Ate

There is a gentle breeze felt through my open window and outside my room a door creeks open, a woman shuffles outside of her bedroom door down the hallway for her flip flops and heads to the kitchen.  There she opens the door to go outside in the backyard.  There is a large sound of water being poured in the kitchen, as she made her way back into the house.  Her feet slide against the concrete floor as she makes her way to the front door.  The chickens are crowing and now the dogs are barking.  The turkeys begin to gobble.  On the street motorcycles pass and also charter buses.  There is a faint light in the distance.  It is only 4:30am and Ate is already beginning her day with chores, cooking breakfast for her children and getting ready to open her Sari-Sari store.  She prepares to boil the water so that the children can bathe and goes in and out of the house, to and from the store when a customer yells “bibili” signaling that they wish to buy something.  Once the children are out of the house she may sweep the leaves on the side and backyard of the house and burn them to keep the mosquitoes away.  She then fills all of the water tubs in the bathroom and in the kitchen.  She then soon prepares lunch for herself and brother and goes back in the store.  In evenings she prepares snack for the children and soon preps for dinner.  The store closes down at about 8:00-8:30pm and she and her youngest then sit in the living room watching TV soap operas.  While her youngest falls asleep while watching the program, she stays awake until 10pm because she still has to iron the clothes of the children.  Only there after this is done she makes her way to sleep to repeat this the next day. 

Ate is a 56 year-old widowed woman.  She is one of 6 siblings, all who live in close proximity of each other.  She has 3 children ages 32, 16, and 11.  She has a wash woman that comes to help with washing clothes and other household chores.  Ate said that she does not expect her children to do chores because she told them as long as they do well in school they do not have to worry about doing anything else.  The only chores of the children are washing the dishes which they alternate nights in doing them.  The children attend a private school and use the public transportation to go to school daily.  Often time Ate is overwhelmed with the amount of work that has to be done but does not complain.  Every Sunday she goes to church in the town proper and then goes to the market to get the groceries for the week.  She is very accommodating and a happy woman. She does not have much material wealth but stays pleasant and happy.  She is the best cook among her sisters and always help cook on special occasions. On her hands you can see many cuts from cutting vegetables and she walks with a small limp. She stays to herself besides enjoying the company of her sisters. It is clear to see that Ate is the staple of this family and is the reason it thrives every day.

         It is apparent that no matter where in the world regardless of culture or religion, women who are head of the household work hard to keep the family together.  Although Ate does not have a paid job she works hard to make sure the family is content.  This can be said of mothers in the U.S. as well.  Although we have modern technology to make a few things easier, there are more similarities in the plight of women worldwide than differences.  I encourage Ate to let the children to take on more chores such as washing their own clothes or helping out more in the store so that she can rest but she will not have it that way.  


 **Be a channel of inspiration to every person you meet on the road.  Life is never a coincidence; it’s the fruit of the seed of what we plant.***