Contributed by: Joan delos Reyes Bassig

When you’re burnt out from work, what do you do? When you’ve come to realize that no matter how much you love what you do, working 12 hours a day will not bring you success the way you thought it would. What now?

I decided to volunteer. I had a good talk with a friend of mine whom I haven’t seen for a year. He’s been doing volunteer work at PAFPI and he showed me his plans to help PAFPI become a sustainable NGO. Growing up, my mom would encourage us to volunteer to various churches and school activities. So I thought, this should be pretty straightforward.

It was not; it was more like learning a new culture, with its own language and expressions. Every Friday at PAFPI takes me to the Land of Sailor-moon, costume play and the like. Sex is always the hottest topic, next to hot celebrities and beauty pageants, both local and international. Now and then someone would start to catwalk and everyone else would follow suit. Suddenly, a flash of nostalgia would creep up, of a life that was. I can feel their pain, it’s overwhelming. I am learning a lot from these people; life, love, acceptance, family, sacrifice, hope and so much more. I love every minute of it.