Too sick to move :(

My friend Novs and I were supposed to visit a coastal community at Taguig so I can shoot photographs for my entry to the EAS Congress photo contest but I’m still sick. :( I’m still feverish and coughing my lungs out. :( Yesterday I slept almost the whole day and felt a little better in the evening, but today I feel like my throat is burning up, it’s so itchy. 

It helps that we drink calamansi juice everyday since we got sick. We should’ve been drinking it before but I’ve been so busy, I didn’t have time to make calamansi juice for us everyday. I hope we feel better tomorrow. 

I have to go now, I’ll hop by your blogs next week, as soon as I feel better. :)

Aside: The exit signs expert.

LP #28: Luma Na

Naku, pihadong magagalit ang asawa ko nito dahil may sakit na nga ako ay pinipilit ko parin humabol sa LP. Haha. Anyways, ito ang aking lahok para sa LP ngayong linggo na may temang “Luma Na”. Kung papansinin, OA sa pagka-expired itong bote na ito dahil noong Disyembre ng taong 2004 pa dapat ito tinapon. Haha. Ewan kung bakit hindi natapon yan. Eh hindi naman ako tumitingin ng expiration date ng Vicks, no. Basta mukhang maayos, amoy maayos, okay pa. Malay ko bang apat na taon nang expired yan. Nagamit ko tuloy. Don’t worry, buhay pa ako! Happy LP sa ating lahat!

Stranger #9: Lola Warlita

I found Lola Warlita near the overpass at Reliance St. corner EDSA. Like Lando, she also sells candies and cigarettes for a living. Lola was a little shy at first and didn’t want me to take her photo, but she agreed after only a few seconds of gentle coaxing. I noticed that she was a little conscious of the defect in her eyes, so I took the shot as quickly as I could so she won’t feel too uncomfortable. After taking the photo, I asked her where she lived and she said “Nuebe de Pebrero”, which is very near where my husband and I lived.

“Delikado doon”, she said. (It’s a dangerous place)

She told me that last Thursday. all the profit she made and all the cigarettes and candies that she was supposed to sell were confiscated when the MMDA arrested her for vending on the sidewalk. She, along with other vendors (those who couldn’t run too fast, anyway) were rounded up and fined P1,000 each. She only had P300 that time, so that’s all she gave, and she was really worried because that P300 was supposed to be for her grandson’s school project and lunch money. Fortunately, a kind bystander noticed her and gave her P300 to make up for what she lost that day.

She does have children, although all of them were jobless (except for one). She adopted one of her grandchildren and is trying to put him through school. He’s graduating from high school this coming March. Her husband is at Mt. Banahaw, tending to their little hut and living off the vegetables planted in their backyard.

Lola Warlita used to be a street sweeper before she became a vendor. She said that she wants to go home to the province and be with her husband, but that her grandson (and her children) still depend on her for support. Her eyes sparkled when she talked about her grandson, she’s very proud of him, saying that he’s a very smart and kind boy. She only looked sad when she said that she’d like to retire soon, but she can’t because of all the mouths she has to feed. She’s really optimistic, though, she never lets herself sound defeated. Whenever she sounds dangerously close to complaining about her life, she tells me about all the good stuff that has happened to her. A very remarkable woman.

Lola Warlita is, so far, the friendliest, warmest stranger I’ve ever met. I’m glad I took the time to stop and talk to her today.

I’m writing this early because I can’t submit the photo to the 100 Strangers pool until tomorrow. We’re allowed to photograph several people a day, but only allowed to submit one. Still, I felt that Lola Warlita’s story was worth writing early. :) Oh, I also posted the photo at my photoblog, My Manila.

If you want to know more about the 100 strangers project or view photos from other members, visit the website here or join our Flickr group here.

Stranger #8: Lando

This is Lando, he is my Stranger #8. He sells candies and cigarettes in front of the building where I work. I never tried to approach him since I started the 100 Strangers project because he always seemed to look so grim. This morning, while looking for the magtataho (so me and my office buddies can have our daily taho fix), I asked him where the magtataho was and he said that he just left a few minutes before we went down. I mustered up enough courage to ask him if I can take a photograph. He said he was camera shy, but he sat very still and looked at me while I took several photos of him.

At first I did a tight head shot, but then I decided I’d include his candies and cigarettes in the photo.

Lando lives in Angono, Rizal and commutes to our building everyday. Imagine that. His fare is around Php 62 everyday. I don’t know his daily profit covers that, and food too. I should go back downstairs and ask him during our lunch break. If he’s still there. Usually it gets really hot around 1PM, and most of the vendors move to a different spot.

If you want to know more about the 100 strangers project or view photos from other members, visit the website here or join our Flickr group here.

Where there are people who hope for more

Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

I’ve lived here in Katarungan St. for over a year and this is the first time I noticed this little shanty a few meters away from our place. This little run-down makeshift “house” is an office of the KMU-NAFLU. Looks really run-down, doesn’t it? Looks depressing too. It’s a feat that people fight for better working conditions despite the huge odds.