Embracing Both the Positive and Negative Aspects of Life

Wazzup Pilipinas!

So when people say they just want positive vibes and avoid toxic news, it's like saying they prefer to live a one-sided life only.

When we avoid the negativities, we shut ourselves from experiencing the real world, and miss the opportunity to offer solutions to the issues.

Yeah, maybe we just don't want to add more to our own problems, but the world and its problems should also be our concern.

This world we call Earth, or let us say we limit it to our own country, requires the cooperation of every resident to survive. We are always in the brink of a disaster if we continue to ignore our social responsibility.

This is why we believe that it is important to get ourselves involved by also knowing the faults, irregularities, shortcomings and other unsatisfactory traits, so we could properly come up with the right solution. But please do understand that we could only share our findings once we've fully confirmed them as true.

We need to be inquisitive enough to ask all the necessary questions, but also be able to offer our recommendations, and be man enough to apologize if we made a mistake.

Sometimes people just need to know that others are watching their every move so they would work diligently, and not abuse their perks and privileges.

But not to the extent of being paranoid or panicky, that we lose our sense of enjoying life as we deem fit and necessary. Itbis true that we could not save the world on our own, but we could at least try to share our part in nation-building.

All would probably be alright if each one of us have at least one advocacy focused on certain aspects of bringing back the glory of nature, deconstructing our badly-designed civilization, making efforts to eat and promote healthier food, educating the misinformed or less knowledgeable, or any other form of sustainable activities to reshape our world into its better form.

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Non-profit Group Maps Out Activities for 2018; Kick Offs ‘Bayanihan’ Year with Youth Forum

Wazzup Pilipinas!

To sustain its thrust in youth development and nation-building through volunteerism, non-profit group I am Making A Difference, Inc. (I am M.A.D.), is mapping out a solid slate of activities for 2018.

I am M.A.D., a national finalist in the on-going 15th Search for the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) Awards, in partnership with the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA) and One Meralco Foundation, Inc., will kick off the bayanihan year by hosting for the second time its national youth forum event dubbed “M.A.D. Talks: Nagmahal. Nasaktan. Nagvolunteer. REPEAT!” to be held on Jan. 13, Saturday, 1 to 5 PM at the Meralco Mini-Theater, Pasig City.

Christian Marx Rivero, co-founder and Chairman of I am Making A Difference, Inc. said the forum will gather over 150 youth participants all over the country, including student leaders, educators, young professionals and other members of the volunteering community who will get a chance to connect, listen, and learn from the inspirational stories of resource speakers and successful volunteers.

As the ‘Grand Feast of Volunteers’ and a celebration of the Filipino culture of bayanihan, M.A.D. Talks seeks to promote participation, development and unity among the youth sector and to encourage people to become more proactive members of their communities and make volunteerism as a way of life.



The millennial-driven group will also be launching its new website, as well as ‘Call for Volunteers,’ a multimedia promotional material designed to further spread the gospel of active volunteerism and selflessness through the collective passion and nationwide advocacy to mobilize local youth of I am M.A.D..

Rivero also added that these youth leaders can further hone their leadership potentials by joining their M.A.D. Camps, a series of 15 outreach activities to be held in different parts of the country this 2018. These M.A.D. Camp areas will likewise be announced during the forum through a ‘MADgical’ segment featuring the Impossibros, a new generation of young and hip Filipino magicians that promises to bring a new spin to classic and powerful magic.

For interested parties, visit I am M.A.D. FB page: facebook.com/IamMakingADifference, contact Oyam Mendoza at 0915-782-2626 or email to iammadph@gmail.com.

Harvest Your Own Honey at Home

Wazzup Pilipinas!

A honey bee, going from flower to flower in search of nectar, made me think about finding a way to harvest our own honey.

My grandma's younger brother (when he was still alive) had a beehive inside a built-in cabinet at their ancestral home where he was able to harvest honey on a regular basis. The bees made it their home because the cabinet was not being used and had a hole from the outside where the bees got in. They were surprised seeing the beehive when they finally thought of opening the cabinet. Instead of removing the bees home, they let the bees multiply and the beehive to grow until they could regularly harvest honey from it. It was equally surprising that the bees were not attacking and just letting them get their honey. The honey as payment for the rent? Lol!

Unfortunately, this setup only lasted for a few years because the bees left. They probably decided to find a new home. We were among those that were given a few bottles of honey, and I must say it definitely taste a lot better than the ones you could buy at the pasalubong areas lined up along the streets of whatever province.






Homemade is pure, unlike the commercially bottled ones sold in the market. I would be willing to pay more as long as I do get all-natural honey without any added ingredients or preservatives. I'm a bit wary in buying honey from vendors found at the outskirts of nearby towns especially when they do not have labels. But it is also more expensive to buy them from vendors that have improved packaging and labels.

This hesitation is similar for all products may it be buko pies or tarts from Tagaytay, strawberry jams from Baguio or Benguet, and other products famous from all provinces.

But it is always a tradition to always bring home pasalubong whenever you visit a far away place for either work or leisure. It is appreciated to receive specialty goodies from your relatives, friends or colleagues after a vacation or coming back from a trip out-of-town or overseas.

But would it be fun as well if we could really make our own if we have access to the same resources.

Our neighbors planted some vegetables (malunggay, talong, etc., ) and papaya trees at the vacant lot of our unused home at Rodriguez (Montalban), Rizal. This made us see the advantage of having our own land compared to living in a bliss or condominium where you could only resort to potted plants. Imagine the veggies and fruit-bearing trees we coild have planted if we were livibg at our Rizal home. But that home is reserved for our retirement when our kids are done with school. That would only be the time when we could finally make use of that property.

As of now, we should settle for the tomato and bell pepper plants we managed to grow in pots. A papaya tree and calamansi plant grew but they got dwarfed due to lack of soil. Herbal plants could really work since there are small varieties that would not need too much space and soil.

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