Around 40 years ago …

I lived 3 months every year in the convent with the Belgian nuns who were first missionaries who managed to reach the northern most  part of the Philippines.

At that time any one with fair skin, long nose and blue eyes were called by us, the natives  as: “Americanos” - the americans. These ’strange’ people were from a great country called America, we were told.

This concept had been reinforced by almost everything in our experience as a nation, even in the lives of girls like me in the convent:

We were told the americanos speaks English and so we must learn and train in English

When I was in grade school, our daily school routine started with something american. We recited the American anthem/recited the American pledge of allegiance every morning ceremony in school.   This continued to college where basic college subjects in liberal courses  included american history & literature .

The convent which I thought were owned by the americans was housing hundreds of girls during and after the school year. I was one among those taken cared by the nuns during school vacation.  While I was taken cared of, I was also trained in many things like speaking English.

One of the major activity in the convent teaching and learning how to cook and bake all kinds of things that can be produced from corn mill , wheat and flour. These three food items were not found in any native home.  These were referred to us as the food of the Americanos. Being too young to know more about genetic science … I believed what I was told:  “These kinds of food are that babies in America eat to  grow to taller with longer nose,  colored eyes and yellow hair.”  I  remember not caring about longer noses  but I was fascinated with how eye color can be other than black and how to grow taller because I did not particularly like being always the smallest inc lass or in group or shortest in a line.

All of us love the foreign food but we did not want to grow funny long noses.  We used this reason to refuse a certain kind of ‘rice food’  called “Bulgar.”  Nothing would take the place my native aromatic  sticky red and while rice as our staple food.

But with the power of patience and training, the nuns had us eating all these foods  after a  year.

The girls would miss all these food when they go home that they couldn’t wait to get back.  Fortunately for me,  I would find these same food supplies at home.  My father was a community leader whom the early community missionaries chose to be trained to become a catechist teacher.  As part of their wages, they would be paid in kind with these food supplies.  Life was great generous to my family.

I learned later who exactly was supplying the convent with these food on a regular basis., when  I  took over someone else’s work in the warehouse.  I was amazed on my first day to see incredulous stacks of food from floor to ceiling.

There were Sacks and sacks of flour, corn mill,  wheat,  boxes and cans of milk. butter oil and peanut butter, cheese, medicine …. with each type of container labeled as :

Donated by the GOVERNMENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WOOOOWWWW …  was all I kept saying to myself as I surveyed the overflowing warehouse.

What  a truly generous government that country has…

“That is one country and one government I wouldn’t mind calling my own or being under.” I proclaimed wistfully ….

Now … Is it FATE … or COINCIDENCE … or DESIGN that,

that same  government and country become my own as I became a citizen of this country a dozen years or so ago???

I felt so PROUD and GRATEFUL on that day I pledged consciously (not by routine)  my allegiance to this country as an adult (not as a grade schooler) to become one of its citizens.

I am still am proud and grateful … BUT ….

The irony is that I had been getting disillusioned more and more lately with what is going on in this country.  I travel internationally and I cannot defend somethings that are happening here:

1. This government’s response to Katrina was embarrassing and inexcusable to say the least.

2. This Iraq war had been needlessly prolonged …

3. The country spending a almost a Billion dollar everyday for this war  and shaving the same amount or more billions of dollars in EDUCATION and robbing our children of their rightful future.  How is this making the future safe for our children?

4. I did not know what to say when the Japanese reiterated the criticism of the Chinese government of California — the state that spends and maintains 5x for its prison system than its school system! If that is not pathetic and insulting,  then I do not know what is.

5. We run a war in Iraq where we are losing precious lives as our field soldiers are being shot.  As if this is not enough shooting experience of a nation,  we have schools where kids can decide to make as shooting ground or battle ground.  Where is war being waged?  It seems to be everywhere.

6.  California contributes  around 1/6 of this countries economy and all it can achieve in it school is the is bottom six  in rank of schools in all 50 states?

7. We lecture China on human rights yet we go to them to borrow all the cash we need.

8. The Chinese hold all our debts (IOUs) in safe and vaults while we are left holding all the credit  in our hands and pockets.

9. We send to China all our factories and they are more than happy  to line up to assemble things for us,  while we line up for unemployment line while we hopelessly assemble resumes

10. The Chinese middle class is rising while US middle class is  sinking.

11.  It has a White house that houses it leaders while tens of thousands are losing their house and homes everyday.

12. It has leaders who’ve been talking of economic bailouts to stimulate national economy. It is not enough that they are quite late even in their band aid solutions, all they know what to tell people to do is go out and  SPEND… something that is not usually  in the best interest of most people and families.

13. It is interesting that in a country with so much knowledge there is so little enlightenment.  Even the presidential contenders who are supposed to epitomize leadership is barely talking of any actionable solutions to economic bust like this housing market melt down.

14. Children and adults are asking what kind of veteran benefits will the government grant to everyone who is going through these daily economic war everywhere in almost every aspect of American life:

Housing war in foreclosure and bankruptcy, the investment war in the stock marker, the food war in the grocery stores, the gas war in the pump, the credit war with the banks, the education budget war, the unemployment war, the painful ‘war’ of trying to keep in tact a family being ravage with all these economic upheavals affecting the homes …

These are just a few of the sad ironies of the government I loved dearly to call my own at one time …. but recently are giving reasons for its citizen to wonder whether it has a clear direction at all.

But what gives me hope are a few kids I encountered and others I heard of who are making heroic moves to help their families cope with the economic turbulence that are shaking, tearing, uprooting and breaking families across the countries.

It is in them that I am pinning my hopes this country will firm up on its knees on the right things to do with right priorities, right leadership ….

It starts from taking stock at home, who we are and where we are and where are we going with all the stuff happening around us. It includes recognizing the ironies in these events,  the truth to be learned and lived by so that we can build again as a true government that the young in this country and other countries can envy and proudly look up to.

If your children were to ask you what is going on what would  you say and would you be prepared to say it?

Please share your thoughts …

Dedicated to bringing Financial enlightenment to communities

one child, one family at a time,

Marina Dean