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Jalan-Jalan with Jerwin in Singapore

Jalan-Jalan with Jerwin in Singapore
Photo by Jerwin Allen Malabanan
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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Sometimes We Value Most Unlikely Books

Two years ago I conducted "Writing from The Heart" at Tahanan Ng Kabataan Ng Laguna, a drug rehab center in Magdalena, on the border of Quezon. One of the participants was a 15-year-old boy. He was already a father at that young age. During one of our sessions, which occurred on a visiting day, his girlfriend and their baby sat in as observers. I was able to enjoy their company and get to know them well.

The boy excelled in assembling three-dimensional, wooden puzzles. I'd brought ten of them and assigned five to groups of four for an exercise in focus and teamwork. Not only did he finish first, he begged to assemble the remaining five puzzles in my cache and managed to finished ahead of all the other groups as well.

On the last day of the workshop the boy gave me his most treasured possession: a voluminous, sci-fi paperback, the kind that people read on long flights. He asked that I treasure it also, and I promised that I would. I actually read the book at home; it wasn't bad, but it wasn't the type I'd have bought myself off a shelf.

We are on our fourth library flush-out now, and have sold off many volumes to tenants on our compound, visitors, and passersby. I did not include the boy's book in any of the flush-outs. In fact I took it out again last night and set it aside along with my favorites.

I promised the boy that I would treasure his gift, and that is exactly what I am doing.


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