PAAC Manila 2024 Photojournal - Lilinoe Q.

    E aloha mai, I am one of the students who was able to be a part of the amazing experience of attending the East-West Center's International Media Conference that was held this year in Manila, Philippines. 

    The trip overall was definitely educational and eye-opening for me. Before the attending the conference, I was aware that journalism was a busy but important profession, and it's important to have free press so that voices can be heard, people can be held accountable, accurate information needs to get around to keep people informed but I learned that there's been rising challenges with mis/dis-information, AI, and other issues that make journalism even tougher but honest journalism even more important. 

    At Bahay Tuluyan, the children's rights organization, I was humbled by the people we met and the girls sharing their stories but also noting how far they've come and all the skills they learned. I honestly don't think I could've done anything they did and it was amazing and a little sad that we were all the same ages, but I thought they were very mature and have done so much already.

    I have created this photo journal to show some of what I and the group learned at this conference, on the tour of Intramuros and part of Manila, and the small fun things we did in-between. Perhaps it can inspire other PAAC and non-PAAC students to pursue the fields of journalism or media, or to get more involved with PAAC and the world. 

I hope you enjoy it & Salamat Po!

Lilinoe Quitazol.