CWTS gasa sa gugma outreach...

A human being starts as 2 cells in different people. These cells unite and become an embryo. This is the conception of a human being. After 9 months, a baby is born. It would be loved by its parent/s. It would be given 24/7 attention. It would be cared for. It would become a part of a family.

This is what happens in every family. As the baby grows, it becomes more special to the eyes of its parents. As the baby, it is loved more. When he/she would start schooling, he gains knowledge that he needs in his life.
He/she grows into a teenager, then an adult, then a senior citizen.

We, the fourth year students of the UP High School Cebu, went to Gasa sa Gugma in Mabolo for their CWTS subject to hold an outreach program last friday. We planned to entertain them with presentations by the different platoons. We went there via Kaoshiung bus. As we entered the place, we started to be excited to give the old people in there the love and care that a family can give.

We arrived there about 2:30pm. We had to switch plans because there was a celebration of the holy mass at 3pm and we were only there until 4:15pm. Instead of having a program, we just gave them our company. We talked to them. Our hearts were touched with what we saw. We came to realize that in due time, we would be in their present condition.

Lola Lucia started to say this: 'gai ko ug sinsilyo sir'. I had a feeling that she was a beggar sometime ago. She was always repeating the alphabet song. More particularly, she was always repeating the part 'Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z'. I can't remember what she was saying because she was eating her words. I wasn't able to decipher what she was saying. But her expression everytime she finishes speaking was unforgetable. Her expression was that she winked her left eye and said 'oher!'. I don't know what that means but I remember it. But I was shocked with what the personnel in the place treated her. I saw that her was threatening to pinch her when she wasn't able to recite the 'Amahan Namo' and the 'Maghimaya ka Maria". I saw the whole thing. Whe was mean! That is no way of treating and old person. She should've understood Lola Lucia. Maybe I was wrong in judging that person. It is a stressful job to take care of dozens of old people. But threatening an old person? I rest my case. I am not the right person to judge the personnel.

Lola Lucia was carried away by another personnel. So I went and approached Lolo Diosdado Trinidad. Lolo Diosdado was saying that 'maghinigugmaay ta kay magigsuon kita'. I thought that in that visit, I would learn something that would be significant in my life. I won't forget that. He also said that we should forgive each other because of the same reason. I think that Lolo Diosdado wasn't able to do that. Maybe he is regretting what he did and tells people so that they won't do the mistake that he has done. Thank you Lo!

I accompanied another old person. But I wasn't able to know his name. He was very forgetful. The others told him that FPJ had died, he would react like this: 'ha? patay na si FPJ? dugay na?'. After a while, they would tell him again, and he would then react the same way. I could just feel the hardships that these old people feel everyday. I don't know if he would forget that we visited them.

Then, I went to accompany another old man. Unlike the others, he spoke in english. Every person that goes near him, he would say either 'You are handsome!' or 'You are beautiful'. It may seem odd, but I idolize him. He sees everything beautifully. He sees that every thing that God has made is beautiful. Yes, I idolize him. As he saw me wearing glasses, he said to me that I was a professor. I was shocked! He then told me that he was an engineer. I wasn't able to hear him say what kind. Maybe he was a mechanical engineer. He gave me a thumbs up. It felt good that a person that I just met would encourage me to study hard.

But it all had to end. We had to return to UP. As we said goodbye to the oldies we visited, tears were a common sight. It felt good to visit Gasa sa Gugma. When I would become a successful man, I would return there and donate what they really need.

I hope that they would all be safe.