I was born and raised in General Santos, a city located in the southern part of the Philippines which is located in Southeast Asia. I am the youngest among four kids, and together with my parents, two brothers and a sister, I grew up living a modest life in the eastern part of the city in a compound whose land was lent to us for free. Our two-bedroom house had a tin roof, plywood walls and bamboo floors. We didn’t have air-conditioned rooms nor did we have bathrooms. We had an outhouse and we took our shower at a pump which we shared with three other families, our neighbors.
It was a simple life, but we never complained because for us, it was a good life. I think we were too young then to realize that life was hard. But we never starved. We ate three times a day and we had nice clothes to wear. They may not have been fancy, but having a new set of clothes, regardless of the price, was enough to make my young heart happy. My dad drove a motorcycle which later on he upgraded to a tricycle, a three-wheeled motorcycle which is still to this day a major part of urban transit in my hometown; hundreds of them cruise the city streets daily, our version of all the yellow cabs that travel the streets of New York City. My parents were very hardworking. My dad had a job and my mom was into different kinds of small businesses.
That was our life until I was 11-years-old. My parents were able to buy a house for us in a subdivision. A house with two bedrooms and a bathroom which later on was turned into a three bedroom house with two bathrooms. Then my dad was able to buy two pick-up trucks for the business that he started as well as a car for the family; it was his hard work, pulling himself up by the bootstraps, that allowed him to start his own business that pulled us out of living in near poverty. The four of us also graduated college in a private school and each of us graduated with a Bachelor’s degree without the need to work and support ourselves because our parents took on all the financial responsibilities of our education. We were blessed, truly blessed. And money did make a big part in how our life turned for the better. But we were not at all rich. But for me the life that we had was good and that was because I’d seen worse.
The Philippines being a third-world country, there are a lot of kids, out-of-school kids, and adults alike you see in the streets every single day begging for money or food. And you’d even see them sleep on the sidewalks outside of business establishments at night wearing dirty and torn clothes with only cardboard as mats and empty sacks as blankets. Seeing them in those situations never failed to break my heart. That’s why giving back and sharing has always been a deed that I do as much as I can. If only we could give more. And I found it ironic after arriving here in the US, the richest nation in the world, to see homeless people living in the same conditions that I saw back home. So when the opportunity arrived to give help, as a family, we jumped right in.
My 12-year-old was inducted into the Beta Club in 6th grade and he’s still in the Beta Club now that he’s in 7th grade. As part of their community service, they were asked to serve and help the best way and in any way they could. In this photo, both my son and my husband were busy packing noodles in packs to be distributed to the needy. This was at our local food back, the MANNA Food Bank.
This was a Rotary Club sponsored activity; my parents are Rotary Club members back in the Philippines. That’s our son there with his back to the camera. They packed different food items which were donated to MANNA Food Bank to be distributed to different areas in the state of North Carolina.
He also volunteered as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army which he really enjoyed. He rang the bell for two hours without complaints and even danced at some point.
Our son is fortunate not to live the life that I once lived, but he knows how life is tough for others and that’s why at his young age, he is more than willing to help and give back in the simplest possible way he can.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Chain of Betters and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
We try to volunteer as much as possible. I love teaching my kids to be kind to others.
Paying it forward is the only way we can make this world a better place. I love seeing it in action.
This is such a great story. What an awesome experience for your son. It’s so great to lead by example.
It is so important to give back to the community. I try to teach my kids the importance of helping people less fortunate than us.
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Creating time to volunteer and give to others is an important lesson to teach to our youth.
It is great to see your son doing such great volunteer work. I need to get my kids involved in that.
Great post. I used to ring bells for Salvation Army when I was younger, great program.
I think this time of year people start thinking toward how to give to others. I hope that this catches on like wildfire and we all do this year ’round! Thanks for sharing!
It’s great that your personal experience inspires you and your family to give back! This inspires me to do the same.
aw, this warms my heart. You’re teaching your son right… I hope my kids grow up to doing these things from the kindness of their heart.
Even the simplest act of kindness can go a long way. I love the fact that you teach your child to volunteer and sacrifice some of their time for the good of others. I think it is very important that you teach a child while they are still young how to be good to others.
My husband and I try to volunteer and donate as much as possible. Giving back to our community is very important.
my mission in life is to give back in every way that i can, every day. even if it is the smallest of gestures it can make a huge difference. thanks for sharing.
It is nice that we make the kids learn to be caring and compassionate towards others. Start them young and they will definitely be the change the world has been waiting for.
What a wonderful, feel-good post. I think it’s great how your family gives back. So inspiring.
Yep, I never though I would see homeless people here in the States. It’s not as bad as the ones we have back home. At least here, there are organizations that they can go to, over there in PInas. WALA!
It’s nice that you are encouraging him to get involved in activities like this. Thanks for sharing this inspiring post.
I think Beta Club is awesome! I love the opportunities it gives kids to give back to their communities!!
The family and I volunteer all the time for such great causes! It is an amazing experience to do. Giving back is such a great feeling to have and knowing we can help in any way is the best.
I love to see kids working at the food banks. It teaches them so much, and it is rewarding for them at the same time because they know they are helping other people.
I love that everyone jumped in. Being homeless is something no one should ever have to experience.
My daughter is finally at the age where she’s starting to understand this type of stuff! We will definitely be volunteering over the holidays!
Volunteering is so important! I try to teach my son that donating your time is giving back the blessings you receive!
more people need to realize that acts of kindness can save the world. thank you for sharing.
As a child, for 3 years of my life, my family was poor. We weren’t homeless yet, but we were really close. People felt sorry and gave us kids all these outdated clothes. We wore them to school and had the free lunch, and got ridiculed by the kids who had stuff.
When I can, I donate. I don’t like to see people suffering. I work really hard to make sure my son never has the same experience of having only a 1 or 2 small meals in a 2 week period.
Thank you for sharing your story. It’s inspiring! I’ve always loved giving back to others, but have never done any type of volunteer work before. However, I’d love to someday!
Giving your son the example of paying it forward is a great one, and I am always happy to hear about and support brands that are actively giving back and doing some good!
What a wonderful post! One of my passions is giving back and doing so with kindness. It’s so important!
I love reading post like these. It reminds me that good people still exists. It’s so important to teach kids from a young age.
That is so awesome that he volunteered to be a bell ringer. I love Salvation Army.
The Salvation Army is a great organization! It’s nice to see young children volunteering!
I think it’s so important for us to teach our children to give back. My son has developmental disabilities but I do my best to try and translate to him the acts of kindness.
It’s really important to teach our kids the value of giving back and paying it forward.