother’s side. In the gleam of the street lights Casey and her mother were both doing homework. I asked Casey in Tagalog what she wanted to be when she grew up and she told me she wanted to be a nurse so that she could help people.
It felt really great for me to get this exposure because it gave me a real taste of the work I have ahead of me as well as the importance of language in facilitating a conversation. I was reminded of all the people I worked with on the streets of Seattle and I felt relieved to be reentering that world. There are few people who want to work with this population but everyone should. Throughout the night I kept thinking about how growing up, there were always people in my life to remind me of what I deserved as a woman. How I deserved to be educated, treated well, treated fairly. I hope I can remind some of these women that they deserve the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment