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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.