Dear Manang,
My friend is having husband trouble again. I can hear the shouting through the thin galvanized sheet walls that is the shanty that they live in. He seems to look for food when he has brought none and money when he earns none. The young children help their mother rummage through the neighborhood garbage before the city picks it up to sell the plastic and paper. At times, I ask the older kids to help with my house chores but that is what little can be done to help them get by. Is there some way that the husband can be approached? I am not a spiritual person.
Delia of Malaya, Baguio City
Dear Delia,
There are some spiritual leaders that can talk to the husband. These are commonplace in our milieu because the men who would rather mope and drink are many and those who rise above their situation, few. Seek the pastor in the neighborhood or just an elder, to sit with the man to listen to his woes. It is indeed some disease that is hard to fathom. The work to be done for that family has many prongs. Just keep on helping in your little ways. If there are more of you to fill the days of the week, then you have made your tiny contribution to making life better.
Do your share,
Manang
Dear Manang,
I am worried about my child who is just bent over the computer because of assignments and virtual classes. There seems to be nothing else that teachers can think of but keep them online.
My son hardly speaks and hardly goes out. I am worried about his mental health.
Karl of Ambiong Road, Baguio City
Dear Karl,
I have heard that some parents have asked their children to take a break and did not enroll them this semester. I also saw how some college students have come forward in protest of the void that is called school now. The suicides are alarming, and I think that the pressure from parents must be relieved somehow. It is you who could aid your child, no one else.
Give the break,
Manang
