Well... its been so so long since I have written!! But as I was looking at friend's blogs, I was yet again inspired! And since in a month or so, I will be deeply in bedded analyzing and writing up my findings I think synthesizing a few of my thoughts maybe helpful.

First of all, THANK YOU!! I will miss you all! Here are a few memories written down so that others may start to see and understand a little more about the Philippines and the multitude of people that live in the beautiful country.

I decided to upload this collage of the Philippine children I have met while conducting research in Manila and Antique. They are beautiful to say the least, as are their parents and friends. Curious, always intrigued (or as mentioned before, occasionally scared:) of this strange visitor in their classroom. While at first, I always was looking at their classrooms and lives and seeing what they didn't have (of course material wise), I soon came to my own conclusion that these children and their communities had so so much to offer. To be honest, I don't think that I have ever met such dedicated individuals. People who would give so much of their time to find solutions to improve the lives of individuals within their community.
International Development, I have come to question more and more how exactly I fit wwithin this world. So far as I think of the word, development, it implies that what one starts out with is underdeveloped or not complete.

As much as I have had the privilege to travel, each place, every person I meet, I still have to work within myself to understand that there are millions of ways to achieve goals or future ideals. And more importantly, similar to myself, I don't like to have someone telling "advising" me what I should do or work towards.