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Growing up in a small island community in the southernmost regions of the Philippines was tough. We had no electricity and we rely on rainwater to drink. But as time went by, things inevitably changed too. We now have electricity and Internet access but we still expect power cuts from time to time, almost most of the time it can go for days without it. And still, we rely on rainwater to drink, which is ironic because we literally live around water.

Luckily my parents could afford to send me to the City to complete my education, and boy was I so happy to have left the island after my high school graduation.  Enjoying my new friends and the city life, I only visited home for Christmas holidays.  Until I had a corporate job doing corporate things in a corporate world and found myself feeling empty and one email changed my life completely.

Someone put a good word for me and the University Professor at my home town asked if I would like to join his team that he was putting together to implement a project on environmental conservation but it would entail going back home, he said and the pay is considerably small compared to my corporate salary.  I thanked him for considering me and I said I was flying back home.

On the plane I thought to myself, what was I thinking giving up my city life and going home to where there’s no constant electricity and the fact that I might have to climb a coconut tree just to get a cellular signal.  Who does that?

My first job was to organize an Essay Writing Contest among high school students as part of our Information and Education Campaigns Program and the theme was: “What Can I Do To Make My Community A Better Place”.

As I started to read their essays I realized I have found that niche where I truly belong and I did not have to go to cities and places far far away. I just needed to be home.

Beyond the Invisible Wall

Today I volunteered at a support group with an assignment in mind, to improve my person to person communication skills and ultimately improve my networking skills. I chose a venue beyond the usual but I knew it was going to be mutually beneficial anyway.

So there I was with my community mentor, and instead of serving food and getting chairs for everyone, I was invited to join in and I was warmly welcomed.

What happened next was something I did not expect. I was included and I felt included.

It is a nice feeling to be in a group where one gets a chance to be listened to and to listen without prejudices and judgments. I have realized too how much goodness a hug can do, and from a stranger.

Sometimes it's all we need for all the ups and downs and the merry-go-rounds.

So today, I am more thankful than I was yesterday.

I wish I took a still photograph to remember their faces, but it was too personal and I really don't need a still shot to remember them. The experience was worth the while and my guess is I have benefited more than I will ever realize.

Has my communication skills improved? You tell me, what do you want to talk about? I am here to listen and when it's my turn to speak, I hope you'll listen too.

Until Then

Eventually all the pieces will fall into place. Until then, laugh at the confusion, live for the moment, and hope for the best that everything happens for a reason.

Out of The Sea Into the Tree

Out of the dry cold mountain night that covered me
a mirage of the ocean I see
out of the mountains and my sheer folly
it is the mermaid's cry that beckons me

Whilst some would always choose to live in the valley
I would always choose to live in the sea
but I thank mother earth for the chance to see
nature as lovely as the Bristlecone trees.

Hello Reno

"...Wing is written on your feet
Your achilles' heel
Is the tendency to dream
But you've know that from the beginning
You didn't have to go so far
You didn't have to go..."

So goes the lyrics from the song "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)" from a band called REM and it's been playing on my ipod since my arrival here a week ago. I am here for 4 months on a fellowship program with a fancy title. The US government is paying for my being here and yes thank you to the good American people.

I am here to experience and gain a first world perspective on community development. So I thought I'd compare and contrast my small world in a small island town in the southernmost frontier of the Philippines to the vast planes and follies of the State of Nevada, Unites States of America.

No, I am not gonna be a star but yes my achilles' heel is my tendency to dream. Did I have to go this far? That is a million dollar question. But right now, let me tell you about Reno.

Reno is packaging itself as "the biggest little city in the world". I am not sure what it truly means but I am guessing it wants to feel big (compared to its neighbor Las Vegas) in spite of its being just a small city (again in contrast to its neighbor Las Vegas). 

Somehow I see myself like Reno. I dream and think big but I am just a small town girl from a small town island so small that my host said to me once, "I am looking at the map of the Philippines, where is your island?"

Sometimes I keep forgetting I am already in America. I switch off anything that uses energy when I am not around that the apartment building's handyman kept telling me to leave the AC on so it won't be stuffy when I return to my apartment. A friend in England now thinks I am obsessing about toilet rolls because I keep bitching about how much trees must be cut to have different papers for different human body parts, not to mention their kitchen use. My friends back at home are already making fun of me for wanting a water scoop to use in the toilet and forgetting what it is called in English (a "dipper"!).

Where I come from, water is more valuable than gold. In fact, what we use for laundry we reuse it to flush the toilet. We save rain water to drink. We save rain water to wash, bathe and everything else water is needed for. Ironic isn't it? We are surrounded by water but it's not potable. Think "Water World" the movie. That's where I come from.

In Reno, I have a bath tub. I get to choose hot or cold water in a push of a button. I still haven't had a bath that I didn't feel guilty about a luxurious bath because I know my 83 year old mother at home has to carry a bucket of water to the bathroom just so she could wash herself everyday. It is not because people are poor where I come from (although I am not saying we are rich) but it's just is. That's just the state of our little world.

In the grand scale of things I think I am lucky to experience different worlds at the same time. 

So, hello Reno! I hope you too are ready for me.

Setting Foot in the Land of the Free

Drenched from escaping the heavy downpour and howling wind in Metro Manila (Philippines' capital), I found myself fanning my shoes, my socks, my shirt and my hair awaiting for any flight announcement of whether or not our flight to Nagoya, Japan en route to Washington DC was going to be canceled. I arrived at the airport 6 hours before the flight for fear of getting caught up in the flood that truly reminded me of a bad experience in 2009, the last Sunday of my bar exams when Typhoon "Ondoy" hit Metro Manila. This was codenamed "Gener" and "Gener" as opposed to "Ondoy", came with a howling wind.

My long hours of waiting in a stuffy old international airport that didn't have any dryers in the restrooms was not in vain.  My colleagues and I met at the lounging area and we were able to fly as scheduled.

It was a long and tedious flight from Manila.  The crying baby on the flight to Nagoya made it even worse.

Almost 24 hours later, we arrived at Reagan Airport in Washington DC looking like we took a shrimping boat to America. We were stinky, haggard and hungry.

Still jet lagged, we had our first session the morning after.

61 participants from 28 countries from South America, Africa, Europe and Asia and the Pacific.  We will stay and live in different communities in different States here in America for 4 months to share, learn and exchange insights on community development under the Education and Cultural Affairs of the State Department of the United States implemented by IREX (International Research Exchanges).  We hope to be able to bring back some new experiences and pay if forward to our respective communities at home.

The sun does not set until about 8:30 in North America and it rises at 6 in the morning because it is the summer season here.  This makes it even harder to sleep at night.

One day I will look back at this year 2012 and say, once in my life, I had the chance to experience 2 summers in a year.