EXCHANGE PROGRAM OPENS DELEGATE'S EYES TO NEW WORLD
Adam Mahkail M. Dicdican feels privileged to have joined the select few in an exchange program that brought them to Europe, in Netherlands and Belgium. He said he came home with a myriad of eye-opening experiences and realizations. They walked the streets of Haarlemmermeer and Kortrijk, impressed by how neat and organized the cities were. “Why isn’t Cebu like this? Why aren’t we like them?” he wondered.
Iwas one of the privileged few to join a youth exchange program that brought us to Europe. From the heart of our home city of Cebu, we carried a radiant sense of purpose, and along our journey to The Netherlands and Belgium, a vision of a more developed and connected Cebu blossomed in our hearts.
We were excited when we left Cebu. We came home with a myriad of eye-opening experiences and realizations, mostly because of the fact that we came from a developing country and we got to experience what life is like in the first world. I was able to see and learn the culture of the Dutch and Belgian people. We walked their streets, explored their cities, and observed just how disciplined and progressive their nations are.
As I walked across the streets of Haarlemmermeer and Kortrijk, a painful hint of envy hit me. I thought to myself, “Nindota diri oi! Limpyo, walaý traffic, wala’y hassle!” How convenient it would be to live in such a nice place, which puts a premium on cleanliness. Every now and then, my teammates and I would mumble and talk about how everything is organized and that their system is very efficient. Every now and then I would wonder, “Why isn’t Cebu like this? Why aren’t we like them?”
The answers to these questions sunk in slowly, as each day of our three-week sojourn passed. Indeed, Cebu is not like the other cities; and we are not like them. Much of the answers that came to me were too complex to be written in words, or rather, I was too overwhelmed to explain my realizations in writing. But this I will say: Lahi ang Cebu. We are different.
Yes, we are different. But it does not mean we are anything less. More and more each day I was there, I was inspired with a bigger sense of purpose. Because despite the things that our city lacks in comparison to the pro- gressive first-world cities, we are thriving. Despite the challenges that our city is facing, our government and our people are trying. I believe that Cebu will have its time—when it has eradicated poverty, inequality, and has solved the rampant pollution.
But as of now, we will continue to hold on to our purpose and help each other make extraordinary impact as we move towards our goal, by continuing to inspire each other to be more and to do more; by continuing to make extraordinary people out of ordinary people with ordinary lives. Because it does not take a single person to dream and be passionate about our purpose for our home city—to love Cebu. S
(Adam was one of nine Cebuano youth delegates to the Young Minds on eXplore 5, a youth exchange program in the Netherlands and Belgium for Cebuano youth held last April 22 to May 13. It aims to promote knowledge sharing, cross-cultural understanding, people-to-people connection, and development service.
The YMX5 is a program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc - Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center, the Central Visayas Network of NGOs, and the UnionBank of the Philippines in cooperation with the Vriendschapsband Haarlemmermeer Cebu from the City of Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands, the City of Kortrijk, Belgium, and the City of Cebu.)