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Blogs by Cynthia A. Buhain-Baello
If You Could See My Country 4/4/2009 10:38:09 PM
Suicide is never a good answer to life's problems and shooting your family is the worst defeatist solution that any man can resort to.
The news this afternoon devastated me, not because I was related to any of the victims, but because those who died were children killed by their father. Whatever aggravating circumstances drove the man to shoot and kill his own children is beyond my limited comprehension. I am so affected as a mother of three children myself, and I know I will give my own life for my children, if the situation demands it.
If it is poverty or financial hardship that makes one lose hope, I wish that man had seen how life is in my country.
We are a third world country, a "nation of slaves" as one
HongKong journalist wrote, and our people work all over the world to support their families back home and send their kids to school. Out of their blood, sweat, and tears, literally, they sacrifice years of separation from their families just to give them food, clothing, shelter. Our country has the greatest number of people living below the poverty line, but still our countrymen strive to work and live as simply as our meager income can provide for us.
They say Filipinos always smile, they smile through their hardships and sing through their troubles. We are not rich in wealth, but laughter and song is abundant here, it helps us handle the stress somewhat. Sure, there are some suicides, but most often these are caused by mental illness.
My point here is, if you think life is so hard over there,
try viewing the internet and see other countries reeling in poverty, some just dying in the streets and some with not even a drop of water to drink.
