The Power of Presence

Hey everyone! It's kind of hard to believe it, but we only have bout two and a half more weeks here at the farm, and I'm not completely sure how to feel about it. I have to admit, the notion of going home to familiarity and family sounds amazing, but at the same time, I have made so many meaningful connections with so many different people here and I know I will miss this place. I know that I won't realize it completely as I step back into an air conditioned house, but it will hit me. I remember thinking when I first got here, "Man, this is going to be a long 2 months," but it seems like it has all gone by so fast. I have experienced so many new things and in the pursuit of finding out more about myself, I feel like this place has really impacted me and definitely given me a more expansive worldview if not anything else. I have a couple more weeks, so I won't get into exactly how it has impacted me, but stay tuned 😉.

 

Swim lessons with the kids

Recently at the farm, Jessie and I have completed three of our social education documents for our meetings with Joni. We've been meeting more regularly with her and I believe we've definitely figured out the group dynamic. So far, we've created a roadmap for short term interns, one for potential social entrepreneurs, and a financial management course for the teenagers in the community here at Gawad Kalinga. We've also been working on the rice fields reinforcing the terraces and that has been a pretty dirty, but fun job. Though these jobs may not have been the most time-consuming tasks in the world, I know the impact that they could have on the future of the farm and that makes me extremely hopeful for the continued success of this place. It seems like towards the end of our experience here at the farm, many of the interns are getting disheartened or doubtful of our contribution to the community here. I have to admit, I was going through the same doubts for a while, but I believe that our presence here makes a lot of difference in the lives of the community. I'm not trying to sound self-righteous or anything, but I have really been impacted by the community members that I have met here, and I can only hope that I have had an equal amount of impact on them. I think it's very easy for us to be think one-dimensionally when it comes to productivity of an internship and I think that is very dangerous when it comes to an internship experience like this one. Yes, all the projects and goals we hoped to achieve may have not all been completed, but we are not just out on this farm to do our jobs, with no emotional connections, or interaction with the community at all. I think especially at a place here like GK, the goal is the opposite really. I believe we are here to complete our jobs but at the same time, inspire others, become inspired, and really leave the place not necessarily different than we found it, but leave a definite impact on it. What does that impact look like? It's different for every single one of us. For some of us, it is completing many small tasks around the farm and making sure that we can help out where we can. For others, it is focusing on one large project throughout the duration of the internship and really pushing on making a lasting physical impact on the farm. For some of us, it is meeting a new community member everyday and really having meaningful conversations with them. For a lot of us, we take all of these goals and mix them together, which may be a reason that our self-perception of our productivity is not equivalent with the Farm community's perception. We come from extremely different perceptual universes and that can greatly affect how we view the same thing. I think that is one of the biggest things I have learned in my time here. 

 

Cooling down in the mud after helping with the rice terraces

This past weekend we took another trip to Manila and got to see some places that were rather off the beaten path in the city. We went to a couple of speakeasy style bars and got to try absinthe for the first time. After doing a quite Google search we found a place that looked rather interesting. We walked into what looked like a fast food hot dog and burger joint to many people sitting down and eating. The food looked very appetizing. To our right, however, was a closet which looked a little out of place. We opened the closet door and to our surprise, we saw an old, classy, lift-style elevator, covered with red carpet and wood and gold metal interior. We stepped inside and closed the other door behind us. We knocked on the other side of the door and shortly thereafter we were greeted by a waiter who opened the door to welcome us into a very lavish parlor-style speakeasy. The floors were a classic black and white checked patterns with the walls adorning glass cases filled with many Italian and French imported liqueur bottles. We had the chance to try some authentic absinthe before going to a popular reggae spot on Sunday nights called b-side. It looked like an old foundry with plenty of graffiti murals on the wall. They had a nice street bar and live reggae music playing until about 2 am. After that, they had a dj play disco reggaeton out of a booth in a caravan and it was truly an amazing night! 

We got back the the farm early Monday morning and got a little bit of rest before starting our day. On Monday, Jessie and I were able to sit-in and participate in our first day at the school in the community. The sessions go from 3-5 pm each day and there a currently about 8 three-four year olds in attendance. The kids were very shy at first when they saw us, but they eventually got their kid confidence back once they saw Tita Brenda going about class normally. The class was a mix of practicing counting and learning letters in English and Tagalog. All of the excercises were done in a song form and were very interactive, which the kids really responded well too. We're going to start attending the classes on a daily basis so I'm sure we'll have more stories to tell pretty soon! 

 

The students paying attention to Tita Brenda

That's all I have for this time, but I'll talk to you guys again soon!

Thanks for reading. ✌🏾️

Spanish Bars and a Surfing Good Time

Hey guys, this has been another crazy week, yet very relaxing week! We've been working on more of the social education planning with Joni and also we are going to start up some swim lessons with the kids pretty soon! I'm excited to teach these kids but I know it'll be a lot on our plates. Before we actually started the swim lessons, however, we were scheduled to go on our MAD Travel trip to Baler, Aurora, Philippines. MAD (Make A Difference) Travel is one of the social enterprises here at the farm and they are basically an enterprise that does trip planning for groups to destinations throughout the Philippines. I was extremely excited to go on this trip because It'd be a nice break from the farm and I also would get to see a completely different look at the Philippines. So after a long night of despedidas for four of the French interns' departure, we reluctantly woke up at 7:45 for and 8 am van ride to silver heights. I was not completely sure about the itinerary of the trip but this came as a pleasant surprise for me that we would visit another GK site In more of a city setting. We arrived to silver heights in the morning and were greeted by a very warm welcome from all of the community members there, especially the welcoming committee appropriately named, the mabuhay ladies. We were eventually paired with a family to stay with for the night and my Nanay was named Nanay Giselle. She had three kids and a husband and they were very welcoming! Very similar to Tita Brenda's house here on the farm community, this home was very welcoming and cozy. They becomes for me to come in and leave my bags in the upstairs room. I climbed the narrow staircase and when I arrived at the top, I was in my room. It was a small room covered in colorful wallpaper on the wall, ceilings, and floors. I set my bag down on a mattress pad set up on the floor with a set of children's sheets and pillows on it. I figured that this was the room that the kids slept in. I remember pondering how amazing it was that they literally have their only actual bedroom in the entire house to me, a complete stranger. And I think that is very representative of many of the people and families I have met so far in the Philippines. If I walk into a home or even a business where someone is eating, the first thing they ask is, "Have you eaten already?" I have really noticed and been able to see the selflessness of these people in the GK communities, and it is truly amazing.

 

 Some Kids from the GK Mejares community and I

After a couple of activities with the silver heights folks the next morning, we got on the road and drove about 7 hours to Baler. The trip took a little longer than expected due to some unforeseen traffic and a flat tire, but once we finally got to the small surfing town, we were all very impressed. We stayed in a hostel called the circle and it was the most hipster, trendy place I could've imagined. There were hammocks, bean bag chairs, tables, cards, a wide assortment of board games, speakers, and extremely chill and friendly people. The thing that stood out the most, however, was the decoration of the walls and ceilings of the hostel. It was a hostel that was very open to the outdoors and made completely out of stone and bamboo, but the stone walls and bamboo floors and stairs were brought alive by the thousands of amateur paintings and sayings that were littered throughout them. This was hands down, one of the coolest things I've seen during my stay here. After walking a little further, I saw a sign posted on the staircase pointing to a bucket filled with assorted colors of paint. The sign read, "Leave your mark here! Grab a paintbrush and get creative! Just no name-tagging." In the middle of the main floor lounge, I noticed a large part of the floor dipping into the ground on a slant. In the back of my mind I had an idea of what it could be, but I knew that that would be crazy. Upon a closer examination, my initial suspicions were confirmed. There was a half-pipe skate ramp in the middle of the hostel. There was literally nothing about this hostel that was disappointing. 

 

The Main Lounge Area at The Circle Hostel

We put our stuff down and went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant called "the good food" and my goodness, the title was nothing short of completely true. After eating we went to the beach, but that was short-lived because it was pitch black out and I'm not crazy. Later on we went to a couple bars and one of them happened to be owned by a man who had been raised in Tarragona, Spain. I was extremely excited to hear this because during my recent study abroad in Barcelona, I had spent a bit of time in Tarragona. I was able to talk to the owner in Spanish for a good amount of time and eventually when we switched back to English, the conversation moved the the extreme effects that the new president, Rodrigo Duterte, had had on the small town. If you do not know by now, Duterte won in a popular election recently regardless of his extreme vows to kill all drug users and drug dealers in the country. Many people believe that he is what the country needs to get it "back on track", and a common nickname for him is the "Donald trump of the Philippines." It has been reported that many people have already been killed over the passed two weeks, his first two weeks in office. The owner of the bar told us that two weeks prior two our visit, hundreds of drug dealers and addicts alike turned themselves into the police in fear of being killed. I found it very amazing how many people turned themselves in due to fear. Many people think that Duterte is very effective in his methods, but in reality, he is targeting the population of drug users/ dealers in the country who cannot afford to bribe their way into continuing their business. When you vow to end drug use, that will do nothing if corruption in the police force allows it to continue amongst the top 1 percent of the population. It may make them harder to find, but they will still be there. 

Anyways, the next few days were simply amazing, we went to two more GK communities and played with the kids and enjoyed a couple more boodle fights as well. We were able to surf,climb a waterfall, and even climb up/ go inside the largest balete tree in Asia. This was hands down a trip I will never forget and an experience that added immensely to my experience as a whole in the Philippines. 

Thanks for reading guys, and I'll hit ya with another one soon!

From Mentoring the Youth to Madness in Manila

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while since I've posted, but It's been quite a week! So things on the farm have been going really well. Another American intern, Diego, joined Jessie and I on the task of creating social education plans for the different groups at the farm so we've been doing a lot of brainstorming for that and it's extremely nice to be able to put three heads together towards the effort. This Monday through Wednesday, the American interns and a couple of the French agreed to help out with a sort of camp for some kids from the Raya school in metro Manila. This is one of the best prep schools in Manila and because of this, many of its kids are very wealthy. The purpose of this visit was to expose them to farming and sustainability because otherwise, they would not know about it at all. It was a very interesting experience and the kids were all pretty excited to be there but I think even over the three days that they were there, they were able to learn a lot from the experience. 

Helping some of the Raya kids skin and prepare a chicken for their meal.

On Friday, we all decided to head to Manila for the weekend. Upon recommendation from the French, we decided to stay in a hostel called the Jeepney Hostel. It was a very nice and cozy hostel which had everything we needed for our stay and it only cost us about 10 dollars a night. We visited a mall their called Glorietta 3. It was huge, and it was only 1 of 5 Glorietta malls in the city. On top of that their were SM mega malls and other shopping centers sitting amongst the skyscrapers in metro Manila. 

Our hostel in Manila, The Jeepney Hostel.

Upon arriving and driving around the city a little bit, however, I noticed another type of building thrown into the mix right next to these towering malls and skyscrapers. These 'other' buildings were significantly smaller but more crowded together. They were often made of wood and sheet metal with long tarps thrown over them carelessly. Rows of colorful clothing hung from the awnings of the second story of these buildings and barefoot children were running around on the street in front of them. It was amazing to me how the slums could be thrown into the mix right next to these towering skyscrapers. How could the wealthy walk home out of a mall or from work and literally pass through these slums and do nothing? Many people just walked nonchalantly through on their iPhones with their fresh haircuts as beggars (older people and young children alike) taps them and pulled on their bags begging for any spare change. It seemed crazy at first but when I thought about it more, it's not really that different in the states in our large cities. The slums may not be located right next to the malls and skyscrapers but they are pretty close. And it really just illustrates the wealth disparity between the wealthy and the poor in the world in general. It reminded me of one of the first talks we attended here at the farm where we talked about the economy in the Philippines and how some consider it to be the worlds fastest growing economy. This is true on paper but Chris, the leader of the talk also explained how much of that growth does not take into consideration the severe poverty that places like Manila face. Similar to the United States, the top one percent of the population owns a disgustingly large amount of the wealth of the country and these two instances are not in any way singular. There are many countries like this, and that is one of the reasons for much of the corruption, poverty, prostitution, violence, and general evil around the world. It was very interesting to see this firsthand as we were pretty close to a street that was littered with "nightclubs" and people selling literally anything to make some money. We had a man walk up to us and offer us drugs, a stun gun, and a laser pointer all in the same sentence. In the parking lot of one of the clubs we went to, I witnessed a woman walk past two police officers and slickly give them some money while masking giving them a handshake. Upon having conversation with some locals I learned that police corruption is a huge problem here and it became very evident as you pay more and more attention to the everyday occurrences in the city. It's very interesting because I feel like you don't really realize how real things like this are until actually witnessing them happening around you. And it's also something that doesn't have a clear and easy solution. It gives me a lot to think about however. That's for sure.

Well, that's all I have for right now! But I'll hit you with another one soon. Thanks for reading guys:)