The Other Side of the Bridge

While chatting with Robert and Ate Dora ("ate" is a title meaning "big sister" that you would give to an older female), she asked, "Would you like to visit my house?" This is very Filipino. Hospitality is a part of Filipino culture and even if their place is small or they have very little food, they will still invite you into their home and share what ever they have with you. She lives on the other side of the bridge, just under it near the river. As I walked to Ate Dora's place with a small group of children following me, I saw people hand washing their clothes. They have a community pump that they share to get their water for washing. Those who can afford it buy different water locally for drinking.

There were clothes hanging on lines and in the windows of their houses. Ate Dora jokingly calls the houses under the bridge "condos" because they are nicer than the homes like Robert's that are fixed between the bridge and the road. These homes are improvised with pieces of wood, metal, and tarps. They were built on stilts so that they don't get flooded when the river rises. Ate Dora told me that they have to move to higher ground sometimes during the typhoon season. It's not uncommon for families who are living as squatters along side the river to be swept away during the night while they are sleeping. This happens when typhoons cause the water to rise quickly. The squatters who have no electricity, and therefore no television or radio, sometimes have no idea that a typhoon is coming.
I was told that there were about 15 or 16 families living under and around the bridge, but I don't know how many people are living there all together. There are dozens of bridges like this that cross the Marikina River and I can't help but wonder if those bridges have communities living under them too. When I first met the children who live here they were respectfully calling me "Kuya."(a title meaning "big brother" that you would call an older male) It was cute as I was visiting with Robert the other day and they were calling out, "Kuya Sean." I guess they are getting used to me being around.

As I was walking through the structures leading to Ate Dora's house, I was hoping that the brown water that was running across the path was not human waste. I didn't want to give the appearance of uneasiness -- this was their home -- so I walked straight ahead watching my steps till we reached her house. I said a quick prayer in my head as I drank the water she offered me, a kindness which I was not about to refuse. As I sat in Ate Dora's house, which was probably no more than a 10X10 space, we had pleasant conversation. She pulled a hand fan and began fanning me, her grand child, and herself all in one motion. She has about 15 grandchildren. She told me how one of her daughters-in-law could no longer take the living conditions or married life so she abandoned her husband and two sons (The little boys towards the back in this picture).

I'm praying about the possibility of bringing a genorator down there so that I can bring our projector to show a movie for the kids followed by the Jesus film. We will see what the Lord will enable us to do. Click here to read more.