of charities and orphanages

We have just presented the play we’ve been preparing for the past few weeks. We presented it to the kids (and to the lolos and lolas) at Hospicio de San Jose.

It feels nice to do something like that, doing hard work and sacrifices etc just to pull it off. But, as in any other similar situation whether I’m involved or not, my mind always returns to the bugging thought/question, “Natulungan ba talaga sila?” Were we really able to help them?

Not that I’d been “plastic” but I also felt the same when we went to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center last year.

Sure, we made them happy even for just a few minutes. But should it be just that? Should “helping” or “pagtulong” be just that?

By this I don’t mean that we didn’t do enough. We are just a student organization after all. Now, don’t get me wrong with the word “just” there because by that I mean we are a student organization with only so much funds and energy to spend.

What I’m driving at is that we should reflect and evaluate if whenever we engage in such activities, we do so because of our kapwa or because of our need to tell ourselves,”You are helping others therefore you’re good. You’re doing something great for society.” I’m not being bitter here or too cynical or too critical.

In fact, I’m still in the process of sorting those things out myself.

I don’t want to forget what my Anthropology teacher Rosa Cordillera Castillo told us about pitying the needy. She said (or something to this effect):

Wag kang mag-feeling na napakabait dahil naaawa ka sa iba. Hindi porket feeling mo nararamdaman o nauunawaan mo ang kalagayan nila at naaawa ka sa kanila, dapat mo nang isipin na napakabuti mo at napakabait dahil you are moved by them and you deeply sympathize with them. Wag kang mag-feeling na santo dahil kung hanggang awa ka lang ay wala ka ring kwenta, wala ka ring nagawa para tulungan sila.