When Silence Feels Easier—and Why It Isn’t

Author’s note: This is a piece I’ve carried for a long time, after spending time learning about female genital mutilation (FGM) and its impact. Writing it wasn’t easy, but it felt necessary. I’m sharing it in the hope that it invites openness rather than silence.

I’ve written about many social issues over the years. Speaking out through my blogs has been my way of expressing myself on issues I feel strongly about.

But this is one issue I had not written about before. Not on my blog, nor anywhere else.

Female genital mutilation was something I felt strongly about, yet for a long time I couldn’t express it openly. Not because it didn’t matter enough, but because it felt overwhelming in a way that was difficult to put into words. The reality of it was always there, even when I wasn’t writing about it. There was also a deep disbelief in me that something so horrendous was, and still is, happening to little girls.

But caring deeply, without speaking, does not stop violence.

This isn’t only about finding the right words. It’s also about what we do when something affects us so deeply that silence starts to feel like the easier option. It’s about recognizing that discomfort is often a sign that something needs to be named, not avoided.

If you are reading this, you may recognize that feeling too. The pause before speaking. The question of whether your voice will make a difference.

Know that it will.

Change does not begin with perfect language or expert knowledge. It begins when people refuse to normalize harm. When conversations happen inside families, when women speak to other women, when men listen, an when communities decide that protecting their daughters sometimes means changing long-held traditions.

Ending FGM requires laws, funding, and systems. It also requires voices that are willing to say clearly that this violence is not acceptable.

Organizations like UNICEF work alongside survivors and local leaders to end FGM and support those already affected. Supporting their work matters, and choosing not to look away when this issue comes up matters just as much.

You don’t have to be an expert or an eloquent speaker. You simply have to refuse silence when something you know is wrong. Because every time we choose not to speak, we leave more room for violence to continue.

This year alone, 4.5 million girls are counting on us to ensure they are not the next to be harmed.

Silence is no longer an option.

Sources and further reading

• UNICEF. Female Genital Mutilation: A Global Concern.
  https://www.unicef.org/protection/female-genital-mutilation
• UNICEF Press Release. Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.
  https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/statement-unicef-executive-director-catherine-russell-international-day-zero
• World Health Organization. Female Genital Mutilation.
  https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation

Fulfillment of a Lifelong Dream

On April 14, 2025, Amanda Nguyen made history as the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman to journey into space. Aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, she joined an all-female crew for a suborbital flight that soared beyond the Kármán line, the recognized boundary of space. 

Amanda Nguyen’s path to the stars was shaped by resilience and advocacy. In 2013, while pursuing her degree at Harvard University, she survived a sexual assault. This traumatic experience propelled her into activism, leading her to draft the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, which was unanimously passed by the U.S. Congress in 2016. Her efforts earned her a nomination for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize and recognition as one of TIME’s Women of the Year in 2022. 

Nguyen’s passion for space was reignited through her scientific pursuits. In 2021, she became a scientist-astronaut candidate at the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences, focusing on women’s health and menstruation in space. 

The Blue Origin NS-31 mission marked a significant milestone as the first all-female crewed spaceflight. Alongside Nguyen were pop star Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, philanthropist Lauren Sánchez, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, and film producer Kerianne Flynn. The mission lasted approximately 11 minutes, during which the crew experienced weightlessness and breathtaking views of Earth. 

During the flight, Nguyen conducted two scientific experiments: one in collaboration with the Vietnamese National Space Center on plant pathology, and another focusing on women’s health, specifically menstruation. 

Upon returning to Earth, Nguyen shared an emotional message:

“In this moment, I just want all survivors to know: You can heal. No dream is too wild, and if it’s so wild and out there — like going to space — you can absolutely make it through, and it can absolutely be possible.” 

Her words resonated with many, highlighting the intersection of personal healing and the pursuit of dreams.

Nguyen’s journey from advocacy to astronaut serves as an inspiration to many. Her story underscores the importance of resilience, determination, and the belief that no dream is too ambitious.

It Isn’t Over

Someone once said, in the early days of Covid, news about people with Covid had no faces because we didn’t know them.  Now their faces are clear because they live or work with or near us, and it’s scary.  No, not scary, but it hurts. 

As usual, at times like these, when someone I know passes away, I am again at a loss for how I should react or for the right words to say because words will not be enough for the loss of their loved ones. 

The last time I attended the wake of a friend’s relative, my friend and I  hugged tightly. In the early days of Covid, we couldn’t even visit...

The first time I heard several people I knew were Covid positive, I cried silently several times, worried about their health and families. I asked myself how and why this had to happen to them. I told myself I would not cry again. 

The second and third time I was told another batch got sick and one passed away, I didn't cry, but the hurt and helplessness were there. 

Then  another had to be quarantined...and another...and another.  It has  become a new normal that I   can only  sigh when I hear of the same news happening to other persons I know or work with. 

Some months back, a friend’s spouse passed away. We exchanged private messages. She said it was the 13th day she and her husband were separated since he was hospitalized, and that was the longest they were apart because they had always been together. How difficult it must be to suddenly realize the separation will now be forever...

The news of someone I knew passing away due to Covid and who I hugged a few times in the past gave me mixed emotions. Is it crying when the tears keep hovering at the corners of your eyes but never fall? These were moments when I felt extreme emotions of wanting to just be alone.

This “new normal” isn’t normal at all, but we all somehow have to deal with the dangers the best way we can and keep moving on.

Covid certainly isn’t over, but it has become a part of our daily lives, and regardless of new and better vaccines, we should never let our guard down and continue to take precautions as new variants are discovered. As I say in my messages, “Stay safe always.”

Starting to Write Again...with a personal commentary on the movie "Hello Love Goodbye"

It has been quite a while since my last blog entry. It’s about time I start and get a leash on things to make my daily activities more meaningful again. I miss writing.  I was supposed to post a new entry last International Women's Day  after so many years of inactivity but I never got to complete it. 

Well, who knew that Alden Richards' movie "Hello Love Goodbye" (with English subtitle) would trigger me to write again. Haha, The movie is good by the way.  It's a simple but moving story that depicts the real plight of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)  and what they have to go through to be able to support their families back home. It's about the realization that there is nothing wrong about choosing self-love and reaching for your dreams over love for another.  I'm sure many working overseas away from home and family can relate to the hardships they have to go through and the hard choices they sometimes have to make just to support their loved ones.

Since I am one who rarely watches local movies in cinemas, the movie is really that good for me to have watched it twice. It's really worth watching.

Thumbs up @aldenrichards02 and to your co-star Kathryn Bernardo. You both complemented each other really well  as Ethan and Joy. There could not have been a better team-up to make it this successful. Hoping to see more local quality films like this one. And THANK YOU for somehow being the catalyst to make me write again.

Road to 1 Billion

IT WAS A JOKE!

This rape joke by a Presidential candidate is making me so emotional. So here it goes.

This is a translated excerpt from a speech of a Mayor running for President about a rape victim: "I looked at the face, (swears) she's like a beautiful actress from America. (Swears) what a pity. What went on in my mind was, 'they raped her,  lined up for her.' I got mad because she was raped? Yes. That's one. But she's so beautiful. The Mayor should have been first. What a pity."  

It was a joke, the Mayor said after receiving flak from women and women's groups for making this statement about an Australian woman missionary raped in his city that went viral. 

I once thought that what he has done for his city is admirable. He fought rebels where ruling administrations had difficulty fighting. He had a reputation of supporting extrajudicial killings. Criminals feared him. His word was law and people followed. Whatever his flaws, I thought his track record of making his city clean and peaceful would have made up for them. But after pictures and videos showing his behavior with females in public came out, his hand touching/holding women in a manner that strangers normally  wouldn't, wanting to kiss them on the lips, and now his "joke" that the Mayor (implying himself) should have been first on the woman raped, made me completely turn around on my opinion of him. It was degrading how he objectified women. 

If he cannot lead by example that women should be treated with respect, then how can he possibly impose laws on sexual harassment or violence against women when he himself expresses acts that constitute and can even encourage others to think that sexual harassment or violence against women can be taken lightly? Rape is no joking matter and just because there are local ordinances existing or were first implemented in his city to protect women does not mean he supports women's rights but can joke about rape with triviality.

What saddens me even more is that the women's group who strongly advocates for women's rights and demanded him to apologize for his rape "joke" (which as of this writing he refused to do stating there is nothing to apologize for) is reported to still continue to support his candidacy. This kind of support made me question myself. 

Did I discern wrongly? Should I just close my eyes and throw out the window what I've always believed in and did volunteer work for all these years? If a strong women's group still continues to support his candidacy and will forego of his rape joke and vote for him why can't I? Some say he is a better choice over other candidates with reputations of being corrupt, weak and easily swayed, sickly, indecisive, etc. Who doesn't have flaws, they said. I'm sure their reputation, track record, strengths and weaknesses have been compared. 

Presidents will come and go and we have to keep moving on and continue to live our own lives. Change has to start with us, not with a President every six years. At the end of the day, we all have to live with our conscience and I would rather follow mine. I cannot in conscience vote for someone who thinks  rape can be taken lightly and joked about. So there. 

http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/129787-gabriela-duterte-apologize-rape-no-laughing-matter

"TODAY will never come again... Be a blessing. Be a friend. TAKE TIME TO CARE." - via THINK DIFFERENT

Just a quote to remind me that I can be strong...that I AM strong.

"I always told you that you are a strong woman and I always meant it, so I hope you started to believe in yourself..you can make it, everything you want, just believe in it and yourself. And my hopes and wishes for you are coming from my heart."

Social Ills...

"Babies for Sale" - is it just greed or dire need to survive that people can go so low as to steal babies or "breed" baby farms to sell them once they are born? It's nothing new these days. From Africa to Asian countries like the Philippines, Cambodia, India or Thailand, children are sold in exchange for money, to pay off debts or some other reason. A tv documentary in Manila recently featured two women whose newborn babies were stolen from a hospital. In Nigeria, a "baby farm" was raided where several women and babies were rescued by authorities. Young pregnant girls were being kept in the hospital or clinic until they gave birth and the babies were sold to the highest bidder. Babies stolen is one thing, but actually maintaining clinics or hospitals as "baby farms" to "breed" children for the purpose of selling them is just horrific. These children have no chance of defending themselves in their innocence.

Criminals continue to "innovate" and come up with other forms of crime, one more inhumane than another. Will they all end one day? I wonder. The social ills seem to be limitless. But as long as there are good hearts who persevere to put an end to the evils around us, each child man and woman victimized by greed and violence will have a chance of starting life anew. It often takes a concerted effort to be heard and for action to be taken. It's sad that many have to lose so much, sometimes even their very lives for this to happen.But we should never give up.We just could not. It is their only chance to be saved from being victims of our society's social ills..

Taking A Stand…

Sapna and Malala… two teenage girls from India and Pakistan who both took a stand for what they believed in. Sapna said no to an early marriage while Malala refused to cow down to Taliban threats and struggled to gain an education, advocating that girls should have access to education.

How far would you go to make a stand for what you strongly believe in?

“I don’t mind if I have to sit on the floor at school. All I want is education. And I am afraid of no one.” – Malala Yousafzai

When 14-year old Malala from Pakistan was shot by the Taliban for openly advocating education for girls, the world was shocked and in uproar at the barbaric attempt to silence her for fighting for girls’ rights to education.

Living at Swat Valley where the Taliban has at times banned girls from attending school, Malala took to blogging under a pseudonym to tell the world of the plight of girls in her valley and the Taliban's attempt to take control. She has gained media coverage and accepted interviews from local and international press. She has since then been nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize  by Desmond Tutu and won Pakistan's first International Children's Peace Prize. 

Malala’s advocacy almost caused her her life. Though she has started standing up with assistance, she is still unable to talk and only communicates by writing. She continues to slowly recover in a British hospital but she isn’t over the woods yet..she is still physically in critical condition and her life is still in danger from the Taliban who vowed to try killing her again. Extremists continue in their attempt to smear Malala’s name claiming she works for and is in connivance with the United States.  She knew she could be paying a great price for what she is standing up for but she never looked back. She is fighting for what she believes in and her action has only strengthened the resolve on many that girls have a right to an education as anyone else and should not be deprived of it.

“I’ll tell my neighbors that child marriage is against the law and they should educate their children.” – Sapna

In Sapna’s village, teenage girls were expected to be married by the age of eighteen. But Sapna had other plans. She wanted an education. She wanted to work and earn a living…then get married.  So when she heard her parents talking about getting her married off, she drummed up enough courage to tell her parents and grandfather who raised her that she wanted to study first and not get married. Sapna’s lucky. She has a supportive family. They listened. They understood. They supported her decision. Now her village is abuzz. Now other parents would tell her parents and grandfather whenever they would meet them at the village that they too would not get their daughters married before they are eighteen. 

One little girl’s dream to have an education. One little girl who bravely took a stand for what she wanted and believed in, and helped change the outlook of elders in her community.  Now they too would want their daughters to go to school and have an education. They too would not want to marry off their daughters before they’re eighteen.

Two teenage girls Sapna and Malala, who both took a stand to be educated, now they are making a difference in shaping the future of girls in their country…

Videos:

Malala - http://youtu.be/25wW4hwk8Gk

Sapna   - http://youtu.be/2qhbdGxDrxI

NO PERSON IS ABOVE THE LAW

It was good news that the SpecialCourt for Sierra Leone judges in The Hague sentenced former Liberian PresidentCharles Taylor to a jail-term of 50 years, the first African President to beprosecuted in an international court. He was convicted of aiding and abettingthe commission of serious crimes in Sierra Leone and planning attacks onvarious towns. He was also accused of assisting theRevolutionary United Front, a rebel group, in the recruitment of child soldiers, rape and sexual slavery. I find this man’s rise to the Presidencyin 1997, such a wonder. Why a man of his past record of atrocities and abuses onhis own people was even elected President of Liberia with 75% of the votes inhis favor is such a wonder. The election was even described as “one of thecleanest” (or should it be a wonder with graft and corruption existing in everycountry). Maybe his campaign slogan "He killed myma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him" was a warning to voters notto vote otherwise. Nevertheless, after so many years, the verdict on his crimeshas come out...guilty.

Though the crimes may bedifferent, I can somehow relate this to the political situation here. Twoformer Presidents ousted, the first one, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, oustedby peaceful people power, for abuses, political oppression, graft andcorruption during his more than 20 years of dictatorship; a second one,Ex-President Joseph Estrada, impeached for plunder, though granted pardon yearslater by the President who replaced him, ex-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Sheherself is now facing plunder charges.

The late Egyptian PresidentHosni Mubarak resignedafter nearly 30 years of holding power. He was charged with corruption and thekilling of demonstrators. He wenton trial in August 2011 and was convicted to life in prison in June 2012 but died shortly from aheart attack.

The justice process can takelong. Judgment can take years, because gathering evidence and capturing themcan also take years. In Taylor’s case, it took 4 years of hearings before hewas convicted.

It is so true that goodgovernance is so wanting worldwide. History has shown that world leaders couldnot hold on to their conviction and ideals of becoming good leaders. Somewhere,if it hasn’t been their plan all along to enrich and glue themselves in power,the sparkle of power and greed ends up consuming them. Like others blinded byfame and fortune, at some point, they lose track of reality. They crave formore of that sparkle and power, forgetting they have an obligation to give backwhat they have committed to the public that put them where they are.   

Thejudgment on people like Charles Taylor, Hosni Mubarak, and the ousting orforced resignation of other leaders due to political and sex scandals, graftand corruption send a clear message. Heads of state will be held to account fortheir crimes, because *“withleadership, come not just power and authority, but also responsibility andaccountability.

"NO PERSON, NO MATTER HOW POWERFUL, IS ABOVE THE LAW."

*Source:The Guardian  - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/26/charles-taylor-guilty-war-crimes