I’m a single woman, 58 years old and living with my 82-year-old mother. I have a little business that barely supports me but my mother and I get by, thanks to my two brothers and a sister who give us generous financial support.
It’s a soul-stirring scene, the caring and feeding of old people in Europe. In a TV documentary shot in London, I watched a very old man, bedridden and weak, being given a sponge bath by a Filipino caregiver.
A year ago, I was a caregiver. Every Sunday, I spent my mornings at Luwalhati ng Maynila, a home for the aged in Marikina. This was part of Ateneo’s Junior Engagement Program (JEEP), which took Ateneans (who, stereotypically, live in comfort) and thrust them out into the experience the realities of the Philippines’ marginalized sectors. “Luwalhati ng Maynila,” when translated to English, means “Glory of Manila;” however, I quickly learned there was no splendor to be found in that place.
