Blog post 1:
I've been here for a couple of days now and I am thoroughly impressed by what I am seeing. For months I have been unsure of what to say when people ask "what will you be doing this summer?" and finally I believe I am starting to gain more clarity on how I can respond. Today we met the owner of the farm, Tito Toni, and he helped explain to us the mission and goal of the farm. He explained how everyone has a purpose at the farm and that the farm strives to serve as a social enterprise for the Filipino people. Social enterprise is a business model where everyone strives to be successful, but at the same time they are bringing those in the community with them. They are working as a collective unit to build a self-sustaining environment of success while helping the local community discover and utilize the world's most precious natural resource: the human mind. The farm also is the world's first farm community university and we actually arrived yesterday during the first ever graduation ceremony of the first 35 students of the university. Today we met three students, two who just graduated yesterday. From the two minutes that they introduced themselves to us, I was able to hear their background, their age, their inspirations, their aspirations, and what they have gained from their time here at the farm. One thing that was consistent throughout all of their stories was what they discovered in the farm. They all said that during their time at the farm, they discovered their self-worth, and they were able to find hope for the future. It was very inspiring to hear where they came from and how they were able to take control of their lives and turn them around completely in pursuit of their newly discovered passions.
We are given so many opportunities on a daily basis in America that these students could not even dream of before and I believe many of us forget that. Tito Toni talked about how when we were all introducing ourselves (the IWU students), we all mentioned how we were not entirely sure what we would be doing after graduating. He stressed that it was difficult for us, because we were given the means to get the best education and go to great schools, whereas it was easy for these students at Gawad Kalinga because they only have this one option. They can decide to study here and pursue an education in social enterprise or stay in the slums living under a bridge with no hope for the future. This idea really hit home for me. I think that many times in America, we have certain perceptions of these populations that we know nothing about, and much too often those perceptions are negative. This is due to how society portrays and propagates these negative connotations in the media. We see images of poor communities in other countries and unknowingly associate these communities as being lesser beings. Often we feel sorry for these communities and donate money, food, and water. Though these donations are helpful and make us feel better about ourselves, they pale in comparison to letting these communities know that they have worth far beyond being what they know. The Filipino country has been conquered 3 separate times by Spain, the US, and Japan and over those 300+ years, the poor communities have lost their sense identity. This farm works to return identity to those who have lost it and help them realize their potential and unlock their minds. I am very excited to discover more of what this farm has to offer and I hope that by the end of my time here I will have a more clear view of my purpose, just as these students have leaving the community.
Well that's all for my first post, but Stay tuned because I will be back later this week with more insight into my enchanted experience at the GK Enchanted Farm.
Thanks for reading!
I've been here for a couple of days now and I am thoroughly impressed by what I am seeing. For months I have been unsure of what to say when people ask "what will you be doing this summer?" and finally I believe I am starting to gain more clarity on how I can respond. Today we met the owner of the farm, Tito Toni, and he helped explain to us the mission and goal of the farm. He explained how everyone has a purpose at the farm and that the farm strives to serve as a social enterprise for the Filipino people. Social enterprise is a business model where everyone strives to be successful, but at the same time they are bringing those in the community with them. They are working as a collective unit to build a self-sustaining environment of success while helping the local community discover and utilize the world's most precious natural resource: the human mind. The farm also is the world's first farm community university and we actually arrived yesterday during the first ever graduation ceremony of the first 35 students of the university. Today we met three students, two who just graduated yesterday. From the two minutes that they introduced themselves to us, I was able to hear their background, their age, their inspirations, their aspirations, and what they have gained from their time here at the farm. One thing that was consistent throughout all of their stories was what they discovered in the farm. They all said that during their time at the farm, they discovered their self-worth, and they were able to find hope for the future. It was very inspiring to hear where they came from and how they were able to take control of their lives and turn them around completely in pursuit of their newly discovered passions.
We are given so many opportunities on a daily basis in America that these students could not even dream of before and I believe many of us forget that. Tito Toni talked about how when we were all introducing ourselves (the IWU students), we all mentioned how we were not entirely sure what we would be doing after graduating. He stressed that it was difficult for us, because we were given the means to get the best education and go to great schools, whereas it was easy for these students at Gawad Kalinga because they only have this one option. They can decide to study here and pursue an education in social enterprise or stay in the slums living under a bridge with no hope for the future. This idea really hit home for me. I think that many times in America, we have certain perceptions of these populations that we know nothing about, and much too often those perceptions are negative. This is due to how society portrays and propagates these negative connotations in the media. We see images of poor communities in other countries and unknowingly associate these communities as being lesser beings. Often we feel sorry for these communities and donate money, food, and water. Though these donations are helpful and make us feel better about ourselves, they pale in comparison to letting these communities know that they have worth far beyond being what they know. The Filipino country has been conquered 3 separate times by Spain, the US, and Japan and over those 300+ years, the poor communities have lost their sense identity. This farm works to return identity to those who have lost it and help them realize their potential and unlock their minds. I am very excited to discover more of what this farm has to offer and I hope that by the end of my time here I will have a more clear view of my purpose, just as these students have leaving the community.
Well that's all for my first post, but Stay tuned because I will be back later this week with more insight into my enchanted experience at the GK Enchanted Farm.
Thanks for reading!
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