What is happening to Mother Earth... dear Father Lord?

As Bel San Luis says in his column at Manila Bulletin:

"If it's any consolation to Filipinos, our casualties of over 400 is nothing compared to over 4000 in Sumatra and still counting..

In India, a 5 day continous rain killed 230 and 2 million were rendered homeless.

Lord, what's happening to planet earth?"

....

I'm not really complaining, it may really be humanity's fault of not taking care and doing its fair share of helping the environment..

But still, I'd like to thank you for bringing out the humility in each of us... that despite the material richness.. you make us remember that nothing in this earth is permanent..

so we may live each day as if it is our last....

I still fail to live that mantra. But being human is not an excuse in failing to live up to Your expectations, so I try again, stand up, dust myself up and, live according to thy word.. and i hope others will gather up the bits and pieces and start again.. and im sure we will always remember that...

God, you are the boss...

Be it done according to thy word.

My poem of not so long ago..

this was year 2004.... golly ang deep deep ko naman minsan *giggles* ^_^



this is my drug....
a momentarily bliss,
a temporary insanity of the good blood

blinding light i have followed,
but at the back of my mind
the pain of the outside i still wallow

for how long should i run
from the creeps of my memory
Lord God please help me...




more poetry here

Self Sustainability

According to VSO Bahaginan website, we Filipinos have the Bayanihan attitude that makes an effective volunteer but does not have the money to continue to be one. Hard in-your-face truth!

But of course I wont just whine about it.

Im looking for ways to solve that issue, and then share it to others. So I was browsing on topics to achieve financial freedom, and Ive stumbled upon the following:

http://pinayandmoney.wordpress.com/page/7/

http://www.jomarhilario.com/ - ka choir ko to dati sa cybergate... bonggang bongga na sya ngayon ^_^

http://www.citiseconline.com/easy

So if you know get-rich-without-batting-an-eyelash-quick-tips, please let me know also ^_^... Hopefully we can also be like Europeans who goes on holidays na parang kapitbahay lang ang kabilang bansa...


At times like these mahirap ba mangarap? ^_^ Keep an eye and be a tiger ;)

Looking back, but living the present moment very well..

... and taking calculated risks to move forward...

coz im a tiger... GggrrrRRrroowwwwllLL !!!


;)





pero waits, looking back muna tayo when I was with Filipino VSO volunteers.... these unsung heroes of society, down to earth (literally) and yet so totally awesome... no matter how dugyot the places where they are right now... they deserve my genuine respect.

Ate Letty Pardiñas, volunteer in Ethiopia

Ate Clarifel Rodrigo, Management Advisor volunteer in Bangladesh

Chris Reyes, volunteer somewhere in Africa

O davah bongga si Mabel Cinco, taray ang social worker that always sees people with AIDS in her everyday volunteer life! ^_^

Ate Veron Viajar, the HR (Hingahan ng Roaring kong feelings) volunteer in Kolkata

Ate Joyce Felongco to the world, volunteer in Kolkata (second from left)

Balance Life

Aside from me being confined in my cube, I try to make my life as balanced as I can..

gone are the days of ot-ty and ghosting. whoops! ^_^ hehe

besides, once lang tayo dadaan sa earth na ituh, might as well enjoy it and live it to the fullest...



anyways, I was with a co-volunteer of mine on how to apply what we have learned from our stint to our beloved Pinas... and great ideas came to mind... hopefully these ideas will evolve into something wonderful not just for ourselves but for the country as a whole... syempre I dream big. Naging Epal na ako e. hmp.

So I did my first step of raising awareness:

https://publishing.accenture.com/BuhayAccenture/MyNews/MyTravels/MyVSOExperience

ayan, Im promoting balanced life and volunteering to the highest level.

But the challenge is being humble enough to realize that there are people out there who work so much, depriving themselves of sleep just to earn money for their own loved ones...

and yet, there are people who really dont put so much effort yet they get to travel the world and earn so much more than these people I know na nagpapakamatay sa trabaho.


INEQUALITY.


That's why I am determined to build a better and fairer world.. in my own way.

Sana lang these dreams wont just stay as big dreams... monday pala bukas.. eto na naman ang feeling ko-> GO BACK TO PROPER WORK!!! :(

Reverse Culture Shock

Time flies so fast... and yeah, I have experienced all the warnings that VSO trainings told me..
so for other volunteers (and wanting to be volunteers), consider this a testimony. ^_^


so you think you'll get a red carpet welcome when you get here.. from all the hardships that you've encountered, challenges you have overcome, im sure we volunteers deserve it.. but it does not always happen.. life goes on.. others will be busy hearing your story, and will also get annoyed specially that you wont have money to make libre.


well, from my case I got the e-card from my company which will be viewed by a couple thousand of other employees.. and a chance to talk to Beth Lui and other senior execs on the "extra challenge"..


and hopefully raise awareness that volunteering indeed is not just for the Manangs or Rich kids who have nothing else to do with their money... but for skilled people also ;)


But aside from that, everything goes back to normal... parang ganto ang feeling -> GO BACK TO PROPER WORK!!!





......


so before eye bugs creeps out of me, i still would like to see the bright side of life.. I went to the road less travelled, made genuine friends, lived with scarce money, yet it did seemed so much that I still got to travel, rode camels and elephants, see Taj Mahal and millimeter of Himalayas.... and lived my life to the fullest....


so I still say, even if its back to corporate reality, even if im back to my small cubicle, life is still good... so here I go spreading ripple effects of Good News..



and where did the ripple go? Here ye:

here I come Philippines kong Mahal

so I was happy stepping into the Philippine grounds! alive!!

and I talked to curious minds and I was glad to share to them what I have gone thru.

so they say, "parang Pilipinas lang"... and the continuation of the question of why didnt I helped my own country in the first place?

Actually.... I did... and I will be doing it again. That's why I went back right? To apply what I have learned from India to my own country.

Now the challenge is how do I that? Im a nobody in my own country.

hrrmmmm I dont need to be somebody to help in my own way, for ripple effects of goodness goes a long way.

here I go infecting love to everybody... may God help me. ^_^