Today is my one year and two months of being a missionary volunteer in the male prison. As I reflect on my journey, I remember that on my first week, I was so nervous knowing that my Visayan language is not good but I was challenged by my coordinator to speak it. One day, we went to jail to follow up on the profiles of the inmates. My coordinator told me to interview some of them. At the thought of hearing their stories, I was excited to meet them but at the same time I was nervous. When the first inmate came and sat beside me, I was confident enough to greet him, “maayong buntag kuya.” He responded and I again said, “kumusta?” He started to talk in Visaya but I only smiled because I didn’t introduce myself first because my Visaya is limited. When he heard me talk, he knew that I was still struggling with my language so he started to talk to me in English. I was so happy that he can speak English but when my coordinator found out that we talked in English she told the inmate not to talk to me in English saying further, “speak Visaya to her so that she can practice too.” I laughed and tried to talk in Visaya again. It made my day.
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| (picture used with permission) |
Day
after day and week after week, I see in myself the joy every time I encountered
them even with my limited Visaya. Laughing and smiling together through the
pain they face in jail make them feel light.
Some of their stories are really sad; some are neglected and abandoned by
their own families but they still have faith in themselves. After hearing their
stories, I came to realize how difficult it is to cope inside the jail which is
so crowded with 2900 inmates and the space for them is very small. But they always find space in the chapel to
rest and sleep at day time. The chapel is a place for them to have space and
have activities like mass, spiritual workshop, counseling and also a place
where I can give them my time. However,
the joy I encountered since my first time in prison slowly faded away because
of the heat. I respected the law of the prison not to take anything inside. When
we started to talk with the inmates I could feel the heat and I started to fan
myself with my hand without knowing that one of the inmates excused himself and
went looking for fan. When he handed me the fan, I started to be ashamed of
myself and tears started to fall from my eyes realizing that I shouldn’t do
that in front of them and realizing too that I was just there not even a month but
I already started to show signs of giving up just because of the heat and here
they are struggling for many years already but they still manage to smile. They
taught me a lesson.
Every time I come home, I always go to the chapel and offer my day of joy and pain in front of the Blessed Sacrament and pray for the inmates and also for me to be strong because this helps me to be relieved. I take as a blessing every experience.
In the jail chapel, there was a painting of a priest. Every time I visit the jail, I always pass by it. So one day I asked one of the inmates who the man in the painting was and the inmate answered, “You said you are a Columban Missionary but you don’t know him? He is Fr. Chapman, a Columban priest. He loved us so much. He used to hear our confession, gave us food and he built this chapel.” I was so amazed upon hearing Fr. Chapman’s story. His story gave me courage to give the inmates more place in my heart. From that time on, I didn’t want to live a day without visiting the jail. However there were times I have to attend to other duties so I am unable to visit them which makes me very sad.
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| Haiti learned candle making so she can train former inmates. |
It’s
truly a blessing. Words are not enough to express my gratitude. I thank God for
making things possible through the generous support of our benefactors,
families and friends. I also would like to thank the life of Fr Chapman who inspired
me to give my life fully on mission. I salute my ministry coordinator for mentoring
and challenging me each day to do my best and give God the glory and put my
trust in Him. To the inmates, thank you for giving me joy and helping me grow each day to be a good missionary and being patient with my
limitation of Visaya. To my Columban family especially my fellow lay
missionaries in Mindanao, thank you for being with me here always especially when
I feel that life is difficult. Last but not the least I would like to thank my
dad for always listening to me, to my mom who is now in heaven for praying for
me, and to my siblings for always providing for me when I needed something on my
mission. To my nieces and my nephews thank you for always making me smile and
happy when I am down. To those who are part of my life journey and those who pray
for me, thank you for everything. Without you all I know I won’t make it to be
who I am today.
Haiti, Vasemaca and Liliani
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