The Sweet City with Big Dreams

In my last post, I wrote about bayanihan and the way this spirit of cooperation is woven into education. In Passi City, I began to see how that same spirit can shape an entire community. Passi City is focused on advancing its community and its members. As a small farming community with massive pineapple farms, sugarcane fields, and a large output of fruit, Passi is known as "the sweet city in the heart of Panay." Before we landed in Passi, people in Manila told us about how the people in Passi were soft-spoken and sweet. Maybe it's all of the natural sugars, maybe it's just who they are, but it was 100% true that people in Passi are sweet. This sweetness oozes into every aspect of their culture.

In education, this takes shape as gentle redirection of misbehaving students, soft-spoken instructions, smiling faces in the classroom, and helpfulness and cooperation among teachers, staff, and local government officials. The local mayor promotes the relationship between the educational sector and the economic future of Passi City by saying, "Together we will bring Passi City to greater heights." This sentiment is apparent in government decisions. In a previous post, I mentioned how the mayor worked to get roads paved and how he donated several vans to local schools to increase access to educational opportunities for community members.

This focus on education, infrastructure, increasing monthly stipends for educators, and developing a farm school to encourage production in local agriculture results in one of the fastest-growing economies in the area. The Department of Education recently purchased 1.5 hectares of land to build a regional training facility. This will increase visitors to the area and make Passi City a regional hub for professional development. The repair and development of paved roads have also been major additions to the city's growing infrastructure.

The city is also dedicated to offering educational scholarships for high-performing youth, which, in turn, develops functioning members of society and helps uplift families out of poverty or move them away from undesirable money-making routes. By providing youth with opportunities and access to those opportunities, you create real pathways for success.

There is also heavy investment in the ALS (Alternative Learning System) for adults seeking to continue their education. This is another way to uplift a community out of poverty. It expands the workforce as people learn more skills, which, in turn, helps their growing economy. All of these efforts lead to the successful development of a growing economic hub.

Reflecting on this growth and development, and the type of leadership in this area, I am reminded of how important and influential government leaders are in their communities. If anything trickles down, it is the way people are treated, how they support one another, and how they uplift one another. A compassionate leader and investment in education make this sweet city an even sweeter place to live, grow, and learn.