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Hollywood. Celebrities. HBO, NBA and MTV. This is what  I see of America  from Philippines; what they broadcast is the America that most people who do not have access to other information beyond what  materials third-world countries like the Philippines get  from media conglomerates. 

I came to America without the enthusiasm and expectation  that some people might have in  living in America for the first time. I came  to become a student in a  new university, new surrounding and new system. My purpose was clear:  to finish a degree, and then return home. The temptation of  staying to earn extra income did not really appeal to me intellectually, much less physically. I am a student.  

But, I have become more than a university student. Most cogently, I have become a student in the University of Life in America. This would manifest poignantly when I became a volunteer with the Commission for Voluntary Service and Action (CVSA). I went on a filed visit to some of the member organizations  that are in Philadelphia. to visit some of their member organizations  in Philadelphia.  

I had to admit that  I know nothing of Philadelphia except from what I discerned from the novel I read  when I was a kid, Libertine’s Destiny. The protagonist, Alexander Morrison came from the elite of Philadelphia. So while Susan Angus, the CVSA director was on the wheel, I was thinking of the Cinderella story of Libertine and  Alexander and half-expecting to find  the elite Philadelphia in the novel. 

On the way to Philly, as Philadelphia is also called, we passed by Camden, New Jersey. It is the poorest town in the United States. It was almost like a ghost town with hardly anything to see except houses in such bad shape that I could not actually believe that the only superpower in the world could actually have  a city like this. 

Once in Philadelphia, I did get to see the inner city and saw the beautiful buildings and the mural. We passed by the  Liberty Bell and I wasn’t feeling touristy enough to actually go to the tourist spots. It was enough to pass by them. The winter cold discouraged me from exploring the area, not to mention our time being limited. 

One of the organizations we visited was the Eastern Service Workers Association (ESWA). Like the CVSA, the ESWA is also run by volunteers  who are dedicated to extending  services and assistance to the lowest income people in the city in many different ways, and to organize for solutions for their problems. It was an education for me to learn how such an all-volunteer group that takes no government funding has lasted and grown for several decades.  

We participated in a membership canvass in South Philadelphia. It was a very cold winter day.  Being from tropical Philippines, I was very aware of the bitter cold. We knocked every door offering the residents to sign up as members and  at the same time learn of the benefits that they could get as  members. What I learned is something that is not taught in schools, nor known in my country about the mighty Uncle Sam.  

I guess I am mature enough to know that what information we receive in the Philippines about mighty America and the  “milk and honey” picture was never the true story. But the feeling is different when you see poverty and homelessness in the face, in the midst of such wealth! Experience is still the best teacher. On that chilly Saturday, we knocked on several doors whose occupants  are either running out of food stamps or threatened to be cut off from having heat in the winter, or already were without heat. To be hungry is one thing, but to be cold and hungry at the same time is something that is just unbearable and inhuman. 

I still believe that America is a great country. It is great because it has great citizens who volunteer not just their time and money. Some people have dedicated their entire lives  to help their fellow human beings -- regardless of color, race, ethnicity and status—and to organize to change these conditions entirely. At the end of that Saturday, I regretted that we were not able to reach more people, and that our stay was short.  

I left Philadelphia the following day happy with the thought that the beautiful African American school-crossing guard we met who ran out of food stamps with other six members of her family knew where she could get help. When we knocked on her door, I was almost annoyed that we were standing out in the cold doing something for her without her inviting us in. Later, I realized that the reason might have been that it was as cold in her apartment as it was outside.

I could not imagine myself being out on the street in the U.S. for days, not only cold but hungry. Then I thought of the fact that 12.5% of Americans  are living in poverty: those men and women with their children left homeless for months and years. For some people such as those we met in South Philadelphia, they are lucky to have ESWA. But not everyone who needs it knows there is an organization that they can go to. Sometimes, when people are poor everything gets shut from them, from doors to hearts of their fellow human beings and even information that could save them. But then, there are still great ordinary citizens out there who not only brave the cold but offer their whole lives to organize that people may know that some hearts are not closed after all, and that change is possible through working together. That is the other America that so much of the world has not seen yet. I am proud that I became a part of it, and hope that its ranks continue to grow.  

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