SHOE-SHINER. Wendel Cris Sorono, 28, is one of the eight beneficiaries of the Shoe Shine Project for Street People (SP4SP), a livelihood venture dedicated to the street dwellers. By day, he shines shoes at XU, and washes cars by night. Photo by Maria Monica Borja

Words by Jarvi Fuentes

An unfamiliar sight and sound strike people walking into the main gate of Xavier University: four men and women settled in the nearby benches, with wooden boxes having weird, unwieldy handles. All of them are clad in matching blue polo shirts with a dress shoe insignia and “SP4SP” at the back.

One of them barks at passersby, “Shine, boss?” or “Shoe-shine? Bente lang (Php20 only)!” He shines shoes for a living, but what does he live for?

Wendel Cris Sorono, 28, is one of the eight beneficiaries of the Shoe Shine Project for Street People (SP4SP), a livelihood venture dedicated to the street dwellers. By day, he shines shoes at XU, and washes cars by night.

"Gihatagan pod ko og trabaho sa carwash," Wendel says.

(I was also given a job at a carwash.)

Wendel has three children and a wife whom he met in Cagayan de Oro. But he isn’t originally a Kagay-anon. His hometown, he says, is Iligan. Problems at home drove him to move to this bigger city when he was an adolescent.

"Daghan problema. Nakasulod pod ko og bisyo. Daghan g’yud problema, nihawa nalang ko," he says, after being asked why he chose to move to CDO.

(There were problems. I even got into vices. There really were lots of problems, so I just decided to leave.)

Despite problems in his hometown, however, he did not leave without learning a skill he had come to value today: It was in Iligan when he first delved into shoe shining.

"Third-year high school ra ko taman. Naka-undang ko tungod sa bisyo," Wendell recounts. "Pero dugay na pod ko ga-shoe-shine. Dugay na nako na-plan; bata pa ko. Didto ko naka-tuon sa pag-tanaw sa shoe-shine boys. Didto ko naka-tuon sa ila."

(I stopped high school in my third year because of my vices. But I had started shoe-shining way before that. It had been my plan since I was a kid. I learned by observing the shoe-shine boys. I learned it from them.)

Wendel attests how vices can affect one’s ability to do well in the world.

"Ang uban, kung hatagan og kwarta, di kabalo unsaon paggamit," he says. "Gamiton man nila para sa bisyo, bahala na’g naa sila’y pamilya."

(Some street dwellers don’t know what to do with the money they earn. Instead of taking care of their families, they use the money for vices.)

But he says that won’t be the case for the SP4SP group.

"Ang mga pari ang nagpalit ani na mga gamit para sa amoa," he says referring to his brand-new shoebox.

(The priests bought these things for us.)

The unwieldly handles on the box are, in fact, where one places his shoe to be shined. Inside the box are a wide range of shoe-shine materials, including shoe black, shoe wax, small towels and a toothbrush which Wendel says is handy for shoes with deep creases and crevasses.

Wendel says he has kicked his old habits out of his system and has built his new life with the wonderful opportunities given to him by different programs, most recently, SP4SP.

When asked about what he would do with the money he earns from his livelihood, he quips, "Gusto nako padakuon akong kahon, para dili na sige’g palit-palit og gamit."

(I want a bigger shoe-shine box, so I don’t have to keep on buying materials from time to time.)

Wendel then pauses for a while — as if taking back his first, business-smart hunch — to answer again with a more heartfelt statement.

"Akong gamiton para sa akong pamilya," Wendel opines. "Para ni sa ilaha."

(I will use it to take care of my family. This is for them.)

FOR HIS FAMILY. Sorono and one of his three children take a pose at the SP4SP station, located near the main gate of Xavier. Photo by Maria Monica Borja