A Little History
There are 7,107 islands in the archipelago. In the distant past they were more or less independent from each other. Over the millennia Muslim Indians, Spaniards, Americans, Japanese, and a host of other nationalities have been here. Wikipedia has a pretty good write-up, if you’re interested.
The resultant melting pot is decidedly Asian, but vastly different from their neighbors. Filipinos put down quirks in the national psyche, if any, as being due to three and a half centuries in a Convent followed by fifty years of Hollywood. After a Filipino delivered that line to me, the others present laughed uproariously. As a matter of fact they laugh at about anything. A few years ago there was a coup attempt with army troops shooting at other army troops. The noise drew a crowd who all cheered and laughed until the bullets started coming their way. As I’ve said before, they are the happiest people I’ve ever met.
I went grocery shopping yesterday to stock the new apartment. After things were put away, I tried my hand at a little cookery in my somewhat truncated kitchen. I had four females laughing their heads off at my efforts. [A note to the thin skinned: Don’t come here if you don’t want to be the butt of at least a few jokes.]
The Shabu Epidemic
Methamphetamine abuse, called “shabu” locally, is a raging epidemic. One of the females whom I amused yesterday with my kitchen klutz routine is a 7 year old girl named Vanessa. Her story illustrates the nightmare of the drug.
Vanessa’s grandmother wasn’t terribly selective in her choice of mates, leading to Vanessa’s mom’s rape at age 13 at the hands of one of several step-fathers. She then followed the typical path of the low self esteem female which is too many mates, too many children, not enough money, prostitution to make ends meet, drugs to ease the pain of her existence and eventually drug dealing. The which has landed her money making butt in the clink. She’s been incarcerated for 5 years so far with an indeterminate time left to go.
She did attempt to see to the then toddler’s welfare by putting the little girl in the care of a trust worthy woman with her own family. But Vanessa was taken out of foster care by her father who allowed her to run loose in the streets with not enough to eat or proper care. Recently she has been returned to foster care without so much as a toothbrush. She was hungry for food and gentle attention. The pain I felt at her experience while watching her eat yesterday was profound.
A human face has been put on the wreckage of the drug epidemic and it is that of a still-innocent 7 year old girl. I’ve been active in helping lushes and loadies find a new path for life, but I am beginning to get the feeling that I should put my efforts into helping the other Vanessas and Vans out there.
There are 7,107 islands in the archipelago. In the distant past they were more or less independent from each other. Over the millennia Muslim Indians, Spaniards, Americans, Japanese, and a host of other nationalities have been here. Wikipedia has a pretty good write-up, if you’re interested.
The resultant melting pot is decidedly Asian, but vastly different from their neighbors. Filipinos put down quirks in the national psyche, if any, as being due to three and a half centuries in a Convent followed by fifty years of Hollywood. After a Filipino delivered that line to me, the others present laughed uproariously. As a matter of fact they laugh at about anything. A few years ago there was a coup attempt with army troops shooting at other army troops. The noise drew a crowd who all cheered and laughed until the bullets started coming their way. As I’ve said before, they are the happiest people I’ve ever met.
I went grocery shopping yesterday to stock the new apartment. After things were put away, I tried my hand at a little cookery in my somewhat truncated kitchen. I had four females laughing their heads off at my efforts. [A note to the thin skinned: Don’t come here if you don’t want to be the butt of at least a few jokes.]
The Shabu Epidemic
Methamphetamine abuse, called “shabu” locally, is a raging epidemic. One of the females whom I amused yesterday with my kitchen klutz routine is a 7 year old girl named Vanessa. Her story illustrates the nightmare of the drug.
Vanessa’s grandmother wasn’t terribly selective in her choice of mates, leading to Vanessa’s mom’s rape at age 13 at the hands of one of several step-fathers. She then followed the typical path of the low self esteem female which is too many mates, too many children, not enough money, prostitution to make ends meet, drugs to ease the pain of her existence and eventually drug dealing. The which has landed her money making butt in the clink. She’s been incarcerated for 5 years so far with an indeterminate time left to go.
She did attempt to see to the then toddler’s welfare by putting the little girl in the care of a trust worthy woman with her own family. But Vanessa was taken out of foster care by her father who allowed her to run loose in the streets with not enough to eat or proper care. Recently she has been returned to foster care without so much as a toothbrush. She was hungry for food and gentle attention. The pain I felt at her experience while watching her eat yesterday was profound.
A human face has been put on the wreckage of the drug epidemic and it is that of a still-innocent 7 year old girl. I’ve been active in helping lushes and loadies find a new path for life, but I am beginning to get the feeling that I should put my efforts into helping the other Vanessas and Vans out there.
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