Don't Stop Believing

Slums In Manila, Phillipines

Thanks to Steve Woolerich's Target Crime blog, I discovered the following inspiring story.

We've talked slums and homelessness. Always the discussion is in North America. This is myopic. We should not forget other parts of the world are worse.

The slums of the Phillipines are as bad as it gets. A few years ago one of those homeless Manila humans was Arnel Pineda. His mother died when he was 13 and after that his family slipped into hopeless debt and poverty.

Fortunately for Arnel, his mother had the good parenting skills to get her son to sing along with the radio and build his singing skills. Eventually she entered him in talent shows. After she died Arnel was able to sing with bands to make money. In 2007 he made YouTube and things changed.

Whenever you see a homeless person, it's worth remembering Arnel's story. Like the lyrics form Journey’s song, “don’t stop believing”. There’s always a way out. Here's what happened when rocker Neal Schon from the sensational 80s rock group Journey saw him: Watch Arnel's Story