The Ugly Face Of Poverty

Tonight American Idol reached out to millions of its global audience to give back to the needy, the hungry, and the less fortunate ones. Surprisingly, some Americans especially those that come from tragedy-stricken areas are also suffering and need immediate help as well.

The picture painted was more on the devastating effects of poverty. It is a realization for everyone of us that indeed no matter how much in need of help we are, still more people out there have more serious woes than we do.

The hunger pangs brought about by starvation is something that you cannot ignore. Its immediate remedy cannot be postponed as well.

I know what it's like to be poor and how hard it is to appreciate life when you're starving. I've been there once in the earlier part of my life, and I would never wish any of my children to go through the pains of starvation and hunger.

I grew up in a family of seven. My parents were self-employed but it wasn't a secure and stable kind of self-employment. We lived and hardly found the means to survive on a daily basis.

We were like chickens. We had to constantly scratch the ground, then feed ourselves with the little bit of food that we find, figuratively speaking. It was a day to day struggle then. It was really hard.

The experience had a harder impact on me being one of the older siblings. I had to constantly figure out a way to ration food so that my younger siblings won't go hungry. There were times when I was brought to tears when my mother would simply skip her meals for the day just so all of us, her children, will be fed for the day. There were times when I had to starve myself just so the youngest of my siblings will have the fill of her stomach, for what did she know? A child who is hungry would not understand any kind of rationalization. The only way to stop her from crying is to feed her.

It was even hard to come up with a three-meal experience in a day. I know what it's like to savor the taste of an eighth portion of a piece of a banana fruit when you have been hungry for hours. It's like having your first mouthful of a big sumptuous thanksgiving dinner, to say the least.

We used to do that. We feed on a barely-filled plate of white rice or corn grits with the 1/8 portion of banana fruit that we get, serving as our main entree. Why one-eighth? It was a means of giving everyone a share of the food--the seven of us (the children) and my mother. My father was always out looking for work to do, to bring food on the table.

But there was never enough food. The earning wasn't enough to suffice the needs for all of us.

I am a survivor. I'll probably do well if I'll be stranded in an island. I will know how to fend for myself and find my own food because life taught me the hardest lesson even at a very young age.

The poverty that I've gone through forced me to be inventive, creative, innovative, perceptive and more sensitive than most people are. I can make a nourishing meal out of a coconut fruit. I can make a delectable soup from weeds that grow in your garden. I can make yummy desserts from vegetables that you don't even find appetizing. I can make a filling dish out of the meat bones that you would normally discard. I can make a hearty porridge to prolong the life span of a bowl of raw rice. I can make a delicious entree from the leftover food that you throw away. All that I can do because life taught me so. I can even make a can of sardines fill everyone's hunger with a dash of salt, some vinegar, more tomatoes, a little oil, a slice of onion and a piece of garlic.

Indeed, my experience taught me well because I was also a good student per se. I learned to embrace the hard facts and managed to pull myself out of the pit. I saw a mirror that constantly showed me the ugly face of poverty. Its image is horrible and unimaginable. The mirror gave me a reflection and a constant reminder that what I have gone through is something that I don't want my children to ever go through.

Poor as we were though, we were bonded closely. My Catholic upbringing helped much in all the hardest and most challenging days of my life even as a kid who didn't know much about struggling for survival in life. The morals that were instilled in me did impact the way I reacted to my battle against poverty. I never complained. I just struggled. I constantly prayed. I never ran out of hope. I never stopped dreaming. All along I also kept close at heart the lessons I learned in life. And I constantly reminded myself, that even if I had nothing of the material things in life, I had one big family that I can call my own.

That was the only thing that saved me--my unwavering faith in a better life for all of us after the struggle. But it wasn't easy. I had to constantly remind myself that there's got to be some good that will come out of all the horror that we went through. I was right. The experience drew us even closer as a family. It also molded me into a better person. It transformed me into a socially responsible person that truly cared for other people in society.

I do. My heart goes out to those little children who at a very young age are already entrusted with a huge responsibility of fathering or parenting his or her younger siblings.

I'll take this opportunity to address all the parents out there to be responsible enough to provide for your children. Your children are meant to live and enjoy a wonderful childhood rather than be forced to endure labor at a very young age to be able to put food on the table.

In the Philippines, children as young as five years old, vending on the streets, or rummaging through the rubbish for some scrap metal to be sold, or doing chores to earn is a common sight. I even know of some parents who try to have as many children as possible so they will be employed and can contribute to the family's earnings to share the load. I say that it is downright a twisted and sick mentality.

It really breaks my heart to see these little children endangering their lives on the busy streets amidst the traffic just so they can sell fruit or newspapers or water for them to earn even a meager profit to help out their family. It's a sad and really heart-melting predicament.

This is a global dilemma. Everyone should lend a hand to save those children whose need for food is immediate. Other things can wait. But one starved soul, with no help in sight can easily slip away either out of this life, or out of the goodness in life. He can either die or survive, but if he does live, his experience will render him rotten morally as an individual because a hungry stomach blurs your vision to what is right or what is evil. When you are starved, you are willing to bite the bullet, and it doesn't even matter.

So let's not wait. Let us all help ease poverty and starvation, in whatever way we can. It is never too late. I am certain that our little effort will not be rendered futile.