In April 2014, 5 months after Typhoon Yolanda, our Balikbayan Project team (www.balikproject.com) returned to Tacloban City, Philippines to help implement the My Name Is Trauma workshop (www.mynameistrauma.com) with our Streetlight Philippines family (www.streetlight.org). Rob Boothe, one of my best friends, joined us for the first time in the Philippines while he was living in Thailand.
In Canada, Rob and I were in a band called “Rhythm Speaks” (from 2003-2009) and have sung and performed together at various musical festivals, collaborated with other musical groups, and hip hop crews. During our Balikbayan Project, this was a very meaningful opportunity to use our passion for music and be able to share it with our surrogate family in the Philippines. Rob created instant bonds with hundreds of people that year and ironically now lives in Manila with his beautiful wife and baby daughter. Despite the distance that separates our families, we still are connected for life through our music, faith, and love of positive hip hop self-expression.
