That Child within Me

At that moment the scene that I had just captured somehow reconnect and bolted me that awaken the child within me.

India and Philippines are not different categorically speaking, we belong in one continent which is Asia – we are third world country as other countries would look us that way.

As I click the shutter of my camera it spins 360 degrees in a split of a second in a backward motion. There were flashes of light that brought me back years ago as vividly as I could visualize. It reminds me of my early childhood on that instant.

And it unfolds right then and then as my memories recollected.

Just like the child in the photo, we were wandering outside our house. We were waiting for our mother to come home and longs for her presence.

I grew up in a poor family. My mother used to have a stall in a market. She was a fish vendor. We were eight siblings. My father didn’t have any regular job. We were dependent all our financial needs on my mother’s earnings. We were struggling to meet both ends.

My mother was not in our home most of the time because she was in the market the whole day selling fish. She only comes home during the afternoon and late at night, and then leaves our home at dawn to collect the fish.

And I saw myself on that child instantly.

Staring at the child on my viewfinder I know with high hopes that someday he will reach his dreams. With the help of the family and the community, he will then become the beacon of light to his family and others – beaming to others to strive harder to reach their dreams too.

Because despite all adversaries in life, we didn’t lose hope and consequently it strengthened us to reach our goal to make our lives better. We strive harder to the point that even there’s no money we still like to go to school. With our perseverance and determination, we were able to finish our studies and earned our degree.

On that note, being in a third world country doesn’t mean that we cannot reach our dreams and aspiration because as long as we have the WILL, PERSEVERANCE, FAITH, and AMBITION to make a change in our lives – there are no reasons that we will not achieve it.