One of the pleasant surprises of participating in international gatherings is finding someone who can also speak your language. The following day after I prayed during the opening session in my native Tagalog, I heard a feminine voice greet me from behind. There were only two of us from the Philippines attending this LittWorld, the other one being Mr. Ramon Rocha of OMF Literature. Who then could she be?
I turned around to see a lady beaming, obviously in a merry mood, and seeing and hearing her made me want to hug her. What a delight to find a kindred soul in a foreign land! It turns out that Ms. Miriam Adeney is a board member of Media Associates International and is an anthropologist, author, professor, editor, and mentor of Christian writers. She spent some years in the Philippines as a missionary and that's how she learned how to speak Tagalog.
For the next days, we occasionaly shared meals together and discussed issues in the Philippines like the diaspora of millions of Filipinos working overseas (which we have popularly called OFWs--Overseas Filipino Workers) and its economic and social impact to our society. Attending LittWorld and engaging in conversations with people who have much to share has stimulated me into thinking how I can contribute to my society through writing. This is one of the blessings of attending LittWorld.
2 comments:
Yes, I look forward to seeing both of you and others too! Mirriam is a great blessing for me, she is my trainer too, I attended her training in Bina Kasih Publishing House, Jakarta, Indonesia. She is the one who encouraged us to set up a Writer's Club! Prayerfully we will meet in Littworld 2009. God bless you, Marlene.
Yes, God-willing we'll see each other again. =)
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