Erin, Laura and I went to Samaritana to go on community outreach with some of the women who work there. Laura and I were assigned to go out with Ate Malou. One of the first and most important things we learned about the Philapino culture is that they have no concept of personal space. Ate Malou was a saint and so incredible throughout the day, but boy does she love to touch.
It was an extremely hot day and it was just normal for her to grab my hand while we crossed the street. It was also very normal for her to sit right next to me on the Jeepney. I don’t quite think I’ve explained to you what a Jeepney is. It is a mode of transportation around the Philippines that tends to be fairly cheap and drops you off according to where that particular Jeepney travels. It looks sort of like a small school bus with the windows taken out and the back door taken off. It also only has to long seats running the length of the vehicle. Regularly throughout the day and night you see people hanging off the back of the Jeepney’s because the inside is too packed to fit anyone else. It is definitely an experience you don’t want to miss if you go to the Philippines. Many of us have actually come to love the Jeepney’s. My teammate Cara is talking about buying one and using it in the States to do “The United States Race”.
Anyway, Ate Malou took us around to different communities that women who Samaritana has met at night ministry live in. It amazed me at the poverty I was surrounded by. I have the typical American mindset about prostitution; that the women involved are just too lazy to go get a real job. What I began to realize when we went out into the communities was that these women used prostitution as their last resort. One woman “house” was just a room made up of wood pieces and tin put together. Her and her two kids live in this room about the size of a normal full American bathroom. They all sleep on cardboard boxes because they have nothing else. Desperation and hopelessness. That is what I sensed for why they got into prostitution. Many of the women have “husbands” in their lives but they are usually just live-in boyfriends who come into the picture whenever they want to. The women who we met understand what they are doing is wrong. That is why most women that Samaritana works with have never told their families or husbands what their job is. They have a sense of shame for working on the streets but don’t know what else to do to support their families.
As I was looking at the women I kept thinking about how beautiful they were and what hard lives they had already lived; lives that should not be judged but given grace and mercy. I wish their lives didn’t have to be so hard. I wish they didn’t have to sell their bodies to keep themselves and their kids alive. I wish they understood that they are beautiful and can still be loved and are loved. There are so many things I hope for these women. One of my biggest hopes is that they realize that God loves them even in the midst of everything they are doing and going through. I pray that they take responsibility for their lives and their future and find a way out. I pray that God places people in their path that help them do just that.
