Few hours from now and it’s goodbye 2008. Welcome 2009 – Year of the Yin Earth Ox.As we bid farewell to the year of the rat I thought it would be nice to post some notes of the year that was.
First on the list – the sizzling rat
Nope. I am not talking about a menu offered in the restaurant. I am talking about my uninvited guests in my kitchen. I seldom cook at home but I made it sure
I have ample supply of vegetables so that when I need to satiate my palate’s craving – it’s within reach. Am really really surprised to see that rats do eat chilli and veggies. What? Yes it’s weird. Rats now go hot and spicy (LOL). How can they munch on red chilli? Could it be part of global recession? Perhaps. It’s purely work - nothing personal
It has been professionally and personally challenging year for me. Work-wise, there was an infinite roller-coaster ride of emotions but I thought that was the beauty of the ride in itself – the highs and lows – that which gives you adrenalin rush, that which prompts you to say hey wait…I need to pee. It’s very rich-learning and soul-searching experience I wouldn’t dare trade off with anything.
They say that “when you’re in Rome do what the Romans are doing”. Well I don’t totally agree with this. I don’t have against culture and traditions in fact I have acculturated myself to the point that my translator/National Volunteer asked me or to put it precisely ordered me to stop acting like Chinese. There’s definitely nothing wrong with aspiring for professional competence and excellence. The problem comes in when local work culture and ethics stand in the way to achieve that professional excellence and efficiency. And this year has been a constant struggle to the point of crossing boundaries in which I felt I have offended people in one or the other. It’s purely work and nothing personal “ika nga in pinoy lingo trabaho lang walang personalan”. I have sent my apologies already to people if indeed I have offended them by email, verbal or by my actions. We do have lapses humans as we are. No one is perfect. I want to welcome 2009 fresh and without baggage.
Thank You! Obrigado! Xiexie!
There are many reasons though to be thankful for. I have gotten the chance to travel a lot courtesy of my work – thank you to my sponsors (LOL). It is refreshing to see new places I have not imagined visiting and meeting and making new friends along the way.
I have created my blog this year and really really thankful to those who visited my page. It’s picking up am so glad. My blog is important to me because it relaxes me especially at my lowest ebb. It’s a therapy.
Celebrating Christmas the most meaningful way…
Celebrating Christmas away from home I thought has been very significant and meaningful because I was able to share my time to the People who are Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs) and played with the kids orphaned by AIDS.
I am truly grateful of the opportunity to work with PLWHAs. These are the very people who are facing real life-changing difficulty and are living in the community where stigma and discrimination against them is still high and comes in many forms. The first time I saw them in 2007 when I conducted a consultation and training to set up their support group - I saw souls who were lost, confused, alone and afraid to see the beauty of the imperfect world. People who thought that their future is bleak. People who do not know how to smile anymore.
I am very happy that I was able to bring these people together and set-up their own support group. I thought I would celebrate Christmas alone in the confine of my room. I was wrong. Through the eyes of my friends who are PLWHAs, I felt the real meaning of Christmas. On December 24, I was invited by Women and Children’s Hospital to give a short session on Stigma and Discrimination in the village. I was moved of the sincerity and warmth of their reception when they saw me. It was an indescribable feeling but deep in my heart was that longing of my company. They were all surprised to see me. They thought I was gone. There was an endless expression of joy that I am joining them in their activity until late in the evening. It was not a Christmas party. It was an HIV/AIDS activity but somehow I felt deep inside me that it was God’s way of telling me that this is the true essence of Christmas. The spirit of sharing and touching lives. I do believe in signs somehow and in a cold winter evening while watching the performance there was a brown, spotted butterfly that kept on clinging to my pants. I had Goosebumps that evening. I got the accolade from these people in return of my time, knowledge and friendship and that is priceless. I do not have the indicators to measure whether I made a difference in their lives or not but one thing is sure…they touched my life more than I touched theirs. I am overwhelmed to see a bunch of PLWHAs who knows now how to smile and face the people with dignity as evidenced in their public performances. They are the very reason why I kept my commitment moving in the campaign against HIV and AIDS.
I realized it’s really not the gifts, the decors, the food and the festivities that makes Christmas meaningful. Is it not that the essence of Christmas is celebrating Love that Jesus Christ was sent to earth to save us all and all in the name of love? Most of us are drifted away from the real essence of Christmas to the physical celebration. Mine was truly a different one but significant and meaningful
Affairs of the heart…
Personally, this year made my heart unstable. There was some kind of a surge in its power voltage (LOL). The famous author and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Khalil Gibran said that “Love will find you and dare not direct the course of love, for Love if finds you worthy will direct its course”. It was some kind of an unrequited love so it’s time to pick up the pieces and move on.
Thank you 2008.
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