When giving back to the community makes you meet your better self.

Hi everyone! Before anything else, I wanna thank this amazing woman, @angelicagarcia for encouraging me to join steemit and to her little brother @johnalexius. I have already heard about steemit two months ago from a YouTube channel that I am subscribed to, if I am not mistaken, Freedom In Thought. I thought of joining right after hearing about this amazing community, but to be honest, I didn't have enough confidence to join as I felt that I am always not good enough in writing. Then I realized, why not join for me to challenge my self to write more often and enhance my writing skills.

WHO AM I?

First meeting with my students, 1:2 section.

My name is Robe, 27, a Filipina who is currently a Volunteer English Teacher in a public school here in Wat Bot, Phitsanulok, Thailand. I came from a poor family and had limited access to education, in fact I am just a high school graduate (equivalent to Grade 10). I started working at the age of 16 as a tutor of a kid with autism.

Right now, I know that my purpose in life is to help educate kids and give at least something back to the community. My original plan was to save for two years when I was still in Kuwait and pack my bags to travel and just volunteer when ever is my help needed. But, after a major breakup and visa issues, everything was just so mixed up two months ago that it made me suicidal. Afraid that I'd end up killing my self, I packed my bag and booked a one way ticket here in Thailand with only $300 on hand.

Some people called me crazy for such a drastic move, but I can tell you that it's the most liberating thing that I've done. We often look or go the wrong way after a heartbreak, for me though, it made me so grateful that finally I found the courage to do what I really wanted.

My initial plan was to slowly travel around ASEAN and volunteer, but you see, as what a friend of mine told me, good things happen to good people, I got a job here in Thailand that will start on January 2018. Amazing, so after a month of being here in Phitsanulok, I am heading Laos to volunteer in an ecological farm for a month and will be back in Thailand to start my job.

In addition to a Volunteer English Teacher, which the school gives me free lunch, I am with a fellow Filipino family. In exchange of accommodation, dinner and some road trips, I am their nutritionist, babysitter, and Personal Trainer.

That's Thailada on my bed, with my steemit ID, one of the two babies I babysit. She's ready for school!

*warm up time before training :) *

WHY AM I HERE?

I have this love and hate relationship with social media and blogging because I've seen a lot of fake connections through IG or FB. I don't wanna overshare, but when I started receiving messages how I inspire them makes me happy. So maybe, let's just focus with the good benefits instead. Haha!

It's nice thing to be here, knowing about everyone's experiences, ideas, beliefs, enhancing my writing skills, makes me more philosophical and at the same time I can earn money. I am seriously running out of cash, haha! I need little financial help while waiting for January to start! So this is a great deal for me. I hope to meet people with the same vision in life, to lift up and help everyone around us. Giving my love to everyone!

Showing my love to my first Thai host.