Uy kamusta ka na? Grabe isang taon ka nang hindi nagpakita! Wish ko lang ganun lang kadali yun eh no. Parang facebook o text message lang sa isang kaibigan—“hoy isang taon ka nang hindi nagpakita sa’min!” sabay magre-reply ka, “busy lang, promise dinner tayo soon, kelan kayo puwede?”
Isang taon. Hindi ako makapaniwala na isang taon lang ang nakakaraan, bandang alas-kuwatro ng umaga, nag-flat yung life line at binawian ka na ng buhay. At ilang oras bago noon, mga bago mag-12 midnight, sinabi ng duktor sa magulang mo na 'yun na, wala nang pagasa. Kasi nung bago nung oras na yun, umaasa pa kaming lahat eh. Ayan tuloy naiiyak nako. Sorry na. Alam ko ayaw mo na'ko umiyak, at masaya ka na diyan. Masakit lang kasi talaga mawalan ng kaibigan at alam mo ‘to, na kaunti lang ang mga kaibigan ko. At kahit na nawalan ako ng oras sa'yo dati at nagkaroon tayo ng mga pagkakatampo, ikaw pa din at wala nang iba yung number one na kaibigan ko. Sa'yo ko lang kaya magpaka-totoo. Sayo ko lang kinuwento lahat-lahat, tungkol sa pamilya ko, sa lovelife ko, insecurities, sa mga pangarap, mga kagagahan ko. Ikaw lang yung talagang nakakaintindi sa'kin.
Minsan, pag nalulungkot ako, inaalala ko yung boses mo pag tumatawag ka sa bahay, habang may nginunguya ka pa, tas bubungangaan mo muna ko, sabay kakamustahin. O yung pang-aasar mo sa’kin ng mataba o pikon. Namimiss ko 'yun eh. Lahat yun. Pati yung pang-iisa mo sakin sa taxi fare at sa pamasahe. Tiudy, tingin ko hindi ako makaka-recover ever sa pagkawala mo. I don’t think I ever will. Minsan lang may dumating na ganoong klaseng friendship sa buhay ng tao…at hindi yun napapalitan o nahihilom ng panahon, ng tao, lugar, bagay, o ala-ala. Thankful pa din ako na nakilala kita at nakasama ng maraming taon. Okay na ‘yun. Nagpapasalamat na’ko ng sobra-sobra kay Lord nu’n.
Salamat Tiudy sa pagiging kaibigan sa akin…alam ko wala tayo masyadong common traits pero for some reason, hinatak mo’ko nung grade 3 at muli, noong 1st year highschool, at simula noon, naging bestfriends na tayo. Dati-rati nagiisip pako, diba dapat ang magkaibigan magkapareho ng ugali, ng hilig? Pero hindi pala. Mahal mo 'yun tao despite everything, kaibigan mo siya at tinatanggap ang lahat-lahat sa kanya. 'Period. 'Yan ang natutunan ko sayo, kaya salamat talaga…Grabe isang taon na Tiuds, may konsepto ba ng taon, minuto, segundo diyan? Tingin ko wala, feeling ko endless yung oras…. Oh well malalaman ko din kapag panahon ko na, 'pag panahon na din natin magkita’t maglunch at icecream diyan sa Taas at chumika nang chumika nang walang sawa…
-Alina
(published in wmn.ph, QTV Channel 11's online community; click on this link to read article in the site)
Yes, trash, or garbage if you prefer.
Visitors and customers like me would always do a double-take after being told the exquisite bags were made of discarded palengke plastic bags. A meticulous middle-aged female customer fiddled with the crocheted bags. “You mean this is not string or yarn?” she asked incredulously.
“Opo, Ma’am, plastic po ‘yan,” Ate Rica, the leader of the group, promptly answered.
The Invisible Sisters
The plastic bags are collected and made into bags by a group of urban poor women – all mothers and grandmothers – called the Invisible Sisters.
“May nakapagsabi sa’kin, yung kumare ko, na may ganitong grupo. Marunong naman ako mag-crochet dati pa eh. Sumali ako doon sa workshop ni Ma’am Rica,” Josie Tolentino, 51 years old, said as she recalled how she became an Invisible Sister.
The Invisible Sisters is the brainchild of American environmental artist Ann Wizer.
"I began in my house in Manila in late August 2008. I wanted to create a second livelihood project that also reuses waste, while creating jobs in the process. Learning from lessons of my Jakarta XSProject, I wanted something simple and easy to replicate.”
Wizer’s recycling project in Jakarta was hugely successful. Trash-pickers from slums shredded foil packs from junk food packages. The strips of trash were used to plump up and embellish functional furniture such as sala sets and executive chairs. The project yielded income for the poor women and at the same time, reused and recycled tons of trash polluting the slums of Jakarta, Indonesia. The installation entitled High Chair currently on exhibit at the Lopez Memorial Museum is one such product of the trash-pickers, Ann Wizer, and the furniture-makers that Wizer hired.
In the Philippines, Wizer decided crocheting would be a more viable idea.
“I asked the Filipinos I knew if any one knew how to crochet. All I got were blank stares, but it didn't matter: we started in my garage with a pile of colored wires from computers, used dry cleaner bags, and the supply of old plastic bags."
With the help of her cook Rica Galgao, who eventually became the project coordinator, Wizer was able to jumpstart the project.
“Nagtanong-tanong kami ni Ma’am Ann sa mga foundation ng mga kababaihan dito sa Maynila. Nagsimula kami sa isa, hanggang sa dumami na nang dumami,” Rica recalled their start-up days.
Galgao was the first to learn how to crochet plastic bags. She invited and trained women, while Wizer helped in the designs and marketed the bags locally and abroad.
Today, the Invisible Sisters has over 200 mothers and grandmothers crocheting for income. Between them, they have over 500 children and an even more staggering number of grandchildren, most of whom have no regular income.
Empowering women
Fifty-one-year-old Josie Tolentino or Aling Josie was a Management graduate but got married at a young age. She never worked all her life, being a full-time housewife to her husband and four children, the youngest being only nine years old. She relied on her husband’s income until she became an Invisible Sister.
“Malaking tulong na din po sa amin. Lalo na kapag istambay lang kami sa bahay. Pagkatapos kong magluto at maglinis, wala na akong ginagawa. Kaya malaking bagay talaga.”
Aling Josie is one of the fastest and most skilled bag-makers in her group. On the average... ( to read the rest of the article, kindly click on this link)
