OPRAH WINFREY’S SHOW AND PEACEBOOK, FISHBOOK, FACEBOOK….

Like the ancient Jews, Filipinos are scattered all over the world. You name it, there hardly any country that has no Filipino expatriate or immigrant. Even in war thorn countries. Perhaps this is brought about by the incapability of our government to provide the much needed jobs, so we will be able to live a comfortable, descent lives. It is a sad reality that Filipinos have to struggle so hard to be able to afford a humane way of living so to speak, that most of us had been used to hardships, got tired of appealing and complaining that making a joke out of any situation, became our therapy.

One early Friday morning, (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia time) when I entered the hallway of our Christian church, I found my sisters and brothers in Christ gathered, shared jokes and had good laughs about how some of us mispronounced the facebook. We don’t have letter f in our alphabets, so the most common mistake is; we often pronounce f as p. It’s very common to hear somebody say, “I have pisbook”! Or “we are peacebook prins”. The more educated ones will intentionally pronounce it as fishbook, or pacebook to add more funny sounding twist. Truly I think the highest number of facebook users is Filipinos.  We are thankful for having facebook in our lives. From businessmen, executives, clerks, to a simple labor worker, a domestic helper, nannies, grannies, housewives and kids, have facebook account. To me facebook is a tool to kill the time, exchange pleasantries, and spread good or bad news. Something you can turn to when you are bored to death, or rather something that has no need to be taken seriously. Little did I know that an incident will happen that will change my perception on facebook forever.

This is my story:

My youngest son is named Juan Paulo. He is sixteen years old and has a congenital heart defect. Since he was five months old, I was already advised several times by the doctors of his dire need for heart surgery. But due to financial constraint, I was not able to submit him for the operation.
Due to his condition, game is a luxury he cannot play. So he spent most of his time watching TV. Not soon after, his interest was caught by Oprah's show, and he became Oprah's great fan. Not missing a day, wide eyed watching her help kids from all over the world through her angel foundation. Then he started to build his dreams and draw inspiration from it.


He was 12 years old at that time, when one day with great hope, he wrote a letter to her, asking her to help him get a heart surgery. The day he sent his letter, he started counting and waiting everyday with great hope for the good news. Then one day the moment came. He could hear the beating of his heart, with excitement as he run his eyes through the answer from one of Oprah's staff saying: we are very sorry, we hope you understand that due to the bulk of the request that we receive in our site, we cannot assist you in your request. His shoulders along with his jaws dropped as he tasted the tears that rolled down his eyes.

Like a wounded soldier, trying to regain his lost stand, he started to turn to politicians, who also failed him. Hopelessness started to engulf his existence. Though at times he thought only of one thing, "GOD HAS A PURPOSE IN MY LIFE" and it’s what kept him going.


Then in the month of November 2010, after dinner, he started to have seizures, and he started to vomit blood. It was his worst attack. With the help of Davao City's 911, he was brought in time to the hospital. The X-rays, ECG and other test revealed that his arteries had completely closed up! Meaning, there was not a bit of blood from the heart that went to the lungs. How he lived baffled the doctors, that discovered his damaged arteries grew new arteries that went to the lung and supply the blood to his entire body! His doctor, Dr Fay Chua, can’t help but exclaimed God's wonderful miracle in him, but even then, this still has problems, because some of the arteries that grew are too small, that it cannot stand the pressure of the blood. Plus there was a bleeding in his brain that caused the seizures. These facts give way to an immediate need for surgery.

During that time, i was so financially drained, I don't have anything anymore. As a single mother of five, and the only bread winner in the family, the hospital bills left a very huge hole in my pockets. Coming up with the amount needed was a total impossibility. As I contemplate on the amount needed, I was like facing a towering mountain to climb with bare hands. All I cling to was God's promise as it is written, "MY CHILD I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU". 

Then my brother Vicente suddenly thought of posting in his FACEBOOK, reaching out to friends and relatives, from all over the world....... one after the other, help started coming in. They started sending some amounts of money they can afford, and we started accumulating it. I do believe that God had moved the hearts of people to feel Juan Paulo's need. A friend named Amira Bin Ladin learned about JP's condition, and she provided the big part of the financial need.

February 10, 2011…...It felt like a real life drama. As he is being rolled into the operating room, for the much awaited surgery, Facebook has made a dream a reality!