Years ago, I took my children to this play. One of several included in the season's ticket, courtesy of San Miguel Corporation. The story is lifted from the Bible's Book of Genesis, about Joseph and his "coat of many colors"
Well, we have a Joseph nearby. He started out as a friend of my kiddo. I heard from the guards my kiddo and Joseph are chummies. They practice basketball at night, shooting in a dark area merely lit by street lights or fleeting from cars passing.
And you know how I knew they were friends? A few months ago, my kiddo joined a rap competition held at the municipal gym. Joseph, dressed not in his usual tattered clothes of shorts and t-shirt, but "clean" and in slacks -- was there as my kiddo's "pala" and "hakot" audience.
Joseph is homeless. He and his brother and his brother's wife have been allowed to stay on the sides of the street, under a tree. Sometimes, they venture into an enterprise of sorts -- - selling candy and cigarettes, picking up from garbage what can be repaired and sold, sorting trash for sale to junk yards.
Not only do they sleep there, under the tree at night. Joseph's brother and wife raise three children, the youngest is months old perhaps 3 or 4. I have seen the two older ones, blank look on their faces, scratching their heads, very possible because their stomachs are growling from hunger.
Now it has become a habit to check on them, during the mornings that I'm able to jog or when I come home. And since two weeks ago, I've embarked on a feeding program for the 3 children. Can't say what, can't say I'm doing this as a favor. Just that this is our Own Little Private Idaho.
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