Bahala na

By Arwen Milligan

After years of writing and pictures and updates, I finally got to meet my pen pal in person! We got picked up to go to the Compassion Church and centre where my parents were honoured with beautiful beaded shell necklaces. The primary Compassion worker for Yna thanked me for writing to Yna for all these years and making her feel special and privileged. I was getting so excited that the day was finally here! The Compassion leaders and Yna’s primary Compassion worker gave speeches and their names. We got to see the classrooms for the children who came to the Compassion Bible schools for either Saturday or Sunday. We drove probably about five minutes and then got dropped off at a farmyard path which led to Yna and her family’s house. They had a beautiful garden with eggplants, dragon fruits, and bell peppers as well as a rice field. They all came outside once they saw us, and Yna and her family were eager and happy to finally see us in person and put a face to the name. Even though Yna speaks Bisaya instead of English her smile was so big and her eyes shone in a way that said: ‘Thank you for making me feel special.’ And ‘I feel so happy that I could finally meet you in person.’ Her Ate (big sister), April, spoke English very well as she was in her fourth year of college, so she somewhat tried to translate and help Yna understand what I was trying to say to her. But even with the language barriers, I felt as though I had known her for forever. Like long lost friends who finally find each other again. Yna’s mother had prepared delicious snacks for us which included a sweet coconut drink and cassava which is like a Filipino version of a potato. We had brought great ice breakers, and Ate helped Yna kind of understand what I was telling her about the snow and activities that we do in the winter. We then gave the family their gifts which were Canada clothing and other Canadian items. Then Eveleigh and I demonstrated how to use a cat’s cradle rope and Yna and her twin sister Kyle enjoyed learning how to play very much. We went out for lunch at the Acacia Inn which got its name from the three big Acacia trees in front of it. They served Chop Suey, some sort of flavoured beef, rice, and delicious spicy chicken wings. Yna’s family seemed to love the food and they got to take home the leftover dinner foods. We were served a very popular Filipino dessert called ‘Halo-Halo’ which means mix-mix. We went shopping for their family for groceries and something special for each of the kids. Yna and her twin chose school running shoes for Phys Ed class, and when mom told Ate that she was included, her smile was so big and she was so shocked that she was included. It was so fun to see how she acted because she did so much for her siblings that she probably would have been thinking that this was only for Yna. We drove home afterwards in a big bus that we rented and Yna tried to teach me how to do a special type of whistle that you make with your hands. After many more pictures and smiles, they left to go back to their home, after a dream that had finally come true.