Growing up in Philippines, I was clueless with what love for your country really means. Now that I am old (and wiser), I find myself crying over “Lupang Hinirang” – I didn’t realize how beautiful and sentimental our national anthem is. I now have a new and deeper appreciation for the good, the bad and the ugly of this country. I now have a different perspective and respect about poverty and the people living it.
I was awakened by situations in my birth country that forever change not only the core of who I am but the course of the rest of my life in a way I never knew was possible.
This is not the life I planned but this is the life I love to live.
— by Melissa, Founder of Project PEARLS
