AIR-CLINIC WRITING CONTEST: Who Wants Some Pagpag???

"Have you heard about 'pagpag??? No, you've not, I'm not surprised." Elena said.

As a UN journalist, I travel around a lot. This time, I was at the Philippines.
Before this trip, I had never been too neither had I studied on the Philippines, the only thing I had known the country for was Education and MMM.

I knew that Nigerians go there for educational purposes and also that the founder of MMM supposedly lives in the Philippines.
These gave me a nice, developed impression of the Phillipines, I imagined that Nigeria was on a lower pedestal in comparison but I was in for a shock.

As the Elena told me she wasn't surprised, I felt bad but I asked her, what 'pagpag' was and she said 'pagpag' was the poor's meal.

Elena lost her parents when she was very young and so she had to live with her Uncle.

Elena was 10 when her Uncle first raped her. By the time she was 13, it had become a reoccurring incident, one that she dreaded.
She wasn't afraid of telling the authorities, No she wasn't. In her case, there were no authorities to tell and even if she did, no one would believe her. To everyone in the community, her Uncle was a good man, struggling to provide for her.

At 15, Elena ran from home, she had reached the threshold point, she escaped to another community where she became one of the homeless streets kids.
Now, almost an adult, Elena says she fears no one on the streets, the street is her home. She believes she's better off in thatched houses than with her Uncle.

She said 'pagpag' the food for those who cannot afford food.
She's not afraid of how it comes or where it comes from, like I said, she's afraid of nothing.

She said,
"Those that say poverty is the elder cousin of diseases, don't understand, our tummies are the thugs and mafias of diseases. And... "
She laughed "you wouldn't dare trouble the thugs, you can't do anything to the thugs"

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I was inspired by this video.

P.S: Pagpag is recycled waste food. In Manilla, the Philippine Capital, meat is recycled from waste/landfill (it is washed and recooked)
Basically, it's like taking meat from Wastes and recooking it.

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Word Count: 347

This post is an entry for the contest by @air-clinic