Overcoming the Past
- By Pat Curry -

The day after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, it invaded the Philippines. By the time the war was over, the island nation had been virtually destroyed, 10 percent of the population was killed and its people had suffered unspeakable crimes of war.

But in the years since, according to former Philippine President Fidel Ramos, the Filipino people have reconciled with the Japanese - a result of the forgiving and welcoming spirit that is at the very heart of Filipino character.

The 1999 Jimmy Carter Work Project reinforced that reconciliation as it united the Filipino spirit of bayanihan ("building together") with the volunteer spirit of Habitat's "theology of the hammer." Several houses were sponsored by Japanese groups, and Japanese students were among the volunteers on the build. In addition, World Vision Japan provided the funds to buy the property for the Maragondon site, and a Japanese businessman provided windows for all 293 houses.

Jamanese student Mariko Asano was among some 2,000 young people at JCWP '99 who represented several countries including Japan, the Philippines, Korea, China, the United States, France and England.

Carmen Asis - a Filipino who has lived in the United States for more than 30 years - was a kindergarten student during the occupation of her homeland, and she vividly remembers the dogfights between American and Japanese fighter pilots over the concentration camps in Manila.

Even so, she says she was thrilled to see Japan's involvement at the JCWP. "Some [Filipinos] who lost family can't accept the need to forgive them," she says. "But...unless we can forgive, how can the Lord forgive us?"

Former President Ramos agrees: "We welcome [the Japanese]. Despite our [nation's] tragic history, Japan became our number one partner in terms of development. They have been most helpful to us. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of World War II, only the Philippines invited our former enemy to the celebration; this is the nature of our culture."

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter notes that the horrific behavior of the Japanese soldiers during the final days of the occupation is something that continues to be played out today throughout the world.

"People ask me, 'Why do you waste your time building houses with the poor when there are so many more important things you could do?' " he says. "There are 110 conflicts in the world each year, and 70 of those erupt into violence. There is an incompatibility between people on earth that is deplorable. We feel people we don't know are wrong, even subhuman. So when they die by our bombs, we feel no guilt.

"How do we correct that? That's why we volunteer."


Pat Curry is a writer based in Athens, Ga. She volunteered her professional services to Habitat World during the JCWP in the Philippines.


Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, August/September, 1999.
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©1999 Habitat for Humanity International