Publisher's Note

Publisher’s Note
It was 22 years ago when I arrived in Canada and chose Calgary, Alberta to be my home. Leaving my family and friends behind, it was a new adventure for me to be in a new country without knowing anyone. That was the time I looked for a Filipino community paper and never found any, [...]
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Page added on September 22, 2016

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GOING HOME

Tigs Tidalgo

Let me tell you a paradox.

From point of loftiness he sees deprivation down the valley. He knows of ways to fix it and believes that he can do it. He carries a bag-full of credentials to prove his worth. He is good and could make things better his way.

Marching down he comes. This and that aren’t done right, he thinks. It shall be changed. The system is flawed and obsolete. He takes command and work to pattern the town into the lifestyle he is accustomed.

He once left home with a purpose that his little town can not provide. He gained respectability from efforts to overcome challenges. It was not through accident of fate that he made it. He labored every step of the way up the ladder to fulfillment. It took him almost a lifetime to accomplish.

Now that his chore is done and twilight curtain is descending, he looks back to find his roots. From years in oblivion he emerges and with distinction offers his expertise. He wants to make himself useful.

He can’t however avoid feeling that up on the mound he is tall. From where he stands he sees clearly the contour of the land. He criticizes with fervor and heave out scorn when things fall short from his usual ways of thinking. He unceasingly demands polishing the town, bulldozing away the squatters and telling people to reshape their lives. He expects and obliges perfection and for the town inhabitants to accordingly behave.

Yes, we are susceptible to above infirmity. It’s a normal inclination in human behavior too compelling to deny or resist. Our egocentric attitude obstructs our understanding that what we have here is entirely dealing with two distinct and different worlds. Its apples and oranges.

Intention is not put to question here. Deep inside we sincerely want to help. Undoubtedly, we have the aptitude and willingness to give. Our experience elsewhere is beneficial to local people. If only they listen. But in most cases, they don’t and at times they even defy.

The reason is that maybe we are unmindful that our so-called hometown is not really ours anymore. Some few friends and kinship still lives here and there, but almost everyone is from somewhere else. Sadly enough that like other places, our hometown also evolved into another phase of existence leaving behind traditional value and practice. The once little town grew up into a city. It’s already a dog eats dog kind of world where individuality is the name of the game.

We are already strangers in a place we keep calling our home. Showing local people to mimic our style is too foreign to take heed. It is true that our purpose is noble, but implying our seal of living can only be construed as intrusion.

We have to admit that their ways are not exactly in total congruency with ours. It’s their community and they believe that they are on top of it. They resent the idea of outsiders minding their destiny. They too have pride of their own. They want to do things their way.

The biggest mistake is to suppose that local people are inefficient. It is unwise to belittle their worth. They are the masters of their fate and we should stand aback while they build their dreams. If change is what it really takes, then so be it. But let this passion rides on the wings of the local people.

It’s their world.

GOING HOME

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