Countryside Development Caravan

On Friday, July 12th, I was a part of the JCI team that helped the province of Albay roll out its Countryside Development Caravan.  Albay is in the midst of a huge construction boom right now.  Its motto is "Albay Rising;" and it really is.  Part of improving Albay includes building an international airport in Daraga.  The ground has been leveled, plans made, etc., but nothing has been built yet.  The goal of the Countryside Development Caravans is to work within the barangays that will be affected by the airport (they also happen to be the poorest in the area).  We started in Alobo and will have many more throughout the project.  There were livelihood trainings, medical and dental checkups, feeding programs, police force training, tree planting and children's activities.  We were mainly involved in the children's activities- reading programs, school supply donations, feeding and dental hygiene instruction.  It was a HUGE event with tons of key players in Albay involved.  It was great to do something outside of my programs and see a different place.  Moreover, I love being a part of well-organized, thoughtful events with Filipinos giving back to other Filipinos to make their country a better place.  The coolest thing though was that one of the residents from the village is from Alobo and they were visiting their family that day; I was surprised to hear someone yelling my name.