Greetings from Iloilo!

Our next stop during our excursion was Iloilo. We boarded an early morning flight to the city from Manila. Noticeably different from Manila, Iloilo seems to be more sustainable in terms of their agricultural structure. Nonetheless, it's still a bustling city like Manila that even New York traffic couldn't compare too. 

Sister Corey was our guide for the day. She is a native of Iloilo, so it's was only fitting that she toured us around the city that she knows so well. She took us to visit her home where we would be able to visit her mother. A woman of wisdom and stunningly beautiful, she made sure all 12 of her children received a degree. I hope to be as resilient as her at age 95. We were also able to visit the school she attended where we met student leaders and toured the facility. 

Later in the day we were finally greeted by our borrowers at Colegio de San Jose! They came baring beautiful shell necklaces for us as a welcome to the Philippines. So far I've noticed that before all of our meetings, we first join together in prayer. This has been a great way to unite us together before our discussions.  During our meeting, they each shared a presentation of their businesses that depicted before and after photos, pictures of their meetings, and an overview of where the business is now. The presentations were so well put together. Despite being able to speak little English, they each stood up to express their gratitude to us. Although we may not have been able to understand each other's dialect, I believe that thank you is universal.  As thankful as they were to us is as thankful as we were to them. They were a group of strong women who expressed that they wanted to be able to educate their children with the income from their businesses. They didn't want them to work on an island but rather attain a degree. In that sense, I believe that GLOBE's impact will be generational. 

Our next stop is Legazpi, stay tuned!