General Musings

First of all, I would like to say thank you to everyone that has helped me on my trip... whether it was giving me directions, moral support or the occasional tw0-beer, I had a great time and wanted to thank you again, even though I could never thank you enough.

Secondly, over the past 48 hours of traveling I have had the opportunity to reflect on my trip a bit and have determined that it was one of the greatest decisions I have made.  Aside from the fact that I learned an exponential amount about microlending and microcredit (which was the initial goal of the trip), I learned even more about a different culture and some of the circumstances the people of the Philippines face from day to day.  Even though the area I went to is considered one of the poorest (over 70% under the poverty line), I need to remind myself that this is the case.  The people of the area, Loan Officers, Branch Managers, Clients, strangers, etc, are not as concerned with the day to day struggles that they face, but you wouldn't think of them as struggles by the looks on all of the person's faces.

I was channel surfing on one of my last days in Catarman and came across a commercial that was on a travel station in which the tag-line was "it's not the places we go, but the people we meet".  This could not be more true.  It was a great trip and I hope to keep this blog up and keep everyone up on my various projects for Fundacion Grameen Pilipinas.  Truly rewarding and life-shaping... thank you.

Jon