My Friend, Gabino

May 3, 2003: Manila Philippines
Camera: Olympus E-10 digital SLR: 1/200s f/3.2 at 34.0mm iso80

Gabino's a popular cigarette & candy street vendor in Metro Manila, and I've photographed & chatted with him many times over the past few years (here I caught him napping in the afternoon at his vending stand) - I always make an extra effort to support his business when I'm in town, buying his snacks that I give to the street kids I'm helping there.

He leads a very simple & hard life there; I've seen him sleeping many times on Pedro Gil Street at night - yet other times I've seen him pack his wares at the end of his day and walk off to places unknown, so I don't really know what his situation really is.

What worries me about Gabino is that the last time I saw him in early 2006 he was getting very thin - he'd been losing a lot of weight since 2005 and I can't help thinking that he might be sick, and I really won't know this until I get back to Manila in Nov.2006 and try to find him again.

On the positive side, if he needs to see a doctor - I know my friend Dr. Chris Acala just outside Manila will let me pay for his office visit, or maybe won't even charge him for an office visit if I can get him to go, or if I can bring him there - Dr. Chris is a good friend of mine & a fellow photographer in his spare time, as well as a humanitarian.

I hope my friend Gabino is still there on the street when I get to Manila.

PJAMES