7 days 6 nights 1 experience
i had the time of my life.. my trip to philippines is the best in my entire life. before this trip i had expectations that seem impossible. i wanted to bring hope to the people there. however, when i reached there, it is they who opened my hearts and gave me hope. i remember clearly the first day i was at baseco, the site which we were suppose to build our house, he place was in a mess. i didnt expect to see hwat was before me.. the slums were so close to the upgraded houses. its like there were separated by a basketball court. in my mind, i was thinking ," what would the people living at the slums be thinking? do they feel inferior? how do the people living in the upgraded house look at their past neighbours who used to live at the slums too? two diverse community but both sharing the same soil" i was confused and disturbed. the next day got better when i met some of the home builders. they already had their upgraded houses and working on the work site is a form of community service for them. they were so cheerful and delighted to see us there. accompanying us were 3 volunteers from philippines who will be with us throughout the trip,. they were with me during my 2nd day of building, they were helping me translate what i wanted to tell the workers and what they want to instruct us to do. the one worker that i remember dearly was oka.. he is so sweet.. he would always attend to our needs and if we ever made a mistake he would just smile scratch his head and say "ok ok" and he would modify the wrongly cut board to suit to their needs. never once i heard them complaining abt the weather, the mistakes we made or anything. they were happy people who are satisfied with what they have.. the last day at the work site was sad.. we could not go to the work site on the third day sbecause of the typhoon but on the 4th day we went back there for the last time thugh we know its gonna be a typhoon later.. we sang two songs to them and took photos with them.. it was really sad to leave that place.
my 3 maganda angels during this trip. they were the best.. they protected guide us through the whole trip. they were themselves volunteers but they were all out to keep us safe and warm.. their friendship has been one of the best rewards i got from this trip. they always make sure every one of us was feeling ok. on the roads, they surround us such that no harm can reach us. they were the sweetest angels i have ever met. their willingness was something that moved me to step up and serve others as well. their enthusiasm was something that made me strive further.. it was them that made me realise how my life should be changed around. thank you and mahal ko kayo i love you all..