Mayang was 3-year old girl. She was a daughter of our house help of 3 years. I remembered her to be a normal kid with thin hair, a drool dripping off her mouth and a baby dress that was a little bit unkempt.
While Marites does our laundry, Mayang would sit in front of her while munching on some food that my mother would routinely give her- a chocolate, candy, lollipop, biscuit and etc. Out of curiosity, one time I asked Marites why Mayang cannot sever herself from her skirt? Her answer was " Kuya mag hilaka kung biya-an naku." meaning she would bawl over when Marites would leave her. Since, there are a twins in the house, my nephews, who were of the same age with her, my mother would carry Mayang to let her play with them. The few attempts of play with the twins were a failure for she would get scared with the boys (twins) and cry her heart out. One time, Kuya, the oldest twin, smacked her, probably out of irritation of her incessant crying.w Eventually, the she got used to seeing the boys that little by little she mastered enough courage to start playing with the toys of the boys and actually interact with them. But it wasn't as smooth with the twins either for they would band together and gang up on her. Definitely, children especially kids of the age of 2 are going through a phase where jealousy and territorial feeling reign supreme in their emotions and thoughts. As Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Theory would explain, the twins are in their Autonomy/Shame and Doubt stage where another stranger, not a part of the immediate family, is viewed as a threat of the attention they get form adults. So, with this in mind I understand the twins behavior toward Mayang.
One should wonder where is Marites husband? By the way, Marites and her husband belong in tribal community in Gingoog. Well, he was a drunkard who doesn't earn a living to support the family. Sometimes, it is hard to understand the tribal tradition and customs of a role of man to his family. Could it be that women in that tribal community, works the most while the boys lounge around? Or that the man only role is to work a little and expects to be serviced by the women? I can only speculate. No matter what the custom is, it is still not right to drink your day away while Marites works to feed the family and even extended family of her husband. Since, the husband was irresponsible, Marites doesn't trust to leave Mayang to him for in his drinking stupor, he might hurt her which, sadly I heard that he did. He once toss Mayang out of window of their cardboard of a shack house. Poor child! We even played the devils advocate in advising Marites to hide the money that we pay her, when confided that Jomar, the husband, was stealing money from her to buy hard liquor. Eventually, Marites got fed up that she decided to stop doing our laundry to teach or inspire her husband to work. With her decision, we are left with no choice but to let her go.
Definitely, hunger was one motivation for one to start working which Jomar exactly did. He worked as construction worker and the family was able to eat 3 times a day. However, it was short lived for Jomar contacted a bug laziness that resorted the family ask for food from the neighborhood, including us. No matter, how much we hate to give but we cannot turn blind eye to their situation. Probably, out malnutrition and no proper care, Mayang got sick, she suffered a bad case of diarrhea that left her weak with dehydration, she was about 1 and 6 months at that time. Thankfully, she pulled through and lived. However, that wasn't the only sickness she experienced. When she was 2 years old, she suffered a respiratory problem that again almost killed her. From my mother's account, Mayang turned blue and had convulsion, the family had no recourse but to bring her to the Provincial Hospital, however Marites have to bring her home for it was useless to stay admitted in the hospital when they can't buy all the medicine prescribed by the doctor. Resilient she was, Mayang won over that illness and live albeit looking skin and bones. That incident made Marites decide to come back to us and work.
Marites after Mayang's death scare went back working with us. Again, the same cycle happened Jomar got tired working that he decided to bring his family home to Gingoog in their tribal community. As much as we don't want Marites to go we gave her our blessings. The family sold their cardboard of a house and Marites collected her pay with an extra from us with Mayang and her brother in tow they went home. We never heard from them. Until, the other day when I went home from a workout, my mother said to me " Look who is washing our clothes?" and I answered " Who?" and when I checked it was Marites. I asked " Naa lagi ka Tes? (Why are you here Tes?)", with curiosity she answered, " Kuha-on lang namu anfg mga sinina na nabilin namu Kuya (We just came back to get our clothes that we left behind Kuya.)"Then my mother sadly told me " Namatay na baya si Mayang ( Mayang died)" and I blurted out in disbelief " Ngano man?( What? Why?) " and my mother answered me " Namatay sa suka ug kalibang (She died of diarrhea)? and turned to Marites " Tes, ngano wala man ninyo gidala sa hospital?! (Why didn't you bring her to the hospital!?) she said while still dripping wet from washing " Layo man gud Kuya (We are far Kuya ( from the hospital) " and that stopped me dead in my tracks.
I may not be reconcile her answer but I cannot discount circumstances of their inability to bring Mayang to the hospital. Pity is what I felt, I gave money to Marites for I knew that getting their clothes was just an underlying reason.
I retrospect, I felt sad for the little girl who I had seen growing up who could have been a person fated for greatness, but the circumstances that brought to her death made a stop to it. Can I blame the parents? I did but given their situation all I can do was to resign to the reality that some people because of their economic state can be helpless as to stop the death of their daughter. There's no going back time, all I can do is pray for her soul and that she can find peace where when she was alive her life was full of sickness, hunger and trials.
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