Rising Water: Royal Valley
I met Rachel, a coordinator for a non-governmental organization, at a restaurant called Mesa. She wore a long, white dress and told me that she had trained as a nurse. It was 11:30 on...
Category: Philippines: American Scientist in Davao City
A Young Visayan Man: Davao
It was a Saturday evening in Davao, at the southern tip of the Philippines, one week after a massive rally for Rodrigo Duterte, the nation’s new president, in a local park. It was the...
A Death: Davao
The house in Royal Valley was the same. With a doorway missing its door and a window frame without any glass panes, the tiny house offered little separation between an inside and an outside...
College Student, Part II
“I think Kobe will make it,” said Gia. “He goes to class every day. He completes his homework every night.” Then she spoke in Bisaya, turning toward the taxi driver, who maneuvered his three-wheeled...
Professional Woman, Part II
I looked at Rosalie over my left shoulder from my front seat next to the taxi driver. It was a Saturday afternoon, around 4:30. We were traveling along Torres Avenue in downtown Davao and...
Professional Woman, Part I
“I am 31, work full time, and have a daughter who’s ten years old,” she said. “I’m a typical Davao professional woman, I guess you could say.” Rosalie sat across the table from me in...
Isla Verde, A Struggle to Survive
The flight on a Cebu Pacific airplane from Manila to Davao on the island of Mindanao took two hours. Inside the plane, all of the flight attendants were female and looked as if they...