Kevin Weir Visits Rosa: May 26, 2007 (updated 6/5/07)

By PJAMES on June 5, 2007 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My good friend and photographer Kevin Weir who I've spoken about here before has been working in Kuwait, and recently traveled to Thailand & Philippines last month.

Kevin & I were trading emails while he was in Manila last month, and he was keeping up with all the posts here - so I asked him if he would make the time to go visit Rosa & Edison's Family in Manila, and he immediately agreed.

I texted Rosa on the Family cell phone & told her to expect him on May 26, 2007 and I also asked Kevin if he could shoot some photographs, which are published below.
...Kevin gave me permission to also include his email to me where he explains his visit, where along with his girlfriend Shelia they both brought the kids to Robinson's Mall for a big dinner at Wendy's - he says the kids were absolutely thrilled with that, and I'm thankful to Kevin for visiting them for the first time ever, and for doing something nice for them.

Kevin told me that the burns on Rosa's hands were healing nicely with minimal scarring, and he also spoke of Edison having a brother, Francis who's pictured in the 2nd. montage.
...In the years since I've known Rosa's Family I was never aware Edison has a half-brother (Edison's Mother/different Father) so learning of Francis was very interesting, and I hope he's there when I arrive back in Manila in November 2007.

camera: Fuji FinePix S1Pro

Here's Kevin's email to me with more images, on the link below. (images updated June 5, 2007)

"well on my way back to the usa from a year long
stint of working in kuwait, i was staying in the
philippines and thailand for about 3wks..at the end of my trip,
while in manila, i asked you how to find the kids and
josie there, so you gave me directions

turned out they are only about 5 blks from where i stay anyway.
so my girlfriend sheila and i went to find them...based on
your directions, we walked up that tiny street/alley
and saw some homeless people on the street...i asked
them if they knew some kids named edison and rosa,
and he got all excited and called them out on the
corner.

thats when i met tito willie who had been
expecting me...he greeted us on the corner and then
rosa and edison showed up, with their brother
francis also in tow. we were invited inside their humble
place, which is basically an abondoned hotel or
something
(* its actually a crumbling, adbandoned movie theater/PJ)

reminds me of WW2 ruins in germany after
the bombings..after crawling through the cubby hole
entry, we were taken back to their meger living
quarters...it seems they have plenty of water though
as it was everywhere on the ground...they also had a
dog too which seemed friendly thank god so no
problems.
(* their watchdog's name is Jordan, and if one were to come
into the Family's area un-invited & not in the company of a Family
member, the dog would take that person down/PJ)

after having sheila translating for me
somewhat, we chatted with everyone and they seemed
very glad to have us there. i took some pics of the
kids and auntie josie and willie, then asked the kids if
they wanted to go eat at wendy's at the robinson's mall
around the corner.

they got all excited and quickly
changed clothes...edison put on his beloved laker's
jersey and since thats my team also, we became fast
friends. we went to the mall and had a great meal
with the kids stuffing themselves as much as they could.

we walked them back to their corner where i took a few
more shots, and other kids came to talk to us also.
the kids took a real liking to sheila and rosa held
her arm the whole way while we walked.

we said our goodbyes and shook hands with everyone
then made our way back down the street.

sheila cried later when we
got back to my hotel and said she was so humbled
after seeing them.

sheila and i can't wait to visit them
again, and i know the kids will enjoy seeing us as
well.

camera: Fuji FinePix S1Pro