Poem from a G.I. Joe

A friend of mine sent this poem written by Faye Hendricks, 75, a former American soldier who fought in Central Luzon during World War II. If you want to know the name of the soldier, email me at my address at the bottom of the page. The ex-soldier, probably guilt-ridden, hopes that someone will recall who the little girl was. Sounds like looking for a needle in the haystack, no? At any rate, I’m printing the poem which seems written from the heart.

Memories of G.I. Joe

Where are you little girl?

Little brown-skinned girl

Little girl with black hair and dirty white dress.

I met you in the mountains of northern Luzon.

You needed me for food, to live.

I needed you for humanity, sanity.

Where are you little girl?

I think of you while alone riding the tractor

You, crawling through barbed wire, holding out your pail.

Calling out, "Joe, Joe."

I think of you late at night playing in my bed.

You, after receiving my scrap of good, looking up to me

Saying, "Thank you, Joe, thank you, Joe."

Where are you little girl?

Do you ever think of me?

A skinny white boy.

Do you cry as I do?

Think of it as sad, but oh so good?

A bond on the side of a mountain, in the mud, the heat.

Where are you little girl?

Do you have children of your own? Grandchildren?

You will never know how much you changed my life.

Did I change yours? I knew you such a short time.

Where are you little girl?

Little brown-skinned girl.

Little girl with black hair and dirty white dress.

– Faye Hendricks, Alcester, South Dakota, USA

* * *

There will be countless celebrations tomorrow, February 14, Valentine’s Day. You and I will celebrate relationships each in our own way. But Gina de Venecia, president of the Congressional Spouses Foundation, Inc., will celebrate what will be her Valentine’s celebration, that is, on her birthday on February 17, Monday, at the new administration building of the Haven for Children, on Zapote Road, Alabang. Gina welcomes donations to the Haven, She says, "All children need is a little help, a little hope, and someone who believes in them. Join us as we bring change into their lives." To prospective donors, call Pam or Cheri, 844-3058.

* * *

Where to go for your Valentine date? Magnum, at the new Greenbelt, for a jug of wine, loaves of bread, grilled prawns and yummy steaks, and Caribbean music. The place is generally filled with yuppies who spill out to the terrace in the evening, but middle-aged lovers love the place noontime and evening time, especially when the owner, Tita Trillo, is around. Tita can tell you almost everything there is to know about wines.

Or have lunch or merienda or dinner at Sitio Filipino, on the fifth level of the Podium at the Ortigas Center. The place opened two months ago, and the reason for its being packed full of diners is the food that we eat almost everyday – all kinds of sinigang, pinakbet, ampalaya with beef, chicharon bulaklak, crispy pata, crispy tadyang ng baka, beef caldereta, bistek tagalog, tinapang bangus Bunoan, dinuguan with puto, goto, arroz caldo, fresh and fried lumpia, lomi, pancit canton, gulaman at sago, bibingka, leche flan, etc. So what else is new? They are all prepared home-cooking like, but served in dainty ways, and tasting good. The place is also inviting – a Filipino Zen setting, with wall lamps in capiz, huge upside-down umbrellas swatched in gauzy cloth, and modern art canvasses, and sofa chairs and coffee tables. No wonder people return to Sitio Pilipino the third and fourth time.

One other reason why journalists and food lovers love the place is because the owners are Theresa Reyes-Alvarez and husband Roy Alvarez, and cousin JG Santiago. Theresa is the daughter of multi-awarded newspaperman Rod Reyes, and JG’s dad is steak man Melo, who is famous for his Black Angus steaks. Being scions of friends of the media helps promote a place, but when the food served is good, people return there – even if they don’t know Rod Reyes or Melo.

* * *

Still talking about food, here’s how to start your own food business. Enroll at the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA), Manila, the pioneering institution of culinary education in the country, which has recently partnered with the Asian Institute of Management Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (AIM-ACE). Budding chefs and bakers will dip their hands into the entrepreneurial aspect of running a food business, including market evaluation, entry strategies, financial plans and business registration.

Entrepreneurship has been a long-overlooked matter in professional culinary education, says Susana P. Guerrero, the country’s first Certified Culinary Professional from the US-based International Association of Culinary Professionals. After building her own small Katipunan Avenue bakeshop into the Cravings Group of Companies, she went on to establish CCA. The six-year-old school has since produced more than 1,650 culinary and baking professional academic degrees – a diploma in culinary arts and technology management, and a certificate in baking and pastry arts.

The six-month-old Venture Into Entrepreneurship (VIE) Program in the Food Industry is designed to help students evaluate themselves and the opportunities available before determining the "best fit", that is, whether the entrepreneurs are for the business venture they want to enter into, says Dean Alejandrino Ferreria of ACE.

For more information, call Lotees Dell Palacious at CCA at 426-4841 loc. 111.

My email address: dominimt2000@yahoo.com