A friend once told me that her German husband commented how we Filipinos live in paradise, and yet, we treat our country like one giant dumpster.
I would have wanted to take offense but my conscience forbade me because I knew that what he said was completely true. Not for all of us though, but for most of us.
We need to educate people more, and we need to start with ourselves first and our children next.
By education, I didn’t mean a college degree. A person could very well have a string of letters preceding and following his name, and yet, be completely unaware of the impact of his simplest actions towards the environment, for instance.
I have in mind right now a recent incident which I witnessed here in Dumaguete. An old lady was walking towards a waiting car while being escorted by a younger female. She was very white-skinned, and all properly-dressed up in expensive-looking clothes, jewelries, with full hair and make-up. And she communicated comfortably in commanding English to her companion. She had all the trimmings of the educated, upper class right? But as she walked passed me, I saw her toss a piece of paper or plastic into a canal opening. Her companion chided her gently, but she countered that it was trash, and added something to the effect that it rightfully belonged in the canal. She should have known better, but she did not.
It’s not education alone, or apparent wealth, that will set one apart from that throng that treat our country like garbage.
It’s that awareness of a ME and how that ME-self impacts everything around it, and beyond awareness, a not-so-little degree of the element of CARE. One has to care.
And finally, there has to be a determination to do something, anything, in order to make a difference.
One need not be educated nor wealthy. One just needs to have an intimate understanding of ME and others around me.
And this is where real education starts.
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Author’s email: olgaluciauy@yahoo.com
