Soweto is in my backyard

Meds is a Medical Technologist student in Baguio. He wants to be a doctor someday and volunteer to Africa after graduation. I asked him why in Africa. We exchanged a couple of conversations. His answers, Africa do not have enough doctors (so is in the Philippines), Africans need doctors more than anybody, many die there (so are Filipinos and in the Philippines), but people are poorer there…

I interrupted him with his justifications and shared him a new perspective of Africa and the Philippines. I said, I am aware that many parts of Africa are devastated with diseases and that many people die; to what he immediately agree. But my following statements quieted him.

My conception of the African continent totally changed when I got to experience a part of it. My five days stay in Johannesburg, South Africa last December was a great eye opener. Together with over 200 young people and nine other Filipinos, I was able to take even a glimpse of what South Africa has become after their long period of struggle.

Africa is the poorest place of the world. And when I say poor, it encompasses diseases, death, malnutrition, low technology, poor quality of education, high crime rates, dirty water, lack of food resources, shanty homes, etc. But to all of these, Joburg proved me wrong.

It is when I browsed the pictures I’ve taken when my friends and I walked around Manila, when I browsed the Internet for pictures of “shanties Manila” that I came to realized that we are indeed poorer than the poorest.

Our bus toured us around Joburg and Soweto. Soweto stands for southwest township which was established during the time of the apartheid. It was made as temporary housing for the mine workers. But since then until the time of the country’s liberation, people permanently occupied the area. Squatters set in and overcrowding resulted to violence and uncontrolled crimes.

Compared to Metro Manila “soweto”, the two are almost the same but that one is Joburg is far better. It has its own place far from the city center — the township is situated in a wide land area, some houses are real “houses” and not the two-story tagpi-tagping yero at karton kind which are typically seen beside the railroad in Sampaloc, Makati and Tondo and beside the black stagnant rivers in Quaipo and Binondo or the mobile houses in kariton.

I was called out with Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa’s Sunday message: “What have you come here to see? Have you come here to see Soweto?” He is the bishop of the UMC Zimbabwe Area. He challenged everyone saying that Soweto might be in our own backyard. Amid the tiring days, I came to a moment of reflection. My mind flashed back to the Philippines and imagined that, yes, Soweto is just in my backyard or perhaps even more.

The only prominent difference is that people in Soweto are blacks while those in my backyard are my fellow Filipinos. I was and still proud to be Filipino but I came to pity my country. I came to hate the government for its inefficient work and program in alleviating the standard of living and eradicating poverty. But more than that, I was challenged to do something about it. For now, what I can do is to let you know about this.

People like Meds who have a heart for volunteerism and mission are nearly extinct. Many of us are just contented ending a day and beginning anew and continuing our routines. We might have wanted to go to other places or countries for mission and to help the so called poor but as I said to Meds, “Hindi mababayaran ng mga dolyares na ipadadala mo ang pagkalinga ng isang Pilipino sa kapwa Pilipino.” (Your dollar remittances could not surpass the care a Filipino can give to fellow Filipino.)

Before we open our eyes to other poor countries and have compassion to them, isn’t it better when we first reach out to the Sowetos we have in our own backyards. We might be looking far ahead that we are not able to see what are just in front of us.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Quiapo

vs.

Soweto