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Manila Office: New York Head Office: |
Australian Tim Farell gave up
a high-paying job to work with street children in Manila
- and gained a new perspective on what's really important
in life
| Volunteer
Kuya Pinoy Connection-Inquirer/ October 2001 by Cathy Babao-Guballa Dressed simply in a plain white T-shirt and jeans with a mop of light blonde curly hair and eyes the color of the sky, Australian Tim Farrel looks like a movie star. He goes about this business quietly - teaching, feeding and caring for the 30 or so street children at this shelter. Kuya Tim, as the children fondly call him, has been in the country now for close to 10 months. The 38-year old former investment banker is living his dream in this 50-square meter children's shelter underneath the St. Francis Church in Mandaluyong. "This is something that I've always wanted to do, always dreamed of doing." Tim was born and raised in Australia and had been working there for 12 years in the financial markets, trading bonds and dealing securities, when he decided to drop everything to fulfill a life-long dream. After resigning from his job, he went to Salamanca, Spain soaking himself in the country's language, arts and history. Upon his return to Australia he surfed the net and through a non-governmental organization in Switzerland, "stumbed" |
upon
the Unang Hakbang Foundation, an organization
committed to uplifting the plight of Metro
Manila's street children. "I had been to the Philippines twice in 1987 and 1989 but had never seen this side of the country," he says. "As a human being, I believe it is each person's duty to give something back for all the blessings one has received. There should be an obligation to help," Tim stresses. Even as we speak, a child drugs on Kuya Tim's sleeve, asking to be read to. Tim is a natural with children and this evident in the way he talks to them, reads to them, carries them and even feeds them. He carefully wipes grime off one child and helps another one blow his nose. Laughingly he tells us how his investment banking friends back home cannot believe that he enjoys and finds great fulfillment in what he is doing for these children who ply the streets and corners in between Megamall and Shangri-la. "My friends like to kid me. They tell me that I sold my soul to the devil so now I'm trying to win it back," Tim says, breaking into a smile. Clearly, he enjoys his present "occupation" and would not trade it for anything in the world. "I intend to stay until December," he begins, "I know I gave up a lot this last year (financially) but I don't regret it. My life now has more depth and I'm done with the dog-eat-dog kind of lifestyle. When I go back home I'd like to do more analytical type of work."
Tim's day are pretty grueling - waking up early, he leaves his apartment in Mandaluyong and takes the jeepney to Welfareville compound, where he spends the entire morning teaching the children English and Math. In the afternoons he hies off t the drop-in center beneath St. Francis Church and helps in teaching classes, playing with the kids, he sticks out like a sore thumb with his fair skin, Caucasian features and light hair but clearly he is one with them in heart and spirit. The experience the past 10 months has really grounded Tim. "You see what's really important, and I've realized the significance of volunteerism. How the little that you can do can have a great impact on the life of a child. |
