Fiction

Nowadays, a good novel or quick page-turner may seem difficult to come by. But after reading Jessica Hagedorn’s Dogeaters for one of my classes this past quarter I knew I found something really worth reading. That’s why when I began reading an excerpt from Dream Jungle for my internship I knew that not only the language and writing seemed familiar but the story being told was familiar as well. That’s because Hagedorn also wrote Dream Jungle.

For me, reading Hagedorn for the first time I tended to forget that the illustrative descriptions she expressed really do characterize the modern day Philippines. And because it’s “fiction” I was ignoring the fact that some of the things she was describing in Dream Jungle, sadly, happen in real life. It’s not until we read the newspaper or hear it on the news of how older men are stopped and arrested in airports around the world, charged for engaging in illegal sexual activity with children, do we realize (as disturbing as it is) that THIS….child sex tourism is really going on in real life.

It’s emotionally difficult to have to read about the multiple accounts in which such cases are occurring. It’s not just in the Philippines, not just in the Southeast Asia but globally! Globally, children are put in these terrible situations and it’s mainly due to poverty or lack of alternative sources of income. Children as young as 2 years old, who aren’t even children but infants are being exploited for a price…. $2,000-$3,000 which to the average broker is nothing. Surprising, yet depressing. However, regardless of how difficult it is to face reality, we must face the facts because all of this is not fiction. And we must help others become more aware.

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