I never liked hospitals. I have never dreamed of becoming a doctor, a nurse, a caregiver, or anybody that has to take care of people who are sick or who have unfortunate disabilities or sicknesses. So when we were challenged to visit a hospital for a spiritual retreat or immersion, I was quite hesitant. I am easily bothered by anything unhealthy. But in the end, I gave in. I went to the Ward Six, the pediatric surgery ward of the Philippine General Hospital, with thirty teachers in hope of finding something that we could share for our discussion in the debriefing process the following day. What happened was I discovered more than just points to share. There are no words to fully capture the mountain of realization that went through my head. I look at these pictures and I still am at loss for words. One of the patients, when left alone in the house by his parent, accidentally swallowed an amount of sodium hydroxide solution, which transformed some of the tubes in his throat into spaghetti-like tubes with hardly any passage for him to breathe with. Another boy has his intestines protruding at the right side of his torso because he cannot defecate properly. Another boy has a sexual organ with no opening for his urine to be released--the doctors had to make an opening at the base of his scrotum for him to be able to urinate. One kid has a brain tumor. This is just a glance of the unhealthy people that we met yesterday. I feel deeply bothered how life can be this hard on these kids. What also struck me was how their families have been very supportive of them--they stay at the side of their kids the entire time, without getting any sleep. They cheer up their little ones, to bring even the faintest glimmer of hope. They even interact with other patients and their families. What a display of human compassion. Please pray for them, too. It's probably the only thing that we can do.