Ma.

ma. 

This is Ma. Her full name is Ma. Norma G. Besana. She is 6 years old and lives with her family in the Philippines. This is how I met her:

From my ‘New York Diary’ – May 13th 2005

Yesterday without too many plans I walked my way from Grand Central Station to 40th Street/5th Av. The sun was brilliantly shining and the city looked its best. That morning Roger and I already had had our walk along the Harlem River and after that I made myself breakfast with toast, fried eggs and orange jus. Then, at around noon, I had just taken the subway downtown.
I was not entirely without any plans, I must confess. Today I accidentally had the coffee that Gg makes me every morning grown cold, so I’d decided to make that one up to myself by having a large espresso at Bryant Park. Why Bryant Park? For ol’ time’s sake – three and a half years ago John O. and I started reporting about 9/11 for our newspapers right on this spot – in a coffee bar called… (sorry I forgot…). But let's not get too sentimental. They make great coffee.
But just before I arrived there, right beneath the steps of the National Library, a shiny girl-student walked up to me with her hand held out and a smile from ear to ear. If she might tell me about the organisation she was working for as a volunteer, she asked me. She might. So she took me to the lowermost step, where we sat down, and loosely she took off her shoes. This is going to take some time, I realized, when I saw her bare feet and noticed how she slipped one of them under her buttocks to make herself even more comfortable.
Melodie was her name. And besides student, artist, writer and who knows what more, this cheerful chatterbox spend her free time working for an organisation called Childeren International, that – so I learned – helps children in what we call the ‘Third World’. Melodie had a long story to tell – a good twenty minutes in rattle speed – illustrated by diagrams, pictures, regulations and declarations she had in a ring binder on her lap. I won’t reproduce the whole story. If you are interested you might want to get some more information at http://www.children.org - it IS a good story.
In short: she wanted me to become one of their sponsors. That way, by donating 18 dollars monthly, I would help a child. I could even pick out my own child, but decided to leave that up to Melodie. She picked Ma. Norma G. Besana from the Philippines. She is six years old and with her jet black eyes she is looking at me right now from the picture I got of her right here. She will send me a note twice a year. And now and then a new photo.
I sincerely hope I’m helping her this way – and with her also her parents, her five brothers and sisters (!), whom’s names I have here too. The whole family lives in one room. They have a toilet, but there are no beds. Water comes from a community well, and dinner is cooked on a kerosene stove. Well, that puts a few of my problems into perspective…
I still had that cup of coffee. I drank it with lots of pleasure sitting at a table in the park. I have it damn good.

This week I got a letter from Ma.’s mother, telling me a little bit more about her daughter. Her favourite colors are yellow and white. And she likes to play with dolls.

PS: by the way - this is Melody:


melodie