Michelle Mitchell, a TS member sometimes based in Adelaide, Australia, writes an open letter about her experience of working with staff and students of the Golden Link College in the Philippines.

A few years ago I decided that I no longer wanted to live the 'daily grind' in Australia and wait 15 years for my 'retirement' days to experience parts of the world I had not been brave enough yet to venture into.  Instead, I wanted to travel and offer my skills where they could be made use of – wherever in the world that may be.  I had no idea where I might end up, and I certainly had no idea of the rewards that awaited me, such as the one I write about today.  I have learned to travel 'light' with just 7kgs (15 pounds), and I travel with an attitude of adventure (which luckily, doesn't weigh anything!).

I am a coach, counsellor and personal development workshop facilitator. I have also worked in child protection, special education, as a community tutor and as a foster parent. In addition to parenting a daughter now 32 years old, I have also been step-parent to two children. Armed with this varied experience, in August 2012 I set out for the Golden Link College (GLC) in Caloocan City, Philippines, after meeting Vic Hao Chin at the TS World Congress in Rome in mid-2010.

I arrived just a few days after the clean-up of a typhoon and the streets were piled with muddy rubbish and recently unclogged drain refuse. Houses and businesses had been flooded, including the house where I stayed with other TS members. Somehow, Rekha Nahar, the Administrator of the GLC and her fellow Manila TS members had restored the house to a comfortable living space. Rekha is tireless in her work and she ensured that I was wonderfully looked after during my stay, fed with nourishing vegetarian meals, and safely transported wherever I needed to go. The house where we stayed was just around the corner from TS HQ, and so I was able to attend most stimulating discussions and get to know some very friendly and welcoming Theosophists. I was honoured to lead a one-day participative workshop for them: Design Your Life. I was also invited to other TS Lodges to give talks (Ten Steps to Success and The Poverty of The West – Loneliness.)

For the few weeks that I was at Golden Link College, I held interactive sessions and talks with College students and staff on topics such as: decision-making; life design; how beliefs affect our decision-making; replacing erroneous beliefs with ones that serve us; values prioritisation and goal-setting. The classes that I conducted with students were mainly the older students (15-17 years). Vic Hao Chin and I taught one class together.

Michelle Mitchell with GLC students

The young people at the Golden Link College (it is now a College, previously a School) are different from any other young people I have ever worked with or met. I experienced an amazingly evolved emotional intelligence in these youngsters. They are gentle, respectful and genuinely interested in the wellbeing of those in their company.  They are centred, grounded and beautiful from the inside to outside. They display no fear of authority, no tardiness, no unruliness. There is a willingness to be present and to learn, a delightful sense of playfulness and a total acceptance of and trust in others.

I believe that Vic Hao Chin and his amazing teachers and staff at Golden Link are responsible for these results.  They themselves embody the qualities they seek to nurture in their students. They love and cherish the young people in their care. They are genuinely kind and concerned for each other and for all others, including visitors.

They are gently loving and openhearted. Teachers in The Philippines are amongst the lowest paid in the world, yet the output of the GLC teachers is superior to anything I can imagine in any industry, company or government in so-called 'advanced' countries.

Left: Michelle with GLC teachers

Consider this …you have a favourite Aunt and Uncle.  Whenever you visit them, you know you are loved, you know that they will give you something lovely to eat and drink, and you know they want to see you and help you with anything that you may need.  You feel welcome and wanted. You know in your heart that whatever happens to you, they are there for you, and there is nothing temporary about their caring and warmth towards you.  This is what it feels like to be in the company of Golden Link teachers and the young people they teach.

In such a special environment, employing mainstream teachers who have had regular training means that they have to 'unlearn' many 'regular' teaching habits. As the College has ‘grown up’, it has been able to start employing those who were themselves students at GLC and are familiar with its teaching methods. This is part of the function of the tertiary section of this educational establishment. 

Posters displayed on the school walls

At Golden Link College, I met an amazing TS woman, Cora Ponteres from Bohol (another island in the Philippines).  Cora had decided that Golden Link College is such a wonderful place that she told Vic Hao Chin that she wanted to set up a school where she lives.  Cora has done this!  Starting up a School is an enormous feat.  Cora is now School Directress at Golden Link Bohol Campus.  The School opened in April this year (2013) and already has more than 120 students between the ages of 3-8 years.

I am not the only person from Australia who has experienced the GLC atmosphere. TS Member Gerard Brennan has been going there for years. Gerard is a high school teacher who, in our Australian school holidays, funds his own way to the Philippines to teach the young people at the GLC.  I talked at length with Gerard in 2010 and once I had talked with him, I just knew that I would go there one day. 

From left to right at back: GLC Kindy teacher, Michelle Mitchell and Cora Ponteres

How I wish that there were more Golden Link Colleges in the world.  With their interpersonal skills and generosity of spirit, these young people will surely influence and bring about a better quality of life for those who are lucky enough to be associated with them in their personal lives, in their families and in their communities.

Above: Michelle leading a discussion with GLC students

Left: Student poster displayed on school wall

Close to my last day, the College put on a two day concert. Parents and friends were invited. Near the end of the first day, the students, without warning, asked me to come to the centre of the stage. They sang to me, danced for me, and recited prose to me. They gave me loving notes, cards and letters. They also gave me gifts that were useful and meaningful. It was the effort and generosity of spirit that shone through as they did things for me that made me feel special and appreciated. It was also then that I realised why they had taught me a national dance (dancing over sticks that are constantly moved by the people at either end of them), and yes, I was invited to dance 'with the sticks'.  I must say that the rehearsal went much better than the 'performance'. 

That evening, I attended a dinner at the College with the teachers. I took the opportunity to say how much I had enjoyed their company and support during my stay.  One special moment during that dinner was when the College Principal, Eiren Ayuino, looked at me gently with her beautiful eyes and said: "I want to sing to you – not because I have been asked, but because I want to" and proceeded to sing to me very sweetly.  Magical moments such as these will stay in my heart forever.

I was amazed at how appreciative the students at GLC were that I had come to share my Australian culture and personal wisdom with them.  There were times at Golden Link College when I wondered if I really had anything to teach there.  As it turns out, it was I who learned a great deal from them.  I was humbled and grateful to have visited and worked with these incredible young people and their teachers.

GLC students on stage

Janice Gapaz is the Student Affairs Officer at GLC.  Janice ensured that my everyday needs at the College were taken care of – that there was always a teacher or a student available to help me find my way, or to see to my needs.  Together, we lunched at the College every day. Janice was a most pleasant companion.  I am grateful to have been in such fine company.

I took many, many photos while I was at GLC, and every now and then, when I look over them, I am re-humanised, and I know once again that there is a special place on this planet where people are always kind to each other and are willing to learn and share, to be present for each other and to just 'be' the love that they are.

I feel truly blessed to have had this 'rich' experience in a place where money and opportunity are often scarce in a way that we just have not experienced in 'the West'.  

Left to right: School Dean, Dr Aaron Antonio, Michelle Mitchell and Vic Hao Chin

Wealth truly is about the giving and sharing amongst people – and I was lucky enough to experience that every day at The Golden Link College in the Philippines. 

Thank You Vic, Rekha, Cora, Eiren, Janice, GLC teachers and your beautiful students.

With love - Michelle Mitchell

For information on the Golden Link College’s approach to education and its methods of conveying theosophical ideas to students from pre-school to tertiary level, go to our website here:

http://international.theoservice.org/articles/201110-glc-theosophy.html