I have never seen the international media cover much of the country since I started reading international publications when I was in high school in the late 1990s. There is truly renewed interest in the country today and let us take note of these developments and build upon it.
This video captures where we are:
Watch it and be inspired to become part of the solution, today!
PS - I played a small part in the video. 
Last June 29, I flew to Cagayan de Oro City to be with our local partner, Happy Soles: CDO Funds for Little Kids, so that I can go with them to Camiguin for June 30 – July 1 and also to help them organize the upcoming LOG ON seminar with Josiah Go and Anton Lim.
If you’re in CDO this coming August 1, please join Josiah, Anton and me as we share our experience in the Yellow Boat Project.
June 30 – July 1
I wasn’t really feeling very well when I flew to CDO last June 29 but as I’ve already booked the tickets in advance and there was no other time to go to Camiguin since I’m leaving for New York on September 5 and so off I went.
Check out what Beng Lim (of Happy Soles) gave me as a welcome gift. I was pleasantly surprised! (they were delicious, thanks Beng!)
The next day we took the van going to the port of Balingoan where we could take the boat to Camiguin.
Here are some pictures I took of this 2-day trip to Camiguin and how I realized it’s really more fun in the Philippines:
Kids in the port of Balingoan, Misamis Oriental get ready to jump when passengers of the boats throw coins into the water
Lovely Camiguin: the view from the port of Balingoan
One of the kids on my side of the boat jumps into the water as the boat is leaving the port
My attempt at taking a picture of a kid as he jumps to the water fails because the Samsung Galaxy Note’s camera wasn’t fast enough
Happy Soles sisters: Alexis Baldia, Cassandra Daba and Alexa Baldia
Your Yellow Boat captain tries to steer the boat to Camiguin
A yellow boat in Camiguin
We stayed at the Paras beach resort
A map of Camiguin at the Paras beach resort
The Sunken Cemetery in Camiguin
Becoming a giant, more fun in the Philippines
Dinners, more fun in the Philippines
The beautiful White Island: the sand bar which is just 5 minutes from the Paras beach resort
The beautiful Mantigue Island: an island paradise which has its own ecosystem
As we were leaving Camiguin’s port of Benoni, kids were also jumping back into the water when passengers throw coins at them
Before going back to CDO, we went to the famous Duka Bay in Medina, Misamis Oriental
Camiguin is a great place to go to; to enjoy nature as it not only offers beautiful beaches but also hot and cold springs, volcanoes and the food was great!
Last May 23, 2012, the Philippine Funds for Little Kids (aka Yellow Boat Project) officially became the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation, Inc.
I am happy to note that since we started a little over a year ago, we’re now present in 6 communities around the Philippines and counting.
In the last 20 months, we’ve been able to establish a presence in Zamboanga City (Layag-Layag, Brgy. Talon-Talon), Zamboanga del Sur (Lakewood), Zamboanga Sibugay, the Bicol region (Legaspi City and Monreal, Masbate), Pampanga, Cagayan de Oro City (Happy Soles), and now in Negros Occidental.
If you are interested to help us out in any of these communities, you may reach us at captain[at]yellowboat.org or me at jay[at]yellowboat.org. Thank you!
I hope they succeed. I personally believe that one of the things that’s keeping our wages depressed is the oversupply of talent and labor in Metro Manila because most of the brightest around the Philippines choose to work and live here. If the opportunities are present in the region where they were born, it will stop this tide of internal migration and hopefully allow regional economies to take root – which is good for everybody. Just saying…
http://opinion.inquirer.net/29447/building-regional-competitiveness