October 11, 2015. Helping Land, Tondo, Manila. It was my fourth visit as a volunteer in this slum community where families live in an active dump site. The volunteer program is being organized by an NGO that aims to keep the children away from the streets when they are out of school. They gather the children in a hall where we conduct the activities.
Depending on the topic for the day, we conduct workshops for different grade levels. I got children of around nine to ten years of age. This time, we have this kid as an import. He insisted on joining our table and got up onto my lap! I have seen this kid during my previous visits. He is about four years old. He was just running here and there most of the time. Now that he joined our group, I asked my other “students” of his name.
He saw my mobile phone and motioned for it. When I handed it to him, he faced it and kept tapping his finger on it. I got it! He wants to take selfie. Instead of letting him be, I asked a girl in our group to take our photos. From then on, he kept asking for his photo to be taken and watch them afterwards. He enjoys seeing his image.
From out of nowhere, one of the girls asked me to adopt him. I asked where the parents are and the girl said he has his parents but the two of us will be better as mother and son. Huh!? Whaaattt? These kids have sense of humor that I never imagined.
The boy was not paying attention to our conversation. He was occupied with his photos. He got so comfortable that I was even pegged to be his better mother. I was surprised to see this photo afterwards to indeed look like a mother-son tandem.
I have been going back to the same community from time to time but the boy was not present most of the time. I saw him once but he is on his old ways of running here and there.
Somewhere out there, a stranger kid once loved me for my mobile phone. How I love the innocence and contentment.
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How about you? What is the story behind your single photo?
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