13 years ago, I founded the Balikbayan Project (www.balikproject.com) and embarked on a humbling journey that would change my life forever. I made a promise to my dad before he died to visit the Philippines and share my passions of expressive arts through both traditional Filipino Music/Dance as well as contemporary Hip Hop. Life-longs bonds would be established with children and staff of Streetlight Philippines (www.streetlight.org). The irony was that I never intended to actually focus on sharing my professional but word got out that I was a pediatric OT specializing in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Families started showing up at our hotel room by the dozens. I was blown away by how grateful the families were for any second of support that I could give them. I shared as much as I could about some of the best practices at the time but to be honest, their resilience, grit, and creativity gave me more than anything I had to offer them. They shared that they did not have the money to pay for my services and I assured them that I started this project to volunteer and as a way for me to learn more about my family roots and culture. They were so grateful and each family would treat me as part of their own. My heart was full and still is to this day. Prior to coming back to Canada, the families surprised me with a memento card with a cartoon drawing of me that included heartfelt messages from a few of the families.
13 years has passed and so much has happened since: we have returned 8 more times, we have become Trauma Specialists, witnessed incredible feats of resilience from surviving Typhoon Yolanda to seeing kids grow into successful adults, Paula (my wife) and I have been able to share this experience with our own daughter Lena Glo, and we have even created a feature-length documentary that tells the whole story. This past week, I rediscovered this original memento thank you card given to me from that gracious group of families and was instantly flooded with emotion. It transported me to a time where I was trying to fulfill a life-long dream: to honour my parents by serving others. I was emotional because I now realized that I am so privileged to live this dream every single day of my life.
