LittleFish, my 'little sister' (LONG post, please read)

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/20s f/5.6 at 29.0mm iso100

Jan.17, 2007: Bantayan Island, Philippines
LittleFish on the left, pictured with Mary (not her real name) who's blind in one eye - LittleFish & I were helping Mary most of January 2007, who was a victim of domestic violence.
I brought LittleFish with me that day to shop for Mary's clothes (she is extremely poor & had none) for her meals (she wasn't getting enough to eat) and LittleFish personally looked after her while Mary's case was under Police investigation.

I nicknamed Rosa 2 years ago 'LittleFish' because she's such a strong swimmer; I call her "my little sister" and she's always been a very good friend to me on the Island, and she comes from a very good Family where I've known & helped her Parents also in that time - they're a simple, working poor Family who fish for a meager living, and who live in a simple coco wood and bamboo shack (for lack of a better word) right on the beach, and I've posted before from Philippines when the December 2006 Typhoon came roaring through the Island, images of how it took the roof off their house.

I've always photographed her Family and have posted the children's images here many times - there are 7 children in the Family, and Mama Helen is expecting their 8th child later this year.

The Family's always extended their hospitality to me when I see them daily on the Island, even though they have very little to offer me (by Western standards), but that is always a profoundly humbling experience for me - being greeted by a very poor Family who has practically nothing, yet each day they greet me & prepare me morning coffee - or Milo (similar to Ovaltene, a cocoa drink) if there's no coffee - and always offer me whatever food they are eating, most times just rice & fish they get from their nightly fishing trips, cooked over a coco wood fire as they have no 'kitchen' or stove to cook on.

I'm always asked to sit down on a plastic chair, the kids always stop what they're doing to bring me a soda or whatever is available, and I spend time with the family that way, talking to Rosa's Parents, playing with the kids on the beach, and learning how a poor Family copes with the difficulties of trying to raise their children, pay the bills, and have food to eat at the same time...as I said, a very humbling experience for me.

I've always helped them over the last 2 years out of my own pocket and through the support I get from others here, and I can't tell you how many times I've stopped by their place to see the kids sitting outside - not playing, just doing chores - and I ask if they've had their rice today, and am told "kuya, no rice here..." "kuya, there's no food...", etc. - and I DO have to ask a few times, as they won't tell me right away; they are too shy and too ashamed, so I know it's difficult for them to say anything.

As hard as the Family works at fishing, sometimes there's just no catch of the day to sell to the local vendors who stop by to purchase - and when that happens, there's no money for the Family to even buy any rice to eat, so when I'm there I can not, and will not see that Family go hungry.

On those days, my daily itinerary stops right there - and I immediately head off into town, taking Rosa with me on my motorcycle (and she's so ashamed to go with me, so it takes some convincing) and ride straight to the local rice vendors at the market, where I select 50 kilos of the mid grade rice to be poured into a huge sack, to be put on a tricycle and driven to her house, so her Family can eat.

They never ask for it, but I'm thankful I've learned to know when they need it, and you should see the look on Rosa's face when we're at the rice dealer - all the stress of wondering where her Families next meal is coming from begins to go away, and just watching her calm down and begin to smile again is all the justification I'll ever need to see.

Did you ever see anyone SMILE at the simple fact that they know they'll be able to eat a meal of boiled rice and nothing else that day and maybe the next day?

We ride back to the house, ahead of the rice thats coming - and all the kids enthusiastically begin to prepare the coco wood fire on the ground, and THEY begin to smile again - their stress and hunger pangs start to go away now, as they realize they can eat a meal.

When different people ask me why I do this, why I help to support a few Families like Rosa's - I always tell them the above story, and I've always told them "because it's the right thing to do, that's all..."
...they stay silent for a few moments, and my answer is never challenged.

Last month on the Island, I was able to give my sister LittleFish a few weeks of paid work before I left - attending to BNs house I was staying in while he was away in Europe (he always asks me to stay at his place & look after it every April), and when I got the idea to develop a new Philippines travel based website a few weeks before I had to leave Bantayan, it let me give her some work she's been so hungry to find (work is really tough to find on the Island for locals) and it also let me come up with a plan for the website to be supported by advertising, so I might be able to be there longer then I'm able to currently.

I paid her twice the prevailing daily wage there on the Island, and it worked out wonderfully - I got the time from 6:30am to 8pm daily to work on the laptop, and Rosa with her younger brother & neighbor had paid work looking after BN's large house and property with its extensive garden, as I absolutely did not have the time to look after the property AND get in a full work day as mid April approached with its 4/20 deadline; I had to get everything done I was working on before 4/20 when I left the Island to start the journey back to the USA.

After we both were working all morning, I didn't even break for lunch - I'd buy the groceries and Rosa would make herself & her brother rice, noodles, fruit, etc. and one of her sisters would arrive at the house to watch little Kalle her 9 month old baby boy, so that Rosa could go with me for the rest of the day on my appointments there with the local businesses I had to photograph and get written information from, for the website.

Rosa would spend the time with the managers there transcribing written info & brochures, as I would be off photographing what I needed to shoot, and we'd move onto the next place and do the same, and we'd end the day back at BN's house, where I'd get back onto the laptop and Rosa would make sure all her paperwork was ready for me, and we'd work that way until about 7:30/8pm or so, and I'd either take her & her brother back to her Parent's place, or if it was really late I'd insist that they just stay, watch some TV and sleep over on the couch.

The few times they did stay over, what an absolute TREAT it was for Rosa, her baby & her younger brother to just relax in a beautiful house and watch a movie on a real television, in a clean & safe place - and to be able to offer them that pleased me beyond words, as they never get time to spend in a nice house like BN's, or even watch a TV - and you know how kids always love TV!

The reason I'll be writing about this & Rosa's Family all this week, is that Rosa has been pleading with me for more work - begging for more work, and I just can't give her any more, as I'm back in the USA now and am not there to support her as best I can, as I've been doing these past few months.

She's desparately looking for work but can't find any work there on the Island to support her & Kalle (Kalle's Father is a foreigner from Europe and only occasionally sends money for his baby, and most times it's just not enough - but babies need regular support, and I've been buying the baby milk (expensive) and the diapers (expensive) and the clothes (I know where to find baby clothes cheaply), and Paternal support is a different issue entirely between her & the baby's Father - and that issue is just not working out at all - and she's told me she simply doesn't know what else to do; she doesn't know where to turn to.

She's such an important person in my life that I promised her I'd put her story here on the website to try to appeal to those who've donated to me in the past for rice, meals & clothing for her Family and others - and maybe someone or a few people who are reading this now, can offer some some support for her and baby Kalle's needs by using the donate button here on the website.

March 25, 2007: Bantayan Island, Philippines
Rosa & her son Kalle photographed at home

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/250s f/3.5 at 54.0mm iso200

There's nothing I can do about her baby's Father not sending regular support - it's his own responsibility and if he's not living up to it, there's little I can personally do and I can't help her deal with it, although I do listen to her when she talks to me about it - it upsets her and makes her cry in front of me, so I've decided to bring her issues to the website today.

It was my own decision to do this, to write about my little sister and to ask readers for some help - it was not Rosa's idea, but when I asked for her permission to post her story, images and needs - she agreed, and that made me happy - I also told her I can't promise her anything and she completely understands that - but that I would do my very best to tell her story, publish her images and hope for the best.

So I thank you for being patient enough to read through all this today, and I'll continue her story here this week.

Good Sunday afternoon to you all,
PJAMES