Words cannot express how happy I am.

Today, I met sixteen beautiful and extraordinary girls today. All of them have been abused and exploited, but each of them are so special and amazing in their own way. They are all confident and strong and willing to follow their dreams.

Before I came to meet with the Visayan Forum, I was super nervous to teach 16 girls who have been through this situation and who lived in a completely different world than me. On top of that, I only knew basic Tagalog phrases.

Luckily, Cara (aka the best person in the world), our Visayan Forum liason, was amazing and she knew how to break the ice for us.

Our first activity was for the girls to draw out four things:

1. What their favorite food was

2. Their talents

3. Who they looked up to

4. What they wanted to be when they grew up

5. Their favorite part about being a kid

Most of the girls of course put down Jollibee (who can refuse delicious Chicken Joy). Lots of the girls were extremely talented in music, but they were too shy to perform for us :) Also, the girls wanted to be everything from dancers to nurses and soldiers. They were confident in the way they spoke and despite the suffering they went through, they continued to follow their dreams.

But I think what really broke the ice was when they began to interview US. They wanted Alyssa and I to sing, and after I completely butchered “Amazing Grace” since I totally forgot the words, they started opening up to us and sharing their own stories. They began singing their own song (which they composed themselves btw) and I was totally crying inside. It was seriously the most beautiful thing that they would share something so personal and special to us.

After singing their song, we ended the day with Christmas Card making which we told them they could keep. But, some of the girls actually gave us the Christmas cards as a gift to us and it was the most heartwarming and amazing… ah, words can’t even describe how happy I felt at the moment!

In a matter of four hours, I felt like I was so close to these girls. When I hugged each and every one of them, I swear I didn’t want to let go. They were so inspiring and amazing and I am so grateful to have met them.

I’d like to think that I changed their lives but I think they’ve changed mine even more.

Life is good.