Within Prison Walls: A Candle in the Dark
By Donna Demetillo
Baguio City

“Few people dedicate their lives to a mission with no material or financial benefits. Not many of us can proudly and happily say that we have lived our lives for others. Instead most of us live our lives fleetingly, with no purpose except to please ourselves and the ones we love. But 66 year-old Christina Dicang can say at the end of her life that she dedicated her life to prisoners, as friend and mother to them, giving them hope and helping them with their needs. For the past 34 years, the daily presence of this valiant woman at the Baguio City Jail, has changed many lives of inmates for the better. 1,375 words

Saving a Dying Language
By Katherine Jack
Palawan

Ester Timbancaya Elphick comes from Cuyo, a small island in the Sulu Sea to the northeast of the Palawan mainland. She is the founder of the Cuyonon Language and Culture Project Inc. and is currently working on the first ever comprehensive bilingual dictionary of the Cuyonon language. When she was 23, she won a prestigious competition for a scholarship to Stanford University, California and now aged 69, she is determined to use the expertise that she gained in the States to help save a language and culture which is increasingly under threat from national and global changes...

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