Santa Claus Is Dead - Long Live Santa!
As much as Americans and Britons may believe he is, Santa Claus is not confined to their countries. Santa does not "belong" anywhere; he is universal. When I moved from England to the Philippines, I had no idea I would find Santa Claus was known here just as he was back home. It had certainly never occurred to me that, not only was Santa Claus known here, he may even have come to grief and died here in Palawan, in the South West Philippines, where I now have my permanent home.
Why Won't Santa Visit Poor Children?
A Christmas story from the Philippines by Roy Thomsitt
A Sunday Outing To Aunt Paula
It was late November in 2004, winter in the northern hemisphere, where the secret home of Santa Claus was believed to be. Winter, though, was not something that was easy to imagine for a young child in the Philippines. Hers is a tropical country, and all she had ever known. In fact, she had never been outside of Palawan, the beautiful province where she was born.
Di was 7 years old, a typical Filipino child from a very poor family. What she lacked in physical comforts and possessions, she made up for with her happy disposition and the comfort of her close family. She did not really want for more; she had a contented life with her Ma and Papa. She always felt safe and secure; there was always somebody close to care for her.
Di lived in a native style home on the edge of the rainforest by Estrella Falls. To her it was her palace, but it was made almost entirely of bamboo and other local forest materials, mixed with some salvaged corrugated iron where possible. In the heavy rains, rainwater would come into the house in more than one leak in the roof; but that did not matter, it was all she had ever known. Like her older brother and two younger sisters, she had been born in the house. She was happy there; she thought she would always be happy there.
Hers was a special home, for it at least now had a concrete floor, and not many of her friends had that. Most local homes had a timber floor, often just bamboo, through which you could see the ground below. Her home also had its own well in the garden, which made her feel like a princess, as many of her friends had to bath at a communal well. Sometimes hers was a communal well, too, as neighbours would come into her garden to use it.
Di was very thin and short, but appeared healthy. Her parents tried their best to feed her well, but sometimes there was only rice. When there was no rice at all, a neighbour would give them some; so Di never went too hungry, although at night she sometimes lay awake wishing there was something nice to eat. She would never complain, and her smile was spontaneous and incessant when she was with other people. Her large black eyes hid no animosity and sparkled like jewels from within her warm, brown skin.
She was a happy child, and that was how she appeared when she woke on the last Sunday of November. It was a special day, and she and her siblings were excited when Ma told them they were going on the bus to Puerto Princesa. That was the city, and the capital of Palawan, and it was a long, long bus ride of more than 2 hours.
To the children that meant one thing; they were going to spend the day with their Aunt Paula. And that was what was so special; yes, their Aunt was nice and they liked her, but the best thing was she had a television. They had no television, so it was always a treat to watch when they visited their Aunt.
Today, though, was a more exciting visit than usual, because Ma had told them Aunt Paula had a brand new television. Not only was it coloured, it was big; very big compared to what they had ever watched before. Plus, to add to the bubbling excitement, their Aunt had a new DVD and VCD player. The children were not sure what those were, but they did know it meant videoke and movies. Wow, what a day! They were all very happy.
After a very bumpy ride to Puerto Princesa, Di and her family arrived mid morning. It was already very hot, and Di and her little sister Crystal kept coughing after the dusty journey. The bus had no windows, and the dust thrown up from the road all came in as they rode to the city.
Next: Santa Claus Story (cont)
