Introduction

Let me introduce myself first. I'm an eighteen-year-old girl living in the United States, but I haven't been here for that long. I left the Philippines after living there for about sixteen years. A year and half later, I still call the Philippines "my home".

I joined the Student Senate of my college. We deal with different student concerns. One of the first events that I got involved with was the Tsunami Relief fundraising. I have never done much of fundraising in Manila before. I've only donated to some charities that my former school had. So when the Student Senate organized different fundraising events, I got to see how much more people can give. I said to myself, "Wow, I could be helping my own country, too."

I chat with my friends frequently and whenever I would ask about the conditions back home, I would get the good updates and the negative ones, too. They would say, "Ang taas na ng gas!" (The gas prices are high!) or even "Kahit nga ang Big Mac ang mahal na rin eh!" (Even the Big Mac is expensive.)

Whenever I would hear and remember these things, I would always wonder about how I can give back. I wish I could organize fundraisers and help out, but how? I cannot physically be there; I am on the other side of the world!

I took a literature course last semester and we studied a poem. The poem was about his love for his country even though it gives him a hard time. He also encourages to people to act. Also, a young reader of my recent article told me that she appreciated it. That's when it hit me. I enjoy writing (and blogging!) so why not use that and the internet world to help out?

My friends and I would get into these "political" conversations. We'll talk about how we wish things worked in the Philippines. We have the "Dapat kasi ganito" (It should be like this) statements. I can see how so many of YOU, the Pinoys, have GREAT ideas on how we can make our country a better place. The problem is you don't know where to go from there. What may hold you back is the fact you don’t really know where to start. You don’t know who to talk to or how to do it. You don’t need to be interested in politics or anything. You just need to be interested in helping our country.

My friend and I built this website. We hope to make this a blogsite where we can all share our ideas to help.

Let's not just sit and wish things were like this or that. Let’s do something about it. If each of us does a little thing to help make our country better, then I’m sure it will make a big difference. It doesn’t matter if it’s not a huge and immediate change, at least we tried! Every little effort, every little idea, and every little act makes a difference.

So, what do you think? Are you with us?

There is still hope. No matter how little you think it is, it's still there. All we need to do is ACT.