How great a grandmother's love

One thing I have learnt in living overseas is that elderly or disabled people begging, although less immediately appealing than children, are the ones that should be noticed. The fact they have to sit or stand in the heat all day and looking for paid work is not an option for them shows their need.

As I have mentioned in an earlier post I have seen far less beggars or traffic light vendors in Manila than I had become accustomed to in Managua, a fact which had surprised me as Manila is truly a mega-city with lots of poverty, as well as a lot of wealth.

Today as I went to the supermarket in a large, well frequented shopping mall near my accommodation I noticed  a boy and girl about 6 and 7 years old playing and sorting out what seemed to be recyclable rubbish whilst close by sat a grandmother aged woman with an umbrella to protect her from the sun. The woman tried to engage me in conversation but I walked on by. After the supermarket I put some small notes in my pocket and resolved to speak with this woman if she was still there on my way back.

She was, and once again she asked very politely if she could speak with me. I asked about the children and she confirmed that they were her grandchildren. As I crouched down to be more at her level and seem to show some respect for her age I was struck by how well kept she was, even though clearly they were poor, her short grey hair was tidily cut and clothing was simple but well presented, I was also surprised how excellent her English was. I asked about the parents of the children and she explained that their father was in prison and their mother, who was her own daughter, was jobless. We spoke a little more and she explained her daughter has 4 children the youngest of which is only 11 months old. She herself gets a small entitlement of money from her husband each month, it sounded like a wife's pension allowance, which she explained is enough for her to make ends meet but it is not enough to help her daughter support her four children so her daughter begs and she helps her daughter also by begging.

Of course there is always that voice inside your head which wonders whether the story is true, but everything about this woman and her story felt true and I couldn't help admiring her love for her family which would allow her to humiliate herself to sit at the roadside and ask for help from strangers.

As I got up to leave she asked which country I was from. I walked away wondering more about her story and why I had only been prepared to give less than I would have spent on even a simple lunch for myself and far less than all the "necessary" cheap luxuries I indulge in here - like a massage.

I thought about my own mother who would be of a similar age, I don't doubt that she would be willing to do the same for her children and grandchildren because she loves that much, but I am so grateful that given the blessing of birth country and circumstances she will never have to. And I thought that I should probably have been a good deal more generous.

Philippines in film

A few weeks ago Hollywood came to town as they used different locations in Manila and Palawan to film scenes from the new Bourne movie "The Bourne Legacy". The Sunday edition of the Philippine Star on the 4th of March had a list of films that have been at least partly shot in the Philippines, although in almost all cases it was the Philippines pretending to be some other country where for one reason or another filming had proven too difficult.

Brokedown Palace (1999) Manila and Luzon, pretending to be Thailand.
Platoon (1986), Apocalypse Now (1979) and Missing in Action (1984) Luzon pretending to be a Vietnam war zone.
In Born on the 4th of July (1989) the Philippines is used instead of both Vietnam and Mexico.
Thirteen Days (2000) Many places in the Philippines pretending to be Cuba.
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) at the former US Air Force base of Subic Bay.
Delta Force 2: the Colombian Connection (1990)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) Luzon pretending to be Indonesia this time.
Too Late the Hero (1970) Visayas and the beach paradise of Boracay.

Strange how many seem to be war or action movies.