Close encounters with the Sumilao farmers
It was an honor to have joined them in their fight, even for just a couple of hours.
Schedule of Sumilao Farmers’ March from Cubao to the Ateneo: Dec 5-6
Their ancestral land was unjustly taken from them. Having gone through the legal system and still feeling justice denied to them, they have embarked on a 1500-km-plus journey from Bukidnon to Malacanang in order to bring to the President themselves the petition to claim the land stolen from them. After almost two months of travelling the length of the Philippines on foot, the Sumilao Farmers are finally here in Metro Manila!
The schedule of their arrival in Quezon City plus of their subsequent stay at the Ateneo from December 5-6, 2007Â can be found here. Updates can also be found in the Multiply site created for the Sumilao Farmers’ March.
Gratitude list 2007
It was too late when I realized that Sampras And Federer Are Practically In My Doorstep.
I spent a good portion of the Tuesday morning daydreaming about the Federer-Sampras match in Macau this coming Saturday. Daydreaming eventually gave way to frantic rummaging through sites online, to get the best airline and hotel rates for my sojourn to the former Portuguese Asian enclave. But after careful computation of the cost for my planned stay in Macau, I conceded defeat because the amount I had to shell out was more than a month’s salary.
This is one of the rare times that I wished my surname was Hilton…
Later that day, however, I realized that I may have had more than my fair share of the jet-set life, visiting places familiar and spectacular, meeting people as varied as Finns and Chileans, experiencing events that are tremendous blessings to say the least. With still 39 days to go before the new year and 51 days before by birthday, I believe I already have a lengthy list of items to be grateful for, missing the Sampras-Federer face-off notwithstanding.
A cursory, per-month examination of the year that is about to end generated a fine picture of yet-another blessing-filled year:
Continue reading here please.
One more chance
The story is typical but not plain.
The recipe used, though tried, tested, and already much- touted, still churned out a flavorful experience because of the freshest, almost perfect basket of ingredients.
All Pinoys- all human beings, for that matter- might as well get royalties since the Star Cinema’s film ONE MORE CHANCE seems to be loosely based from any and all of our lives.
My sister didn’t have to ask me twice so I’ll accompany her to watch the latest John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo flick since I am an avowed Kapamilya and I am a firm believer that John Lloyd Cruz and I are actually twins separated at birth. Else, why would my paternal grandmother- God rest her soul- and maternal grandfather be quick to quip that we- John Lloyd and I- look so much alike whenever they saw the former on tv? I must look for that diary that holds our true identity… But I digress.
Continue reading here.
Midnight in the garden of good and evil
Even before I finished training in medical school, I have already felt a calling to work in the world outside the hospital. The promise of attaining better and sustainable health outcomes faster by engaging populations rather than individual patients led me to the world of community development and public health. The overpowering atmosphere filled with sickness and gloom, hospital politics, and stifling routine hastened my footsteps away from hospital work.
But as I’ve began to spend more time in the university hospital again over the last few days, there’s this unshakable nostalgia of my previous hospital-based life: the flurry of activity in the emergency room; the stress of rounds and reports; the need to devour books and journals; the camaraderie among overworked and underpaid fellow health professionals; the adrenalin rush of a toxic duty in the ward; the extremely sound sleep after a toxic duty. What I miss most is the almost unbridled interaction with individual patients, as they and their families put their lives in my hands and they take on the unwitting role of my mentor and teacher.
One of them I will never, ever forget. Here’s why.
Let Marianette be the last child to take her own life because of poverty
Kids, at least biologically, have been programmed by nature to personify quiet resiliency and a great sense of healing. Be it from a fracture of the forearm or evacuating from their homes due to armed conflict, given the proper support and nurturing, their bodies, minds, and spirits will recover and eventually flourish despite the adverse events.
That is why my heart is broken into a million tiny pieces when I heard over the radio that a 12-year old girl took her own because she has apparently lost all hope of escaping from her poverty-stricken life.
I can’t begin to imagine the depth of the despair she was swimming in. Flailing in. Sinking in.
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Gawad Kalinga 1World Expo 2007 Oct. 26-28 SM Mall of Asia
I can’t believe it’s GK Expo time again! Last year was a fantastic experience! This year, amidst our turmoil- and challenge-strewn path, GK is continuing to help restore the dignity of the poor, one home and community at a time. Photo above from GK Expo 2006. Text and schedule that follow come from the Gawad Kalinga official website where you can get more information about the expo and how you, too, can be a hero for the country.
This month, Gawad Kalinga celebrates its 4th year anniversary particularly the birthing of its vision to build 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities in 7 years or GK777 officially launched on October 4, 2003.
Living in the land of the lost
I first encountered Sumilao when I went to Bukidnon last April. The bus made a five-minute stop in the town’s central market to pick up some passengers. The whole stretch of the highway- from Cagayan De Oro to Malaybalay (where I eventually rendezvous-ed with one of my closest friends from medical school, Dr Lester Geroy) –was flanked by a seamless array of plantations, hills, and, sparingly, by forests. It exceeded the vision I created in my head, of how nature and agriculture has fused perfectly in this bountiful place to provide for all who live off of it.. This is the reason why the place seemed as peace… Or so I thought.
