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. ✌🏾️
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