Young adults who do internships or volunteer in Stairway are encouraged to take an exposure trip to Manila. This exposure to the streets, gives them a broader outlook and deeper understanding of the children in our family home.
Read one intern’s experiences below.
On Monday the 6th of April, four interns and two volunteers headed for an exposure trip to Manila with our guide, who, is a former street child and now employed as a house father at Stairway. We were visiting his old neighborhood in Ermita area, where we had also booked our hotel rooms for the week. We left Stairway exited and full of expectations of what we were about to see. Personally, this was my third time in Manila, so I had an idea. I had seen the children and homeless people living on the street, so I felt prepared. However, this time was different. More personal, more direct contact with the people I usually just walk by.
We left Stairway after lunch and arrived in Manila in the afternoon. After getting our rooms and settling in, we all met for dinner at the local mall. On the 10 minute walk there, we had the first glimpse of what the area was like after dark. Mothers sitting on the sidewalk with their babies, holding out their hand for either food or some pesos. Children sleeping in the polluted air on the sidewalk. Some had adults around them, some slept alone. Some I guess was 8-10, some no more than babies or a few years old. Music played out loud from the clubs, where dressed up girls were ready to entertain their costumers.
After dinner, we went out in the streets. Kuya Jhoni was very familiar with the area and sometimes people came over to say hi. They recognized him. His way of walking around the area showed an understanding and respect for these people and children, that I think you can only have, when you have been one of them. He took us into the small streets, where people had their homes. Usually that consisted of some boxes, used as shelter roofs as well as matresses. Maybe a little clothes and a few personal belongings. That was it. They were dirty and the smell in the neighborhood was unpleasant.
At some point, we stopped and he gave us some information about the place and answered questions. All of the sudden, five little children ran over to us and without any notice, a little girl, probably around 7, came over to me and hugged me around my belly. I was astonished and overwhelmed, and for a second I forgot everything about the risk of getting scabies, lice or fleas and just hugged her back. That is the first time Manila really got under my skin.
Next stop that night was Rizal Park.
At first sight, it looked like a nice and beautiful park, where I could picture families having picnics and couples spending some romantic time together. However, Jhoni had a different version. At least from about 10 years ago. Back then, he called the park ”Hell”. He explained, that this place hosted all kinds of activities. Gang related fights, the selling of drugs and prostitution among both women and children.
Then we heard the sound of sirens. It was clean up time and everyone had to leave the grass areas, to make sure nobody was sleeping there. The police officers drive on the sidewalk and made sure everyone left. In the middle of the lawn two little children were asleep, surrounded by a bunch of bags full of sodas and chips. We stopped to see what would happen next. They got out of the car and went over to them. They tried to wake them up, but without any luck. Kuya Jhoni went there too trying to help and within a minute those two children became an attraction to the ones passing by. So when the oldest boy, maybe 7-8 woke up, 15 strangers were starring at him, laughing at how hard it had been to wake them. The little sister was fast asleep, so Kuya Jhonie picked her up while others got their bags. Then they were followed to the other side of the bush about 30 meters away, where they were allowed to sleep. On the hard asphalt instead of the grass. Heartbroken and with nothing we could do, we left the park again and went home to our nice hotel.
The next day, we went out in the morning with some juice and cookies, we had purchased the day before and handed it out to the children on the street as breakfast. It took no more then 15 minutes before we were emptied out. Some young mothers had some as well, because as Kuya Jhonie said, they needed it to take care of their children.
After that, we went to a cemetery. I had expected something like a Danish cemetery with a big lawn, separate graves and gravestones. This was different. It was almost like entering another village. It was full of houses where families had their own graveside. Streets, like every other city and a few vendors selling refreshments and flowers. Some of the homeless had their own place, some were playing cards inside the grave house and some just hung out and children were playing. The place was so nice, calm, had fresh air and no rush. We said to each other, that we would absolutely prefer to live here, instead of the streets outside. It was in every way another cemetery experience.
The Manila City Jail was the first stop on Wednesday. Only the four interns went for this exposure. Kuya Jhonie is a former member of the Sputnik gang, so pretending to visit the gang leader in jail, we were allowed to get in. Two boys and two girls with Kuya Jhonie. After a body search and a lot of questions from all the girls standing in line with us, waiting to see their husband, boyfriend, brother or son, we got in. The house was a two story house, which accommodated app. 500 members of this specific gang. The other gangs had their own houses and a single house for those, who did not belong to any gang. I felt the eyes of all of them on me, curiously looking at the strange foreigners walking in, but at no time did I feel uncomfortable, in danger or in any way offended. They kindly gave us a tour around. The house was crowded, but had a pool table, a TV, a very small basketball court and some small rooms in the wall, where you could have visitors in private. Or at least a little more private. At lunch time, the prisoners sat in line and had food served from a big barrel. Rice and some watery soup. Then I understood why so many of the girls brought food. To legitimize the visit we had so say hi to the leader, who we were pretending to visit. He was asleep, but his ”right hand” was there and had just finished his workout. You could tell, he was a little bit more than the rest of the prisoners. Well worked out, a thought through haircut and a big golden necklace. They had their own private area and it was interesting how everyone respected that. Even the police, because as Kuya Jhonie explained, they had to rely on him to keep the group calm and help them solve any conflicts.
The visit was very interesting and very different from a Danish jail.
After that, we picked up the rest of the group and went to Tondo. I will try to explain what we experienced, but this is a place you have to see for yourself. We had three tour guides. One of them was a former Stairway boy from Kuya Jhoni’s batch ten years before. He now fathered four children in what seemed to be in a poor environment.
Tondo was mind blowing. The first area seemed crowded, but nothing compared to what we were about to see. The two-three storage buildings were separated by small paths, full of people, vendors, food, even a casket with someone in, game machines, etc. A basketball court was the most open area. Poor conditions, but everyone smiled and greeted us as we passed by. We were told, that this was the place to go if you escaped from prison, was a wanted or in trouble, because here nobody dared to talk. Officially, nobody knew anybody.
We crossed the river. Well, it used to be a river. Now, it was loaded with so much trash, that rats could run on top of it. We were taken into some kind of tunnel. One said it reminded him of a mine shaft and I cannot come up with a better description. It was dark, smoky and smelly. On both sides of the tunnel people had their homes. The right side had the river/trash view, the other side was completely dark, except for those lucky enough to have a small light burning in their little room. In this place, children ran around, adults were sleeping, doing laundry, cooking or whatever a day could be used for. It took about 10-15 minutes to pass through the tunnel and never had the expression ”light at the end of the tunnel” been more appropriate.
Everyone was silently looking around when we came out. No words to describe that place.
Through the entire stay in Manila, it felt like the city was eating me up bit by bit. Every night I had to shake off the bad conscience of drinking a coffee for the same amount of money, that could have provided for a family a whole day. Or going to sleep in a comfortable bed, knowing that 8 floors beneath me, children were sleeping on the sidewalk.
Coming from Stairway and knowing these wonderful boys we have there, it was devastating to think of the life they lead before. Somehow, it was impossible not to put a familiar face on these children. Everyday, when I saw a child begging in the street I thought, this is the area little Jojo came from. That could have been him. I wondered, if our boys had slept alone in the street. How often they had fallen asleep hungry. The same in Tondo, where one of the boys used to live. How it is possible to rise after that and become what they are today, blows my mind. These boys are tough as nails and I can only admire their unbelievable strength.
The exposure was exhausting, but the most powerful experience so far. You cannot imaging the lives of these children, before you have seen it. I think we all understand now, why they are sometimes behaving in ways we do not understand immediately. Or maybe now we have an idea of what goes through their minds, when they have a quiet and thoughtful moment.
After this exposure, I could not wait to go back to Stairway. Back to the Stairway family and all of our wonderful boys and feeling so grateful, that at least 15 boys are now away from the streets of Manila. The work Stairway does for these children is truly amazing. They bring them back to life. I now understand, why it is so important to take them far away from Manila and isolate them for a period of time. Why it is so important to get them away from the streets, the environment, sometimes even their own family and provide them with this oasis for rehabilitation and focus on themselves as individuals. Just within a year we see how these boys grow and develop in such a positive way and it is so good to know, that if one year is not enough, Stairway has another step, another year to offer them.
I thank Kuya Jhonie for this experience and hope everyone gets a chance to experience this first hand.