Can Anything Good come out from Navotas?

Dear Friends,

I am posting the article written by David Heimann, the director of AD Sodalitatem.(AD SODALITATEM seeks to promote the Church's teaching on Solidarity through prayer, education, and charitable giving to the poor in developing countries.) David Heimann is in his 365 days pilgrimage to visit different churches around the world. We are very priviledged to meet him in his visit to our parish the San Lorenzo Ruiz and Companion Martyrs in Navotas. Thank you David for writing an article about our parish which I am republishing here:

Can Anything Good Come from Navotas?

John 1:42 – “Can anything good come from Nazareth?

That line from scripture is often said very matter-of-factlly, but the depth behind the quotation is extremely significant. Nazareth was a place that stank of the fermented waste of forgotten ruin. Even a Cubs fan, for whom, hope springs eternal, would not dare to believe that “next year,” a savior could come from Nazareth. Imagine, if you will, the worst heaping decay of desperation that you can think of, and you have imagined Nazareth of 0 A.D.

Or Navotas today. Take your pick.

In the poorest part of the metropolitan area of Manila, there is a parish by the name of San Lorenzo de Ruiz, run by the Dominican Fathers. San Lorenzo is the first Filipino saint. In a parish area that I have measured to be one square kilometer, there are around 100,000 people living in conditions barely conceivable and barely livable. The people survive scratching for scraps of fish disregarded as trash in the nearby fish market. In Vietnam, I saw single room houses in which seven people lived. Cut down the size of the room in half, and that is a typical house for seven in Navotas. The streets reek from piss and waste. The tin roofs are ravished with rust from the powerful corrosiveness of sea-salt air. The fragile canopies can rarely last more than two or three years in these conditions. Forget the fact that I personally have no hot water with which to shower, there are no showers here, and the dirty, barefoot children, have an odor of the same stench that lingers in the streets, mold, fish, and dried blood from the recent butchering of a chicken. The narrow streets are barely wide enough to fit a coffin, which I think about because I peer into a home of a dead man where his casket now rests. There is no funeral home to hold the wake. His rotting corpse will accompany the six others who will sleep beside him tonight.

The stagnating sea water creeps up to the foot of the houses where roosters are caged. They are being taunted with isolation so they will be more aggressive in the evening sport of cock fighting. If this rooster wins, the owner will eat the spoils the next day. If there are any animal activists who are offended by this, I encourage you to come to Navatos, or even just to view my pictures. You’ll definitely be offended, but the cock fighting will be the least of your concerns, or should be.

This reclaimed land is below sea level, and has been reclaimed only to become a cist pool of vomit and garbage. I am easy fodder for the hungry vandals who glare at me in the rare, but imposing corridors, that open to 10 by 10 meters. They would devour everything I have were it not for my only armor, the presence of two priests in clerics, and five nuns in habits. No one will hurt the religious, nor their company. Infants run around naked. Skeletal cats peek out of crevices, and look to scavenge, less tomorrow they be the scavenged. This place is so poisonous, the people are spared the sickness of Malaria. The water is so polluted, Malaria cannot survive in it. I wish I was over-exaggerating, but its a true statement. Malaria can't live in the water here. Were it not for the angels living here, this would be hell.

The angels are the one’s brining hope. They are the successful fish traders who volunteer as Catechists in some of the five primary schools. (Just a note the AVERAGE class size in the primary school is 45 students, with each school having 4-5 classes of each grade level in each school. The angels are the Sisters of the Good News. A religious order from France, they live here in a mere “ministry of presence.” They live in a simple flat and play with the children of the street. Their important work is merely to make known to these people that they are still human, and very much loved by God. The Sisters also coordinate volunteers from France and Germany who live here and do the same. The only courage I have to communicate with one of these angels is the fact that she notices my Taize necklace, and we both put our hands to our hearts. At our feet, are children putting together a broken puzzle.

And there are the angels who serve the parish. The parish council, five professional catechists, the Dominican priests, and now the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help from South Korea. As I was visiting them here today, the sisters arrived to sign an agreement with the Dominican Prior Provincial Fr Edmund Nantes. (Just to clarify, he is the provincial of the priory, not the previous provincial.) This agreement gives a portion of the parish’s land to the religious community for ten years, free of charge, in exchange for a promise by the religious community to serve the parish.

And the parish truly celebrated their arrival. The school lined the streets with the students holding flags from the Philippines and South Korea. They sang songs on their arrival and the school marching band played along. Something good was happening here in Navotas.

I have pictures from today, and don’t let my words of despair frighten you from viewing them. First, download Google Earth onto your computer at www.googleearth.com, then click here to see Navotas and San Lorenzo de Ruiz parish. You will see a church building half constructed and stalling in that state due to lack of funds, you will still see a lot of happy children… I still maintain what I said last week. Photographers seriously have to work hard to get pictures of miserable children. Every time I pull out my camera I get smiles. That is, unless I’m quick. You will see the streets. You will see Fr. Allen, the pastor of the parish. You will see the Sisters of the Good News, and you will see the welcoming celebration of the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. I did not create separate links for our stops, so scroll around the neighborhood in your Google Earth browser to find the pictures I took, and where they were taken.

What was happening in Navotas that was so good? Simple. A relationship was foraged. That’s all. An agreement between two religious communities who both promised to work together for the betterment of this community, and therefore, the world. What may evades us is why a simple agreement to work together is so important. We sometimes forget a simple truth, sin is merely the destruction of relationships, the relationships between us and God, and us and each other. If we want to counteract sin, then we must build (and reconcile) good relationships. When relationships of love are made, and confirmed, sin is defeated. That is why reception of Holy Communion is so important. When we receive communion, we celebrate that a relationship has been forged, between God, and us, and each other.

I was surprised that the parish was also encouraged by my presence. “What can I do?” I thought. “I am only a photographer and a storyteller.” I told them I would ask for help from parishes and schools in the United States, but could make no specific promises. I said, most of all, I would keep them in my prayers, as they seek to combat crippling poverty with simple love. “You renew my hope.” The pastor, Fr. Allen, told me. I hope this is true. Another relationship was forged as well today, between me and these heroes and heroines who dedicate their lives to work for the poor. I promised I would broadcast to the world that something good was happening in Navotas.

Now, the relationships that are being built in Navotas, extend to you.

I make a request of you. Not out of guilt. Not out of sorrow. But out of love, please keep the poor of Navotas in your prayers. Always look to where we, as a society, disregard others, and remember that it is the stone which the builder rejected, that has become the cornerstone. We can look to Navotas for the coming of salvation, and it happens through simple relationships, engaged in love.

I give you not my words, but the words of Fr. Edmund C. Nantes during today’s ceremony to close.

“We face a world in which poverty is caused by organized greed, and we who take pride in being called Christians, being called “Children of the Light,” should organize ourselves to counteract organized greed with organized care. And care not just for the soul, but also for the body, because this is what is close to the heart of Jesus. Children, soon you will take your final exams. But someday you will face the exam of the last day. And our great master wants us to have perfect scores, so he has given us everything we need to know to pass. He will ask us, “When I was hungry, did you feed me. When I was thirsty did you give me to drink.” Today, the heart of Jesus has placed the needs of this poor parish in the hands of the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help from Korea. May this solidarity between these two countries, and not just these two countries but the world, through the use of the internet, and Google Earth, see that this is good news! Good news is happening in this seemingly insignificant part of the world, similar to the insignificance of Bethlehem. Who could say that something good could come out of that place? But we thank God, because truly, something good is happening today in Navotas.”