DAY 1! Hello Manila we are here!

We have arrived! After a 15-plus-hours long flight, the GLOBE Fellows are finally at the Philippines. We are staying at Hospicio de San Jose in Manila City; this is an institution under the administration of our incredible partners, the Daughters of Charity of the Philippines. Our first day we were up at 7am, I was so excited that jet lag didn't affect me as I though it will do, we have a 12 hours difference here. Our first activity was getting to know Cindy, one of our borrowers. She conducts the bakery at Hospicio. Cindy besides being a fantastic baker is an amazing warrior. She has suffered a lot in her short age, mainly due to a men, she is just 24 and have 3 children which are her motivation to keep fighting for a better life. Thanks to the guidance of the Daughters and a loan from GLOBE she is slowly but surely changing her lifestyle. She kindly offered some bake goods, they tasted delicious. I truly recommend her coconut bread it's is fantastic! 
Following sister Corey Daughter of Charity (DC) started by telling us about the services the institution, Hospicio offers. They focus in fours different programs, which advocates for children and elderly. The work they do is so supreme that they have achieved a grade A for the four different programs, which is the highest recognition for this social institution in the Philippines.  The program that called most my attention was they adoption program, they manage successful adoption in a national and international level; however what make me the most happy was to see how happy the children are. They have amazing facilities and staff which provides them love and guidance. Hospicio de San Jose has come a long way it was founded in 1810 and since 1865 was directed by the Daughters of Charity. Now it keeps on being one of the most reliable and respectable social institution in Manila Center. 

For the second part of the day we visited another of our borrowers and different institutions that are also directed by the daughters. 

Driving around Manila center is perhaps the hardest things to do, not only because of its intense traffic, with streets and avenues full of trucks, bikes and cars all in a same lane but mostly because the crude extreme poverty one can feel. The streets are full of garbage with people living on it, sanitary conditions are non-existing. Children running around playing on big piles of garbage, digging in to see what they can reuse. It is truly heartbreaking. I come from Ecuador that just like the Philippines suffers of extreme poverty, I have seen this level of poverty before nonetheless that does not make it easier to assimilate, it is still hard to understand how can be so much injustice in this world. However our day became brighter when we meet Olive, one of our borrowers. Olive greeted us with a huge smile next to her little food car. An excited Olive intend us to her house, which is close to her food car, she introduced us to 3 of her 8 children. I was mesmerized when I saw that Olive just count with one set of fire to cook all her food, she told us she wakes up everyday at 3 am to start her entrepreneurial and mother activities.  Olive's food truck sells many items such us:  boiled eggs and fried rice for 10 pesos. In regards of the short time of her business she counts with loyal costumes already, which are bikes drivers. Our day continue by visiting other institutions manage by the DC. It is mind blowing to see how predominant the daughters are in this city. Their presence is essential for the social development and history of Manila. One of my favorite institutions aisles Hospicio is Asylum an institution for temporary residencies that provides and advocated for education of their residents. 

For the last part of our day we meet the Ladies of Charity for dinner. Once again driving by the streets of Manila I was amazed by its poverty, this time I was able to put more attention into its surroundings, it's incredible there are restaurant chains mingling around this poverty, I saw innumerable Dunking Donuts, McDonalds and Starbucks. It is shocking. At this time of the day I must admit Jet lag hit me and I was extremely tired but once I saw the Ladies of charity I cheered up, they tread us dinner and we were able to talked about our organization and the work they do. It was a great way to finish our day.

I have seen and learn so many things it is taking me time to process all, as for now I am just grateful for being here and mostly to see the impact one loan at a time can do.  

Mabuhay!

Welcome!

At long last we have made it to the Matatag na Republika, the Strong Republic of the Philippines!

Looking back, it all began with a vision – a vision to use our gift of higher education to help those who need it the most. Throughout our journey as GLOBE Managers, we encountered several borrowers through the lenses of their loan applications. No matter where they were in the world, each borrower had a unique story to share – of a struggle to rise up out of poverty. In one short semester, we managed to ignite meaningful changes in the lives of these people. The funny thing is that, throughout our education, we are often told that it is just “theory” – that the things we are learning are just in preparation for what awaits us in “the real world.” The beautiful thing about GLOBE is this is no theory. This is real; it’s real lives and real money that we’re dealing with. Although our interactions with our borrowers during the semester were mainly abstract, everything changed when we immersed ourselves into their communities as GLOBE Fellows.

Meet Olive Cerro, the single mother of 8 children, living in Navotas City, Manila. 

Olive took a loan with GLOBE in order to start a business selling cooked meats and a Sari-Sari (Convenience) Store. Once a face attached to a loan application, Olive’s story was brought to life when we visited her in Navotas City. She gave us a warm welcome, introduced us to her business operations and invited us into her home. Her family had modest means, but she was full of life and eager to share with the GLOBE Managers. A truly diligent worker, Olive rises at 3 o'clock each morning to begin preparing food for her business and family. Her children are proudly pursuing their education and one of her daughters even works while studying - an all too familiar reality for us college students.

Here's what her store looks like now:

Previously, three of Olive’s children were housed at Hospicio de San Jose, operated by the Daughters of Charity, due to her inability to adequately provide for them. Imagine what the lives of the children may have been like at this time, wondering where their mother is and when they were going to se her again. Imagine the disappointment Olive must have felt, explaining to her other five children why their siblings could not be with them. However, Olive would not be deterred. She decided to take control of her life and start her business so that she could earn a suitable income to be reunited with her children. Through her hard work and dedication, the family is now fully united.

See for yourself how happy she is with her babies:

Call it theory, I call it a life we changed. 

Meet Cindy Agpaoa. Cindy applied for a loan with GLOBE in order to start a bag sewing business. At the time of application, she was residing in the Rosalie Rendu Community Center in Pasay City, Manila.

However, due to unfortunate circumstances concerning her former living partner, she now resides within Hospicio de San Jose with the Daughters of Charity. Now a single mother of three children, Cindy exemplifies a strong, independent woman. She initially approached GLOBE for a loan in order to establish a bag sewing business and she is one of two of our special borrowers that does not possess a home of her own.  Luckily for Cindy, GLOBE Cares for women! Her loan was recently approved at a reduced interest rate of 3%, as opposed to the usual 5%, to reduce the financial burden of her loan payments. However, due to her relocation, she decided to use her newly acquired capital to operate a small bakery within the Hospicio de San Jose. Despite her circumstances, she wears a radiant smile and continues to persevere.

So, who are the Daughters of Charity? Founded by St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac, these are women dedicated to serving the needs of the poor and marginalized. Their work in the Philippines and abroad highlights the importance of seeking the full development of the human person. They serve groups including children, the sick, poor and disabled. They operate two orphanages, 3 schools and provide education, health services, social services and pastoral services. In the midst of their many and varied duties, they still manage to provide invaluable support to GLOBE. We spent our first day visiting their missions and learning a great deal about the services they perform.

St. Vincent de Paul's legacy continues to live on and we are truly blessed to be able to learn from him through the teachings of others.

Next stop: Habitat for Humanity and an interesting perspective on micro-finance.

As they say in Manila, Paalam!, or Goodbye!

First Day in a New World

That first ride from the airport to wherever you’re staying in a city is always quite telling. It’s your first true glimpse of the city, your sigh of relief. It is usually the moment that your excitement builds again after going through the rituals of flying. I’ll never forget the drive from Charles de Gaulle to the St. John’s Paris campus, nor the rain-soaked one from Rome’s Fiumicimo to campus, my first time out of the country (okay, Canada excluded). After pulling what was essentially an all-nighter for this flight to Manila, I didn’t really have much left in the tank: I was very much prepared to get to the hospicio and fall right to sleep. Manila in the nighttime rendered that moot. I should have known better.

This visit Philippines to the Philippines is my first time out of the West. I had the privilege to study abroad earlier on in my college career, but as we all know in an artificial way, Manila is not Seville. I had never even truly been to the developing world before. The first thing that hit me as we all piled into our car was Manila’s heat. Although already dark, the air was thick with humidity and I found myself breaking a sweat almost immediately. But the heat is not what burned itself into my brain, but rather it was the city’s poverty. Piles of garbage covered stretches of sidewalk with Filipinos searching through the bags for remnants of food or plastic bottles. Underneath an underpass, several Filipino men sat rigidly on the garbage as a uniformed militant with a rifle strapped across his chest sat next to them, his posture also rigid. The unfortunate lay on the sidewalks, possibly with some cardboard to cushion them from the concrete. The more fortunate lived in wooden huts, often with ads for KFC, Pizza Hut, or Globe Phones covering the makeshift roofs. As traffic slowed to a point where cars could not possibly maneuver anywhere else if they tried to, I saw a young boy, 14 at the oldest (which just happens to be my sister’s age), cross the chaotic street, barefoot, holding a garbage bag filled with plastic bottles. Traffic whizzed past the boy as if he were nothing. I watched as he disappeared into the night, just a teenager looking to survive in a world the West only knows of in textbooks.

The next day was even more sobering. We are staying at the Hospicio de San Jose, a campus on its own island run by our field partners, the Daughters of Charity. The hospicio houses the poor and part of its services is to house kids from utterly dire conditions. Right after breakfast, we took a tour of the grounds. One of the first places the Daughters decided to take us was the preschool. Now, warning, I’m not good with kids. At the time, I was still extremely jet lagged and dealing with what I could only classify as some very real culture shock. The little kids, all around the age of four or five years old, rushed to all of us immediately. They tugged on our shirts asking to be picked up. Good morning they all chimed cheerily. One boy tried to climb up my leg to hop up on my shoulders. They smiled all so widely. To see the vitality, the cheerfulness of these kids that have had such a hard life was really awe-inspiring and uplifting. One boy took the rubber band off of my wrist and began to play with it. Once I had to leave, he offered it back to me which I refused. There’s something really beautiful about the energy of the kids and the positivity they seemed to have access to, even with all of the challenges life had presented them. 

Muchas Gracias

Day Six

 Today we connected with a laudable non-profit called Nicaragua Children's Foundation. Founded by a family who visited Nicaragua on vacation and saw the need for educational and community development, Nicaragua Children's Foundation establishes and operates schools in San Juan del Sur and its surrounding areas. While providing materials and teachers for the schools (which are free to the public) they build, this organization also has a micro-lending section in which they provide loans to women only in efforts to alleviate poverty and empower women. Tackling poverty and women's rights in the same token really hit home with me because those are two issues that I feel strongly about. 

We met with an amazing woman who coordinates the organization in San Juan del Sur named Veronica. Smiling from ear to ear upon meeting us, Veronica did more than just give us a tour of the organization's efforts and great success in a rural community just outside of the city called Miraville. She welcomed us a members of the Nicaragua Children's Foundation's family. She enthusiastically took us to meet some of the borrowers whose lives were changed forever by the foundation's loans (which only ranged from $80-$150). I heard several stories of successful businesses started by these women ranging from selling cosmetics and clothing to running pig slaughter houses. As I reflect, I think back to what people in the states often do when they receive $150. It can't even buy you some shoes! To see this small amount of money actually put to good use was humbling. 

I connected with one the borrowers on a more intimate level than the rest of the women. Her name was Iraida Palma. She was short in stature but had the biggest heart. When we finished learning about the foundation's efforts and hearing the borrowers' stories, we all had a moment to chat with the women and take pictures. We discovered this mighty mango tree in the back of the school where we met. Just like tourists, we were amazed and took picture of the tree. Yet Iraida took it upon her self to use a stick to get us some mangoes. With a powerful stance and a keen eye, she threw the stick to the top of the mighty tree and mangoes dropped as gracefully as rain. We had our treasures. Though they were just mangoes, I call them treasures because they came from her. With the little that she had for her five children, she felt it in her heart to leave us with a gift. She proudly bagged the mangoes for us and smiled. I'm not sure if it is because they came from Iraida or because the tree just had a good batch of mangoes, but it was perhaps the best mango I've had in my life. Muchas Gracias. 

Peace, 

Chinyere U. 

Adios Nicaragua <3

Let me just start off by saying what an eye opening experience this has been for me. My passion for GLOBE has grown tremendously (I didn't even know that was possible). Dr. Sama, Lina, and myself spent several hours arranging meetings and organizing the trip .... It was definitely worth all the emails and Skype sessions. We met organizations who share in our mission to alleviate poverty. The visits with different organizations made me realize how much of a need there is in Nicaragua for GLOBE  It also made me

realize how important the work I am doing is. Being a GA is not the easiest job, it's hard to build relationships with students much younger than myself and whose priorities are not the same.  However, being on this trip has given be a deeper appreciation for how hard the GLOBE managers work. They really care about the work they are doing. I saw excited Mariam and Kevin got when they met the borrowers whose applications they worked on last semester. It was as if I was watching families come together. I sometimes tend to forget that the students spend hours putting together the loan recommendations for these borrowers or evaluating their post and pre loan surveys. The GLOBE managers have built relationships with the borrowers and it was truly gratifying watching them interact. My hope

Is that everyone gets to experience the same joy I felt when I watched the borrowers speak and share how greatful they were to GLOBE. 

I want to THANK the GLOBE Steering committee, Dean Shoaf, Lina, and Mamma Sama for allowing me to have this amazing experience. I am so excited for the new crop of GLOBE managers to start so I can share all that I have learned with them. My head is filled with ideas on how we can grow GLOBE and help

more people. 

Until Next Time, 

Alina 

Nosotros Somos Familia

Nosotros Somos Familia

Ola has been saying that since we landed. Every time we do anything or introduce ourselves, she has to include "nosotros somos familia!!!" And she couldn't be more correct. This past week would not seem like much but every day was an entirely new experience with Nicaragua and with each other. 

We spent our nights really getting to know each other and so we all got to see the difference this trip made in our lives. But our time with each other did not just end there; we shared everything. Our meals were like thanksgiving. We would order a meal but those plates were passed around and shared with everyone else on the table. I absolutely loved that because we all quickly got so comfortable with each other. 

We really did very quickly become a family. So meet my Nicaragua family :) 

Final thoughts

It's amazing how fast time can fly by. We leave tomorrow even though it feels like just yesterday I arrived in this beautiful country. This trip has undeniably changed the way I look and think about certain aspects of my own life. Last semester the work I would do in GLOBE was so gratifying, but this trip offered me a chance to actually see how the work I did changed lives. On the other hand it also allowed me to see how much more work needs to be done. Multiple times along the way I questioned what I really want to do with my life. 

Meeting these humble people on the trip changes how you view your own life. I complain because I can't buy a shirt I like or because I have to be up at 7:00 am to go to work, but those are things that seem so irrevalant now. Some of the people I met start their days at 3:00 am and work all day. When they told their stories I could here the pain in their voices. It's something that I can't imagine going through, and I don't believe anyone should. Communities where children walk 20 minutes in the blistering heat just to go to school. Schools where one professor teaches and where there isn't clean water. These are things we can help change, things we should be helping change! I realize money isn't the only thing that can help them. Giving our time or making sure others know of these situations can help! This trip is allowed me to see what GLOBE really did and should do and also how much more work we still have ahead of us. 

- Kevin