from a different time and place

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November 11, 2006 - YTRIP was launched among friends and family, college classmates, relatives, and MagNet waiters in Katipunan. We had no idea how we would survive, no concrete idea how it would sustain itself, no idea how we would go about everything we wanted to do. We just went on with it and launched and rocked the boat. 

A lot of things happened since then: met a national artist, met great photographers, some trips, good projects, some misunderstandings, some miscommunication, some broken agreements, broken ideas, and broken hearts, some projects that never really took off. You can call them BIRTH PAINS, I was told. Much also had to do with fear. 

It came to a point where, when one has been so broken in spirit, one wanted to turn away and drop everything. But can't... because ultimately, what one creates - one cannot leave until the dream has been completely fulfilled. 

Until it is ready to be let go. 

I used to be afraid to get it out there and I held on to YTRIP as tightly as I could. Eventually, I was made to know that it's understandable - but should not be forever. Now, I admit there's still some fear for the future, for others  but then, with amazing people around you, how can you not trust?  

I've apologized all I can (when I needed to) and will be forever grateful to all the people who have contributed parts of their life to what YTRIP is and could be. This time, YTRIP is no longer just the founder or the family or the friends. It has become a group, a world. A core of people who, in their earnest desire to fulfill their purpose, found a place to grow and make things better for themselves, for others, and for the places they live in. Where they can also create and fulfill their own dreams. (That's how I feel. I hope they do, too) 

Sustaining the org is still a challenge but more opportunities for its growth and continuity have become clearer and more concrete. It is no longer one person's dream but a promise to work  with and a reality to create, shared by more people. It is not just about advocacy but education, not just about trips, but transformation. 

Two years. It has been two years. 

I have God to thank.I have all of you to thank. I have myself to thank. I have YTRIP to thank. I used to be self-effacing, owing to my being a Catholic school girl, but it has held me back at some point. How is it that we have become so afraid of "I"? To claim one's greatness, one's courage, to claim one's own? 

And so I claim - for the first time-  just as Bert has, with no prejudice nor fear, no qualms and with modesty, I am YTRIP. And so are the other good hearts who have taken this cause as their own. In our trips and programs, we will find the best version of the Filipino. In our trips and programs, we will be the best version of the Filipino, however one interprets that, in light and in love. 

Because as I begun this path, I did not hope for others to follow - but for them to create their own. I believe, for the most part, they have. And it will continue. 

YTRIP celebrates its second year today. Let's look forward to more November elevens. 

Let us look forward to a bigger YTRIP, where more "I"s will form a "We".