Buto’t Balat (reflection for theology)

As I was eating my lasagna and drinking my cup of tea at San Francisco Coffee at El Pueblo, I saw this little girl outside the coffee shop holding a plastic bag. She looked tired and hungry. I wanted to give her something to eat but she was gone by the time I got a pack of skyflakes out of my bag. It was so ironic how I was drinking my expensive coffee while this kid was trying to find some leftover food to fill up her stomach. This got me to recall the documentary we watched the other day. 

 The documentary Buto’t Balat hosted by Kara David focused on the living conditions of some of the people in the Philippines. In the documentary, a family from Mercedes, Bicol was shown. They did not have enough food to eat that they would eat plain cooked rice in order to fill up their tummies. The money they have is only enough to buy rice, coffee and sugar. All these things would ensure that their tummies will be filled. However they do not get the nutrition that they badly need for their bodies to be able to function properly.

Another family’s breadwinner was a fisherman. He could not buy the fish he would catch because they cost much higher than what he actually makes. Because of this, his 2 year old child’s weight is only equivalent to that of a 3 month old baby and his 14 years old child’s weight is only equivalent to that of a 2 year old child.

Another family relies on a pedicab driver for their daily sustenance. Because of the rather small amount of money he can bring home, they can only live on 30 pesos a day. A little meal like a 7 eggs and rice would be shared by the whole family of 7 children and 2 adults.

This documentary was extremely disturbing for me. I did not realize how bad the malnutrition situation is in the Philippines. I knew that many people were suffering from poverty but I did not realize that this was the extent of it all.In fact the Philippines is just 2% lower in terms of malnutrition rate as compared to Africa. The problem is so big that I am not sure how it can be addressed anymore.  I am just at a loss. One problem that could be seen would be the ignorance of people. A lot of them do not realize the importance of what they eat in accordance to the function of their bodies. The sick child in Bicol kept on praying to Mama Mary because she felt that Mama Mary could cure her. But the ultimate cure for her condition was proper food and not Mama Mary (but of course praying helps). The mother who did not want to leave her malnourished child in the hospital probably did not realize the gravity of the situation and the extent of the child’s condition. Couples who already did not have money would have a large number of children and others to come along the way. One cannot fathom how they can actually still procreate while knowing that they are already unable to feed the rest of their brood. This is why I support the Reproductive Health Bill (which is something else to blog about). After all if there were lesser mouths to feed, the government might have an easier time helping them. 

Another problem would be the lack of full blown programs. A lof of the programs we have are just for a certain period of time. The local governments should try to  fix the budget in such a way that the people would be able to benefit all year round from feeding programs. 

 Basically I think all the problems stemmed from ignorance. Lack of education left the people handicapped. But I am really not sure how to reach out to so many people now. It is so difficult at this stage because so many people are suffering. When will this all end? 

When will the children be like this?