Nanjing Walkabout
As famous African Proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child”. This holds true and evident to one Meridian student, Nathaniel Joshua Sibal who joined the Nanjing Olympic Walkabout with the help of family and friends. He was supported financially through sponsorship. In return, he would make a report of his experience. Here is his open letter for his “village”:
“Thank you very much for sponsoring and letting me experience the Nanjing Youth Olympics Walkabout. Words cannot express my gratitude. During the trip I was able to visit museums, temples and watch Olympic games. In those events, I was able to learn a lot. I learned that historical memory for a nation is very important. Take us Filipinos for example, we thought that our history started when the Spaniards came to our land and claimed that they “discovered” us but the truth is that we had connection with China way before 1521, the year the Spaniards came to our land. One thing that hit me was a memorial temple for the Father of China, Sun Yat-sen. To reach Sun Yat -sen’s memorial statue, we had to take a lot of steps. On our way to the top, I noticed that there were many Chinese people going up just to see the statue of Sun Yat-sen and I wondered, if we were to make a statue for Jose Rizal or other heroes, would we take a lot of steps just to see it? I wouldn’t think so; I’m not looking down on how Filipinos treat their heroes but I just want to point out the importance of historical memory in a nation. One thing that devastated China, especially Nanjing was the Nanjing Massacre. This happened during WWII when the Japanese came to Nanjing who killed, raped and tortured 300,00 people. Pregnant women were stabbed in their bellies; men were tortured and beheaded just for “fun”, women as young as 8 years old were raped then killed. Basically, during this massacre, the Japanese treated the Chinese inhumanely. If we were to think about it, the Chinese could give this as their excuse for not excelling, they could say that they were left with nothing during that time but they didn’t. They didn’t use that to tell themselves that they were nothing but instead, used that as a catalyst to improve, to improve and become better as a country. And thus we see and experience the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games 2014. China was devastated but they managed to fix that and now they stand.
We can see China rising in the 21st century and become the Middle Kingdom again. It’s funny how we fight China now but if we were to go back through time, we would see that the Philippines and China were friends. We traded with each other, our Datus talked with their Emperors. It’s sad that we forgot about this and even most of our past. We only know that our history started when Magellan “found” the Philippines in 1521. We easily forget the things done to us by other countries, other people, etc. because of our colonized mindsets. This is indeed a sad thing. Step by step I am sure of it that we can conquer this problem. We just need to put up strong foundations for us to have decolonized minds and move forward.
In addition to what I’ve learned from this trip, historical memory is very important. For us Filipinos, we are unaware that the Spaniards didn’t discover our country on 1521 and we have pieces of evidence, which proves that we already have the technology before they even came here. There were already people living in this country who had their own systems by the time the Spaniards came, yes, we weren’t united yet then but still we had our own policies, leaders, people, and technology.
The last thing I want to share to you is the power of language especially on the 21st Century. Like I said, China is rising this 21st century and during my trip to Nanjing, I saw that most people there couldn’t speak English well. In order to communicate to other people, you need to speak Mandarin. My knowledge in Mandarin is not that great but I managed to converse with them. I spoke Mandarin when ordering in restaurants or buying something from stores and Chinese people would ask me “Nǐ shì nǎ ɡuó rén?” (你是哪国人?) meaning “What is your nationality?” and I would answer them that I am Filipino. Then they’d be amazed that I can speak their language and their respect for me as a person grew. We had something that connected us and that was language. Then I saw the power of language. We could open doors through these languages. There was also a time in Nanjing that I together with my friends, made friends with Koreans and the language we used was the “gamers language” (terms that we use when playing online games). We could connect with people through these; we just need to have the guts to do it.
Most of what I said is very painful, but instead of thinking about it in a negative way, I would think about it in a positive way. Yes, it’s a sad thing that we don’t know our history as a country but we can use this fact as a burden to make our education system a lot better than it is now. There are many things about this country that are negative but we can use these things as something that we can improve on.
As a student, it will be hard for me to see that big thing to happen. Yes, I am sure that I will fail during my journey, that I will fall countless times but I am also sure and I will assure you that I will stand up again and continue that journey. I am sure of this because I know that there will be family and friends to help me and back me up. All I can do now is to thank you and continue to journey just like what my Father always tells me “Bata ka pa, matagal pa ang journey mo sa buhay”. I am still young and have a lot to improve on and I thank you because you are one of the people that helped me improve. “
There is just so much to learn for a high school student and they get to learn more with the help of the village. Just like an Aguileon that soars and roars, our Meridian students can soar high and roar proudly as we continue to encourage and push them to reach and achieve their great potentials.
