Why Love Love It Here

By: Arniel Brown

A 14-hour plane ride. Transfer to a 4-hour bus ride. Hitch a 10-minute ride in a tricycle. Jump off and on to another 30-minute jeepney ride, all southbound. You step off your jeepney and lush green non-illuminated dirt roads and yes, even out of place Mormons greet you. Welcome to Palindan, Ibaan, a province of Batangas, Philippines.

A place where you are always steps away from the fields, chickens, goats, pigs and other critters that made a meal of Leilani and my body (namely mosquitoes and giant flying roaches). A place where electricity is scarce, and water is pumped from deep wells. A place where the weather is warm, and the people are warmer.

A place not without its problems. Shotty facilities that barely keep the insects and rain away from the place where children learn. A place where electrical currents are a rarity, along with the juice needed to run electrical appliances. A place that our friend Love loved, and a place where he passed on. A place that we decided to help – all in the name of LOVE.

On day 1, we arrived at Palindan Day Care Center. We had several goals in mind: interact and play with the kids, read a story to them in Tagalog (I read and I barely speak Tagalog!) and to distribute some toys to the children. Our plan was successful yet, I also can say it did not go as well as we planned. Language and cultural barriers can be very challenging when playing with kids. Yet it was still fun to try and pull it off. Not surprisingly everyone laughed at my butchering the Tagalog language.

On day 2, Leilani and I read more stories to selected classrooms at Palindan Elementary School. We decided to read stories that had certain themes that affected the children. Such story themes were: gaining new skills and sharing them with others (exactly what we are doing). Dealing with poverty and the problems of being under-resourced and finally stories based on identity and change.


We left Palindan upon the notion of "Give the people the skills of how to fish, and not the fish itself". I can certainly say we have given the people of Palindan new skills and a new way of thinking. We have shown them a new path. I am thrilled to returning to Palindan, even though I’ll have to endure a 14 hour plane ride, 4 hour bus ride, 10 minute tricycle ride and 30 minutes jeepney ride. For Palindan is also a town I love now and I’m beginning to see why LOVE loved it here.