DAVID HUANG
Yesterday, our Asian Institute of Management (AIM) group of friends had our yearly get-together. It was a tradition we started many years ago, after our graduation in 1972. Russ L. and his wife hosted the lunch, and we were joined by our wives (as usual) and two other classmates.
Amidst the bantering, our friend Nonie A. was asked to tell us of his time with Mother Teresa when she came here in 1983 and 1987. He has yet to put on paper his anecdotes (which we are encouraging), but I thought I should put what I remember down – to remind myself as well as to share with my kids and friends the story of my friend, as well as a glimpse into the character of Mother Teresa.
In 1983, Nonie was given the task of picking up Mother Teresa and bringing her to a gathering – where Mother Teresa was the guest speaker. While on the road, Mother Teresa suddenly asked him to stop. Upon stopping, she took off her sandals and gave it to someone who, as Mother Teresa described, was without shoes and needed it more than her. Realizing Mother Teresa was going to walk into the conference without shoes, Nonie passed a nearby market and purchase 5 pairs of slippers – telling Mother Theresa one is for her and four for her to give away. She asked one simple question – “what if I see six who need shoes?” Realizing his shoes are at stake, he kiddingly told her he was not stopping anymore.
After reaching the conference site, Mother Teresa found out how much lunch( P350/head) was… Nonie was squirming as she started talking about how many starving people would benefit from such a budget. As lunch was being served, Mother Teresa noticed that Nonie wasn’t eating the bread and suggested that he have it wrapped for poor starving people. The mike was “on,” and their little private conversation was heard by the entire audience – who got embarrassed and also decided to donate their lunch bread.
As the days passed and more days spent with her, he learned how Mother Teresa seem to take so much delight in the simplest of food.
As the designated driver, he would be bringing Mother Teresa around. On one, Nonie was asked to stop to pick up a stranger – an obviously sick “taong grasa.” They brought the man to the Sister of Charities Compound. Upon helping to bring him into the congregation’s facility, and much to Nonie’s surprise, Mother Teresa asked Nonie to take care of the man – to wash him up, etc. Soon afterward, the man died. Nonie was given a new instruction to bury the person. It was providential that Nonie had a friend who ran a funeral parlor and arranged a pauper’s burial. The good Mother reminded Nonie, the man had no burial clothes, so he went home to pick up a barong and pants. Going back to the Sisters of Charity, he realized he was also the designated person who had to clean and dress the body.
The sisters of Charity were distributing rice to the poor one day. Being there, Nonie was conscripted to help rebag the rice into 2-kilo bags. The rice was soon gone, and the lines were still long. In his exchange with Mother Teresa, Nonie told Mother Teresa he could donate a sack; her answer was she wanted him to pray. Pray, he did. Soon afterward, a Chinese woman came knocking – wanting to donate a sack of rice. Upon learning the situation at hand, she went to her “ rice cartel “ friends and returned with a truck of rice. The distribution went smoothly, and there were sacks to spare at the end of the day. Mother Teresa told Nonie it was his prayer as she had not even started to pray for rice. He volunteered to go back for the next distribution with a little bravado and was told he was welcome – to PRAY!
As our friend Ed summed it up, after hearing the anecdotes .. “every one of us, like Nonie – management men focused on financial returns, efficiency and output can be transformed by this humble woman who operates by faith, and seeks not profit but only to serve with uncompromising love the abandoned, the dying and outcasts of society. If you did it to the least of the brethren, you did it for me. “
Ed David suggested the title after reading the first draft of this little article and contributed to the anecdote’s inclusion on the bread and the summation. Our feeble efforts to share the blessings of a friend.
