For Binhi, the community I signed up for was Gawad Kalinga Munting Pamayanan 1. It is a community near Ateneo, built by the charity organization Gawad Kalinga for families with at least one disabled relative. This means that at least one resident of each household is disabled, and that’s really the only qualification for a family to live there.
As I had experienced immersions such as this before back in high school, I was sure I was more ready than I was the first time. I was partly right, since our foster mother was helpful in making us feel welcome. Their family consists of an elderly couple, and their two grandkids: a little boy and a teenage girl. The mother of the two kids chose not to live with them, while the fathers of each are separate from both parties.
I was struck by their story, especially how the grandfather lived on his own pretty much all of his life, becoming blind at the age of three due to a disease. Despite all that, he was able to start a family and still try to live somewhat like abled people do. He knows how to cook and he also often plays dominos and chess with fellow blind folk in the community. In the end, I know for a fact that there are several people out there who are unlikely to achieve what he did in similar circumstances.
Their Habitus differs by generation but what they have in common is a simple lifestyle due to their economic position; notably they are proficient in Filipino and are more accustomed to cheaper leisures such as chatting with their neighbors, watching local channels, etc. The grandparents are noted to mostly do what is best for the family, such as the grandfather going off to work at a massage parlor while the grandmother takes care of the house. The daughter often interacts with her friends and adopts their fashion trends while the son mostly plays mobile games and watch TV with his friends. My Habitus on the other hand is most similar to the son’s since both of ours are partly defined by technology exposure. I mostly choose to spend my time surfing the internet or watching media. I don’t go out to chat with my fellow neighbors like they do since I grew up being the only kid in my neighborhood aside from my siblings.
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