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The last memory of my Filipino “souls” on Philippine Soil

My first shoes. They still have dried Philippine soil on the bottom
My first shoes. They still have dried Philippine soil on the bottom

From my souls of my shoes are the remnants of old Philippine soil from when I had last set foot.

I was three and a half years old when I was last in the Philippines.  The old memory of confusion is blurred by flashes of a camera, the bright Eastern Sun blinding me, and the cement buildings and dirty streets where my footprints last print.  People challenge how I still remember that last day, but I describe it to my adoptive mother (my mom now), and she affirms every moment I reminiscence.

I recall those cement buildings standing tall against the sunlight.  I remember the streets and the fatigue from walking about with my foster parents at that time.

Tatay Pepeng, Ate Dagoy, Mama Nor and me.
Tatay Pepeng, Ate Dagoy, Mama Nor and me.

 

 

My last moment with them before my transitioning into a new family.  A permanent one promised by the Philippine government.   A new home.

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I invite you to join me on the rest of this journey to reach back as I move forward.

–> Visit my Kickstarter campaign at http://kck.st/filipinoadoptee

–> Join our Facebook community at http://www.facebook.com/binitaydocumentary

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Binitay means “Hanged”

James Beni Ronde foundling report

Binitay means “Hanged.” When I was found, the report said, “The child when found, was placed inside a plastic bag hanged on a banana palm…when the founder… who was pasturing her carabao within the vicinity heard the cry of the baby. “

James Beni Ronde foundling report
James Beni Ronde foundling report

Twenty-three years later, I hope to travel back to the Philippines to find my birth parents and to reconnect with my foster family. It has been two decades. It’s time.

Behind the name. 

People ask, especially Filipinos, why Binitay?  Why did you choose that name for your documentary?  Well it is my foreshadowing of where I had received my middle name and where I came from.  Within my stowed away adoption papers laid secrets of my life prior to my adoption.  The orphanage had given me the middle name “Beni” in short of the Tagalog word “binitay”, which means hanged, described in the photo clip above.

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I invite you to join me on the rest of this journey to reach back as I move forward.

–> Visit my Kickstarter campaign at http://kck.st/filipinoadoptee

–> Join our Facebook community at http://www.facebook.com/binitaydocumentary

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