Who am I? Who do I want to become? How can I grow in this planet we call “Earth”?
Answering these questions seems easy enough. We learned the answer to the first two questions back in kindergarten.
But the third question compels us to reflect on the first two questions.
Who am I?
I am Ma Kristina Velez.
Who do I want to become?
At first, I wanted to become a lawyer and then an architect, but after being part of several volunteering organisations I now want to become a volunteer. I want to help. I crave to be in the service of other people. I want to work for nonprofit organisations. I want to establish my own organisation – someday.
As Mahatma Gandhi once said: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
It was in my university days when I first got involved with a non-profit organisation. The experience exposed me to realities that I had never been aware of before. What I had considered abstract realities such as war, post-war, ceasefire, poverty, greed, hunger, spirituality and illiteracy suddenly became very real to me.
In addressing these “abstract” realities, we have several abstract solutions – mindfulness, servant leadership, compassion. I aspire to turn these abstract solutions into concrete actions. I have started drafting action plans and small developmental projects that may help alleviate these conditions, focusing on the youth.
What led me here?
By profession, I am an English teacher. For the first five years, I taught in both primary and secondary levels in a Chinese school in Binondo, Manila. Then I transferred to a university where I taught senior high school and college students for a year. Now I am a freelance lesson contributor for an international online education platform.
Although I was juggling many things, I felt that something was still missing, that there was still more I could do.
Then I received an email from Xavier School–San Juan inviting me for an interview for a volunteer teaching post in Cambodia. I took the opportunity and went all in on the month-long application process. After more interviews, exams and teaching demonstrations (there were two other applicants), I finally got the post. I am now a volunteer teacher at Xavier Jesuit School in Sisophon, Cambodia.
Where am I now?
On August 25, I flew to Siem Reap. Two hours from Siem Reap you can find the simple yet lovely province of Banteay Meanchey. With its idyllic view and warm people, it is easy to fall in love with this town. I will be working and living with the Xavier Jesuit School community led by Fr Quyen Vu SJ and Scholastic Deepak Lakra SJ. In this community are other volunteers from different countries. I will be teaching English to primary and middle school students. Now I am taking Khmer lessons to help me facilitate a meaningful teaching and learning process for my students.
I am positive that this will turn out to be one of the best adventures of my life. I would love to take this path in search for how else I can grow and develop in this world we live in.