Kumasta from the Philippines

After 24 hours of travel, I arrived in Manila on Wednesday morning with no problems. My first impression of the country is that it is hot and humid (and this is their coolest month with highs in the 80s).


Top Left: I am working for Good Paper (www.goodpaper.com), which distributes handmade greeting cards made by women who are survivors of prostitution. For the next 2 weeks, I'll be focusing on a few operations projects for starting new sites.

Top Right: During the Friday night program, several women shared their life stories about being a "bar girl" and their process of transformation.What's most striking about the women is how young they are when recruited.

Bottom Left: Besides making cards for an income, the trainees at Samaritana also go through other trainings, such as making jewelry, maintenance (cleaning, cooking), general education, and counseling.

Bottom Right: I am staying on site at Samaritana, which is also a retreat center. It's a very peaceful site with this lovely open garden in the center. It has wireless and AC.I couldn't ask for more


I remain ethnically/age ambiguous, which is always a fun conversation starter. In my first few days, people have all guessed between the ages of 17 to 24 and most assume I'm half Filipino. In fact, they say I look like this person Joyce Jiminez. No one ever says I look like someone so I was curious and I leave it for you to judge. Don't google images for that name as she is a "sexy" actress and you may accidentally run into sketchier pics as I did...haha.