Meeting Street Children Singing Carols

We waited until 730PM to head back home as the traffic is crazy if you try to go anywhere before then.  As the sun was going down it was a stunning and vibrant place to be. We sat down on a grass area they had and ate some quail eggs and cashew nuts that we brought from a vendor. While we were relaxing we had three street children come up to us and sung a Christmas carol in Tagalog. Ps John and Nyles said that they were saying Merry Christmas and were asking in a polite way for money, but if they were annoying us then they are sorry. They were really cute and happy and we had a photo together. I tried talking to them, but they didn't speak very good Tagalog. I asked them where they lived and they pointed around the park. It was really sad to see how dirty and ragged their clothes were. But they also looked as though they were really enjoying themselves and loved having the freedom to joke and play games with each other into the night. Who knows where their parents were!As we were leaving I witnessed something I will never forget. As we walked towards the car and approached the carpark it was dark we saw a man and a child sitting in front of where we had parked the car on a concrete wall. At first it looked normal, but then we noticed that the little boy was holding a plastic bag filled with white powder. Kuya John said that that the powder was called "rugby" and it was a glue that was used to stick wall paper to the wall. As soon as we arrived, the man walked away and left the little boy. Kuya John said to quickly get into the car, the little boy was high and was holding the bag of rugby in the air and staring straight at me, pointing to it. Ps John locked the doors as the little boy stood at his window with desperate eyes that were as wide as saucers staring at us. It was heart breaking to see a boy so young out at night, high trying to sell drugs to adults. He looked like he was about 6 or 7 years old. Ps John said that street children like that one often had other people around hiding and keeping watch over them while they tried to sell, so you can't approach them and try to talk to them as it can be very dangerous! It was so sad and I wondered what the story was of a child to be in that position.