It began with the first beads of sweat that formed as I walked out of the Manila Airport and across the street toward big orange sign. “MABUHAY Neha, Amy, and Ginny!” The woman behind the sign, SCALA project Coordinator Sarah Grant, smiles and leads us to the bus terminal. Now, when you throw three Canadian volunteers, their huge backpacks and our project coordinator (nearly fluent in the local language of Tagalog!) together with a bus, Jeepney, tricycle, lots of diesel and no traffic lights you have the makings of my first glimpse of the Philippines. And it is just that - a glimpse. Scratching the surface of a nation that is resilient in all things; rising above a colonial past, widespread poverty and unemployment, corruption, and natural disaster. At once, I found everything intangibly but distinctly
... read more