Now I resume blogging after an absence of several years. My sons Sonny and Odoni have both advised me to do this because I worry about my privacy at this ripe age of 84, after decades of baring myself to my friends and associates for decades. They say I should go back to blogging to give only my close friends and relatives about what I am thinking about before the Almighty calls me to do the final exit.
The other friends have a tendency to distort what I say to feed their ego or to distort what I say to put my life in a bad light to prove their moral superiority. I am tired at this age to worry about what friends and other people think about what I write or how I have lived my past life.
I am also impressed that the blogspot has a record of what I have written and engaged in through decades of development work in several countries, mostly small island countries in the Pacific. At 84, I would like to document what I do and make sure I am in touch with the people, donors and friends, who have supported me through the years, almost four decades, in our advocacy for localizing development with focus on poverty in ways that also protect the environment and preserve local values.
I may have to do updates on experiences in this challenging advocacy later. For this initial re-entry in this blog spot, I will focus on the social enterprises our family and friends have been engaged in through several decades since the projects funded by several donors have been documented by several official and personal FB pages, which number 7 at the last count.
These are called social enterprises because they are undertaken not only to benefit the young people financially but also to help impart values such as honesty; love of family and community; regard for the environment and other values "to help create a better world," as we always say.
They are as follows:
1. Balay Kahayag Training and Retreat Center
2006 to the present or a period of 20 years
2. Baclayon 6 to 7 Minimart
1999 - 2008 or a period of 11 years
3. Baclayon Food Station
2002 - 2015 or a period of 13 years
4. Bakeshop on the Rock
2002 - 2015 or a period of 13 years
6. Crescencia Food and Coffee
2016 to the present or a period of 10 years
7. Hideout Food Park
2018 to the present or a period of 8 years
Each of these enterprises can be subject of study on the current interest in sustainability issues. #
