By Myee Campos
I came to know He Cares Foundation through the Feast, a weekly prayer meeting and Eucharistic celebration of the Light of Jesus Family.
I visit He Cares twice or thrice whenever we have a culminating activity for our CG (Care Group), so visiting the street kids and preparing food for them were not novel to me.
When Daryl invited me to join him at He Cares last December 2010, I readily said, “Yes! Sure, no problem,” or so I thought…
I assumed that it would be a one-time activity for his CG. It was an honest mistake. ;)
He said that it will be a weekly commitment serving the street kids. Wow! Weekly? Are you serious? I work at graveyard, so coming to He Cares after my shift every Saturday will be a tall order; however, I decided to give it a try. Why not? Giving a fraction of my time to them is nothing compared to the countless blessings I receive from above.
Ems wanted me to try the hygiene area wherein we’d be in charge of bathing the street kids. "Yeah! Why not? It will be cool,” I thought. These kids have not taken a bath for a week — that would be a big challenge.
The normal routine very early in Saturday will be picking up the street kids in NIA and Agham Roads. You can see how happy the kids are to see the van that Toto drives. You don’t need to haul them; they will just come to you. In a matter of minutes, the van is fully loaded with the kids, their moms, and grandmothers. Oh, you can even smell the stinkiness of the kids!
My very first encounter with the street kids — they were so filthy. Whew! The biggest challenge was putting everything in order since I am very meticulous. But I’m not complaining. The moment they stepped out of the van, they ran towards the center to line up. It’s a good thing the other volunteers brought liquid soap and shampoo for them; otherwise we had to use bar soap and Guard shampoo for their very young skin. So much realization dawned on me during that time. As I scrubbed the dirt off from the kids, I saw the grime flowing out. I compared that to my own journey to the LORD. The kids represent me; the center is the LORD. I was running back to Him — taking a bath is like washing my own dirt, and the Lord is washing me without conditions, without judgment. The new clothes given to the kids represent a new hope for me… I felt GOD was telling me, “Go on… Start anew…”
I thought everything was okay after bathing the kids; however, we still needed to prepare food for 250 kids. It was tiring but fun. It was like going to the gym and working out.
As we always say, despite our own problems, trails, and life’s difficulties, upon seeing the children’s plight, we have no right to complain.
Despite my graveyard shift and heavy work load, I always look forward to my Saturday mornings because I see myself in the faces of the dirty kids, and I see God at the center. I always keep coming back to Him…
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