The housekeeper in my dormitory was once the beauty queen of her small town. She lived in poverty and kept having children that she didn't want and knew she could not properly take care of. Abortion was illegal in the Philippines, but functionally legal. I once suggested to her the possibility of terminating an unwanted pregnancy. "But sir," she told me, "abortion is just for rich people."

Much more intelligent than most of the people I met in the camp, she sensed that I liked her. She once pleaded with me to help her escape. "What about your children?" I asked . Her answer was the answer of the desperately poor and hopeless, "Don't worry, they will find their a way."

Her husband was a drunk.