By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
Lately, living in Baguio has felt like being roasted inside an oven. Just insufferable heat greets us in the morning and would still be there to tuck us in for the night. That walk to the “paradahan” of jeepneys are enough to make us sweat and feel uncomfortable, but being inside makes you feel like you’re one of the many sardines inside a hot can. We can only apologize silently as we sweat buckets next to freshly-bathed persons with their expensive looking clothes. Though it is reassuring to see fellow passengers also look to be losing the battle against the sun.
It’s good to see halo-halos have seemed to be in resurgence amidst the tide of tropical heat swarming every inch of Baguio City. We can all recall many nostalgic moments of our childhood with halo-halos involved. That it be a command from the parents and acting as delivery boys or eating with close friends on the roadside. Those old times when twenty pesos was a lot more valuable than it is today and had more power in buying all kinds of delicacies.
The changes that we see happening to this planet, to our city, from the insufferable heat to everything seemingly becoming more and more expensive, it is a comfort in seeing a symbol of everyone’s childhood, a symbol of the past when simplicity ruled the child’s mind. It can be overwhelming when a young generation is suddenly thrust in the frontlines against issues more dangerous and older than the youth of today. Issues that have taken the brunt of the previous generations’ efforts and still persist today causing havoc to all life.
Leave the world a better place to live in for the next peoples. A cause we can all gather behind. A goal worth more than all the gold on this earth. Personal ambitions. however, can be hard to tame towards a selfless ideal. When we are so close to family members that need dire help or peoples that need real food to eat. To worry about helping the rest of the world is hard to see with our local problems creating a giant wall.
Many youth today can’t afford to be naive dreamers, but for others they are brought up with the environment to be able to dream such ideals and capable enough to make them a reality.
While others have the means to make sure people not need to worry about food for the day and focus on their education or personal ambitions, world hunger persists today.
There need to be providers of landing zones or jump off points for people and give them an opportunity to actually reach for the stars. There must always be people who break expectations and lead others to a better place. The potential is there for everyone. To be challengers of the current world order and make ripples across all lands.
Making positive changes and contributing to making the world a better place, for the current and incoming generations.**
