18: A Glimpse of Hope from Naya

Bean Perk

Mandaluyong City

March 13, 2012

Project: Food & Thoughts No. 18

Finally there’s time to meet Haydee – the Head of the Water Patrol Unit of Greenpeace Philippines. Project Tenfold Circle is working on a joint project with Greenpeace Philippines and other organizations geared towards taking care of the environment. We have been planning on meeting for a long time and have not been able to due to the very busy schedules of everyone involved.

Today, we decided to meet over coffee before my shift and sort of stole two hours of our sleep time. We went to Bean Perk and ordered the following:

White Mocha Frapp @P120

Fettuccini Carbonara @P75

Sorry forgot to take a photo before eating it :) 

Chewy Fudge @P60

White Choco @P85

The meeting went well. It was a bit quick but with a lot of good things and hopes.

Encouraging people to get involved in environmental projects is one of the most difficult things to do for any organizations such as Greenpeace. I think it’s even more difficult than getting people involved in animal welfare. I don’t lose hope. Filipinos aren't really as involved as we are now in animal welfare as before. This gives me the same hope for our environmental causes.

We can play dumb and not care to know any of these things that affect our environment but I believe we can shift our gears and choose to get involved. Unless we, or a family member, become a victim of water toxin, I don't think we will care enough. Sure, the return of our investment doesn’t show as fast as we want it to be, but it does. Some people think these kind of causes (environment, animals, people) are only for those with money and time. I find that hard to believe. We can make money and time if we want to. It isn't about how much money we spend or how long we should work on it, it’s just a matter of CHOICE – something that we do every single second of our lives anyway.

Jem, Haydee and Naya.

With Haydee and Naya.

Our project with Greenpeace requires time and a lot of planning. While Haydee was explaining how the project is going to be, my mind was already counting the obstacles my group has to go through to make it real. However, every time I look at Naya (Haydee’s 3-year old daughter who was with us sharing her own stories in between our project talk) my hope becomes brighter than the obstacles. When she gets older, I hope she remembers this moment when her Mom and I cared to talk about what most people would just ignore. Mind you, we didn’t have to preach; we just had to show her.