Life's passion.

Borongan, Samar 2007

Apart from working with children, one of the things that I could probably do for the rest of my life is to be a researcher.

Here was a picture of my first out-of-town trip as a documentor for a non-government organization. With my good friend, spearheading the early childhood education arm of that organization, she invited me and another friend to fly to Samar to facilitate a training for Day Care workers.

Our team was composed of the consultant and two facilitators (one coming from Pangasinan and my friend). As a documentor, I had to take note of everything that happened throughout the training. This also meant bringing the laptop (which I borrowed from my cousin's and mind you, it was so heavy) wherever we went (whether we were taking that bumpy jeepney ride to another barrio or touring this quiet yet captivating province.
We went wherever my dearest friend would take us-from the nearby plaza to the remote island in Samar.

Whenever I think about that trip and look through our pictures, I am always reminded that I met great people, who with the meager resources available to them, still find a way to make teaching Filipino children a meaningful experience. It was an adventure that stirred in me the love for my own country and the challenge of transforming lives- one child at a time, one parent at a time, one teacher at a time, no matter how impossible it seems to be.

It will always be one of those trips that assured me that I could go beyond my comfort zone at least once in my lifetime.

It paved the way for me to discover my other life's passion.

P.S. Special thanks to Teacher MCA for inspiring me to be a life-long researcher. I first met T. MCA in U.P. where we collaborated together for a preschool outreach project. I then worked for T. MCA as her research assistant. She then became my thesis adviser, prayer partner and mentor.