July 11, 2009, is the deadline (or what we call in college the deadliest deadline, after incessantly begging our professors an extension to submission dates), of my first assignment in 2 Masteral subjects, Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Structure and Dynamics. Today, i just came from an LBC outlet to mail my papers, that's 4 days away from the deadline. Who can beat that? I used to preach and quite proud that I can work best with pressure bugging my head but i was in paranoia lately and i realized, i am repeating an old story, a story on procrastination. Last night was probably the most silent night in my days here in Bacolod. No, i wasnt dreaming. I wasnt soul searching. I was deeply reading! At last, the enemies are down! Now I'm grinning.
Twas already 11:45pm when my concentration weakened and to continue is a fruitless effort. So i stopped. I put my books down and shut off my laptop. Feeling my growling stomach, i realized a friend gave me 2 pcs of green avocado after work. So i cut it half and lavishly poured sweetened milk while i directly scooped the avocado flesh. Twas magical! After sometime i realized i hadnt watched TV since i arrived at 7pm. Clicking on, i-witness has just started and it was about a certain locality where children gather mine stones in search of the very precious GOLD! Everyday, they traverse long kilometers of uphill and downhill, sometimes slippery road carrying with them heavy mine rocks on their young yet calloused shoulders. What struck me the most and what made me melodramatic was the conversation between the reporter and one child miner.
Reporter: Kung papipiliin ka, saan ka dapat ngayon?
Child: Sa paaralan.
Reporter: Anong ginagawa mo kaya ngayon?
Child: nagsusulat.
Reporter: Saan ang tatay mo?
Child: Sa minahan.
Reporter: bakit hindi sya umuuwi?
Child: Kasi malayo ang minahan. Linggo lng sya umuuwi.
Reporter: na.mimiss mo ba tatay mo?
Child: opo.
Reporter: Masaya ka ba? Mukhang masaya ka na man?
Child: Oo. Masaya.
Reporter: Bakit?
Child: Kasi, nakakatulong na ako sa pamilya namin!
And that hit me in the nerve. i could feel the warmth of my tears rolled down my face. Another sad story.
