Christmas on the streets

One of my first assignments many years ago, was at Letran College in Intramuros, Manila. I was given the post of Vice Rector for Religious Affairs and head of the Campus Ministry office. Under that office is a group of college students called Letran Youth for Christ. Every Christmas season, they would raise funds and do outreach projects. They raised funds either through caroling or by soliciting donations. And then they look for indigent groups, usually from neighboring barangays in the vicinity of the school, as the beneficiary of their fundraising project. They organize a day for gift-giving to children and their families, with a simple Christmas party in the school grounds.

On one Christmas, they decided to give gifts to homeless people, those who sleep on the streets or in their pushcarts. A few weeks before Christmas, they raised funds and bought the things to be given as gifts to the homeless. They have chosen December 28, Feast of the Holy Innocents, as the date for their gift giving activity. Unlike in the past, they did not give out claim stubs to their target beneficiaries and they did not announce the date and time for the gift giving. The gifts that they prepared were composed of things for bathing – pail, basin, dipper, face towel, bath soap, toothbrush and toothpaste. Inside the pail were also a few kilos of rice, several canned goods and instant noodles. They were able to prepare about fifty sets of the gifts to be given away.

And so on the evening of December 28, with a handful of volunteers from Letran Youth for Christ, we set out in a van and drove around the cities of Manila and Quezon. Our mission on this outreach project was to look for homeless people on the streets and in their pushcarts. Unmindful of the cars and other vehicles passing by, we saw families sleeping on the sidewalks or on some dark street corners. There were some who were cooking dinner on makeshift stoves, beside their makeshift tents or pushcarts. As soon as we spotted families, couples or individuals, we would park the van a few meters away and with a pail on hand, the students approached them to give the gift. But they did not just give away the gifts, they spent a few minutes to talk to them. They introduced themselves as students from Letran, and asked them a few personal questions like who are the members of their families, where they come from and how they survive or earn a living on the streets.

After a few minutes of personal encounter, they would tell them the purpose of their visit and the gift giving. They also told the families how they were able to raise the funds to buy the gifts. Some of the homeless really showed their gratitude and appreciation to the students. Others were simply surprised and even shocked. Others were initially afraid, thinking that the students were policemen or people in authority out to arrest them for vagrancy. As the students went back to the van, they shared their experiences – some funny, some touching, but always rewarding and humbling, that at least for a change, they spent their Christmas outside the comfort of their homes and out on the streets.