Rodallie Mosende changes the way we see homelessness

If by chance you get the pleasure of meeting Rodallie Mosende, you'll find that pity is the last thing you'll feel. Something closer to shame might creep in and it's best if you let it. Because chances are, you're going to go home and you'll have a bed far softer than hers and there's food in your fridge. You don't have to sleep hearing Quiapo and wake up hearing it again and again and again...a hum seemingly inescapable.

"Iba ang Quiapo sa umaga, iba ang Quiapo sa gabi," Rodallie told GMA News Online in a personal interview somewhere on Paterno Street. "Pero araw-araw pareho pa rin. Hindi puwedeng ganoon."

Despite all this, Rodallie maintained and still maintains an infectiously optimistic view. Life may have not been easy, but she persevered and kept her faith that life could get better.

There's little sense in romanticizing her situation though, and it is a disservice to her and to all those who continue to live a life similar to hers to pat her on the back for working hard to get herself out of streets. Rodallie not once implied that her dedication or determination to better her life is unique.

Rather, she laments the quick dismissal of people like her—delinquent vagrants, an eyesore on the streets, a problem, a menace...and on the other side of the spectrum, an object of pity, a source of good feelings because they are the recipients of our charity and benevolence.

Rodallie is one of many and she hopes that her story leads to the telling of others that are similarly filled with sweat and blood.

"Sana naman po, mabigyan ng pansin 'yung mga katulad namin. Sana po, bigyan (kami) ng tuon, kasi po may buhay po 'yung tao, so kailangan po ng tulong na tirahan, pagkain. Sana po mabigyan ng pansin 'yun. Huwag po 'yung puro na lang sa iba. Sana talaga mabigyan ng pansin." Rodallie said, addressing public servants.

The plea is for basic human rights. She and the countless others on the streets, though grateful for help, hope to be given something that's guaranteed by the constitution: Human dignity.

Rodallie refuses to cruise on sympathy and asks for one thing only—to be treated like an equal. Neither her classmates nor her teachers knew how difficult it was to accomplish some school work, but she refused to use it as an excuse to skip the work. She would go to Avenida to use a computer and would finish group work on her own.

"Hindi ko po sinasabi sa kanila 'yung totoo. Gusto ko ng fair. Kasi 'pag sinabi mong ganoon, parang naawa, kailangan bigyan ka lang ng grade...mas maganda 'yung pinaghihirapan.

"There's a time na ako lang 'yung gumagawa ng mga projects namin, thesis—binabayaran lang nila ako. Ang hirap din, kasi nandito ako tapos nagbabantay ako sa gabi, tapos gagawin ko pa 'yung projects. Hindi nila alam na ganito ('yung sitwasyon ko). Sa isip-isip ko...kung alam lang nila," Rodallie said with a wry smile.

She wouldn't have minded keeping details of her life from people, but she said that she also wants to paint a different picture of the homeless. She, along with her mother Rosalie, are grateful to Rick Rocamora for giving her that chance through the book "Blood, Sweat, Hope, and Quiapo: Rodallie S. Mosende’s Story."

It was his project that led to Rodallie's college scholarship and the pair have nothing but kind words for him.

"Maligayang-maligaya po ako at nagpapasalamat po ako sa lahat ng tumulong sa kaniya," Rosalie Mosende said. She's nothing but proud and happy for her daughter too, and she kidded, "Mana sa akin."

Rocamora, on the other hand, feels equally grateful for the chance to work on this project.

"My work on her story (proves) that our work as documentary photographer, given the right elements, can show that we can make a difference to our subjects' lives. Our goal all the time is to tell a visual story not about us but always about them. Significant changes brought about by our images rarely happen and I am lucky I can claim a few during my career. It is sometimes emotionally draining.

"Last Christmas, she gave me a coffee mug with a short letter of thanks and when I read the letter, I was sobbing inside the taxi cab ride home," Rocamora said in an interview with GMA News Online via email.

He related her life story—a child growing up on the streets, begging near the LRT station, grabbing food from strangers because she was hungry—and admitted that hearing all of it straight from her brought him to tears.

The injustice and inequality so evident in her story kept him focused, and rather than use it to motivate kids to work hard, Rocamora wants those who are in a position to help to see how they can improve the lives of people like Mosende.

"Homelessness is everywhere not only in Quiapo, but her story, especially with a benefactor giving her a college scholarship, can uniquely show how an act from someone can make a difference to someone's life. It is also from the proven track of her life of perseverance and determination to improve her situation. It is also a good story to call attention to people with extra resources to share their wealth in helping others and share the responsibility of raising educated children," he said.

Rodallie only hopes that there would be more people who do what they can to give others like her a chance. Heartwarming stories like hers or that of a boy doing his homework outside a fast food chain could be written daily.

Rodallie is currently "adopting" kids on her street and teaching them. One of them, Isabella, helps out in their store and she hopes that the young girl finds her way out of homelessness, too.

In a more candid conversation, Rodallie shared her dreams. One is to work in a cruise ship—within reach now that she has a degree. The other is to establish a foundation or an organization, focused on providing shelter and basic needs (including right to education and pursuit of happiness) for people like her. —KG, GMA News