Getting to Know Dhang

Dhang is a neighbor. She rents an apartment two gates to our left. The apartment has 3 rooms and has bedspacers. Dhang also has her family with her: her parents, her siblings, and her toddler. Notice? No husband.

But Dhang is special. IN the past years/months, I'd smile at her when we'd pass by her place where she sold barbecue, tapsilog, newspapers then (no longer now), cigarettes and cellular phone loads. Last Monday, I finally met her up close and we talked for a while.

I went to the barangay because earlier my husband was there to get a barangay clearance. He didn't need to give a picture, he said, and that pleased me because I can't find my ID photos. So I thought of getting a barangay ID, thinking that was what he got. Serves me right for only half-listening. Besides I also called and was told I didn't need an ID picture. So there.

One time, I should take a picture of our barangay hall, office, grounds. It has a garden, a pond with two turtles, a bridge, a structure where there's a botica ni Gloria or something, a canteen, covered courts, a fire truck etc. Oh yes, there's a gazebo that leads to the offices. Thing is, the path to the office is a bit rough, the gazebo has two steps. So whenever I need something from the office, I let the maid go to the office to tell them I'm just outside, may I get a residence certificate? They graciously accommodate my request and step out of their airconditioned office if I have to sign something. last Monday, they just handed the stuff to the maid for me to sign.

The wait was a bit long and so I gazed at the skies every once in a while as its hues morphed from bright to gray, a clear indication of rain coming. We didn't have any umbrellas. Occasionally, I'd feel a drop or two on my arm but I wasn't alarmed. Then Dhang came. We smiled. I was alone then because the maids were in the office. I decided to strike a conversation with her and I'm glad I did.

I asked why she was there and she said she was waiting for her barangay clearance to be signed. She had filled up the form in the morning but the barangay captain wasn't around which was why she was back there again. She needed the clearance because she had just bought a franchise for a tricycle. If I'm not mistaken, she got the franchise from a person who held it previously for either P45k or P75k. Days back I saw the body of a trike beside our gate. At first it was painted orange, the following day its paint had been peeled off. Also saw several motorbikes. This she got for P45k, ok so the franchise must have been P75k. She said she could have almost paid for the motorbike in cash using her earnings from her loading business but needed a few thousands more. So she paid for most of it and the balance spread over two years at P3k per month. She also told me about her brother whom she'd sent to college in Dumaguete. It was he who prepared the marinade for whatever food they were selling, because he had taken up HRM. He worked in PHOA Libis for 10 months and was the resto's direct hire. After 10 months, they had to be coursed through the agency and he balked. The agency would get a good portion of his pay. SO now he's helping Dhang manage her business. He explains to her whatever documents she has to sign (franchise, bank) etc. because Dhang said she hadn't gone to school.

Dhang is ever on the lookout for a business to start. She said it isn't easy but she has to do it for her family. When she finally got her barangay clearance I saw an ID and I asked what it was: postal ID. Cost her P300 and she said she had to get it so she could open an account in a bank -- a revelation that reminded me of how I couldn't open an account in Citibank because I didn't have enough valid IDs. Strange no, considering I have a CItibank credit card. They don't want me to deposit to their bank but they "lend me money" through the card. Does that make sense? Dhang's story about how she sets up one business after another so her money works reminds me of the ideas from the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad.. If she doesn't give up, she'll be rich.

Dhang has one bad eye that cannot see. It's grayish in fact. Seems while playing as a child, part of a broom hit the eye or worse and blinded it.

What an amazing woman.