“Wow! May bago syang iphone! San mo binenta bato mo?” (“Wow! You have a new iphone! Where did you sell your kidney?”). It used to be a joke amongst us friends 10 yrs ago and I thought it will remain as joke until I saw the latest story of KMJS, it made me sad that it is no longer a joke. Kids sell one of their kidneys for the purpose of buying material things like an iphone or motorbike.

If you are someone desperate for money, selling your kidney is so attractive when they promise and show you an instant $3500. And we cannot blame these people. Most of them are in dire need for money and need instant money, or unaware of other ways to get what they want, or kids not having proper guidance.

I hope people considering to trade their kidneys for money would think 1000x times and eventually realize that money although not easy to earn can be earned with work but losing a kidney is something you will never earn again once lost.

Mostly people in the poverty line give in to this kind of deals. And it is sad. But, can we blame them when they have an empty stomach calling them to grab that instant money? Or, when they want to go to school and that’s the only way for them to pay the tuition fees? Or, when they only want their loved ones to get attended in a hospital but have to pay an enormous amount and got into a huge debt?

Poverty is tough. Aside from chronic hunger you will experience, it also will encapsulate you in a metaphorical bubble where you rarely see hope and just keep faith to the supreme being – a life that is thought to be lived with no choice. This bubble is stronger especially if it has been generations of being poor. It feels like a never-ending cycle and you would end up doing things like selling a kidney to get instant money to feed your starving family or get that iPhone that you thought unattainable unless you sell your kidney.

It is not easy to escape the cycle of poverty especially if you grew up in this bubble and no one could enlighten you unless you found a way to enlighten yourself and get out of this bubble.

Being poor is tiring. I wasn’t the poorest of the poor but I had the glimpse of it. I experienced it but not to the extreme level. But, the thought of selling my kidney never occurred to me. Having only one kidney is scary and here is why: my tatay had chronic kidney disease brought by diabetes and hypertension. He did dialysis 2-3x a week. And it was tiring to the patient’s body and emptied our bank. It felt endless of working but not getting what I want because we have to prioritize the hospital bills. Back then, although tiring, I did not care about my money spent on my tatay’s medication. I only cared for tatay to heal or prolong his life. Our family got into a huge debt that seemed impossible to pay for me. And this was not true. I realized money will come and go and you will eventually pay all of your debts but your health once gone will never come again.

So, I hope if you are thinking of selling your kidney, consider other legal options to get money. Be very scared of having just one kidney. And please, do not sell your kidney for the sake of getting an iPhone! You can have this eventually without sacrificing your health. It took me 7yrs for me to get a second-hand, base model iPhone 6S locked to a network and 10yrs to get out of debt due to hospital bills.

Just keep working on yourself and your goals and keep those kidneys of yours healthy.