Mabilis ang isang buwan sa Hukbo. Naubos na ang Tagalog ko.
Never did I expect to find so much peace, in he midst of war. A just war. A fluid war. I came here looking for hope. And I found those who redefined things for me.
Like the itak, for example. A weapon to cut others and a tool for destruction, yet in the hands of the Hukbo it becomes a tool to transform the wilderness into something familiar. Like the M-16, which a Kasama showed me how to dismantle, when I first arrived. A tool designed to defeat the United States. Ka Ruben, reminded me that it was made in the U.S. Like this rifle, I am also from the U.S., but in the hands of the Hukbo I feel transformed. A weapon to change the world.
I don’t want to leave, but my children await my return. But I also feel that the Philippines, our Motherland, still cries out for all its lost children.
I came here looking for hope. What I discovered, was the new Filipino who is willing to fight for it.
Hindi kayo malilimutan. Maraming salamat!
Ka F