A friend sends invite to a concert featuring multi-awarded French pianist Laure Favre-Kahn . She says that it is for the girls of Chameleon Association in Passi, Iloilo, Philippines. A piano interpretation on the ouvre of Chopin and Schumann by the association's ambassadress to raise fund for the abused and the marginalized children being housed and cared for in the 600-square meter compound in Passi City. The concert is set on 27 April 2011 at the auditorium of the University of the Philippines Iloilo City campus. Then on the next day, Ms. Favre-Kahn will do another at the PhilAm Life Theater at UN Avenue, Ermita, Manila. A similar concert was held earlier at Abracadabar, Paris. The concert is a collective efforts by French and Filipino friends of Laurence Ligier and by the members and supporters of the Chameleon Association, notably by the French Alliance in Manila, Ros Music Center and the French Embassy. Some years back, Ms. Favre-Kahn's concert for the association...

Today's Gospel ( John 4:4-26 ) and several queries from my friends online concerning my blog entry of March 24, 2011 led me to remember a Samaritan woman I met by a spring well in Aranas. She has been hailed as a woman of substance by several media outlets both local and international. Her laurels include among others the following: Founded the Chameleon Association, a Franco-Filipino Humanitarian organization which shelters young girls who suffered from physical/sexual and psychological abuse Distinction of merit of Knight of the French National Order of Legion of Honor ( Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Merite ) in October 2008 French National Award for Community Involvement and Devotion ( Le Prix de Civisme et de Devouement) from the President of the Republic of France, M. Jacques Chirac Honorary Medal ( Medaille d'Or ) from the town of Chalon/Saone Presidential Distinction of Exception for Foreigners making a significant contribution to the d...

As we were rowing down the stretch of the Jal-o River one summer morning, I intimated to my friend, Laurence, that all I aspire for is to lead a quiet simple life away from the hassle and bustle of the urban civilization. Looking up around the lush green, the serene surroundings and a solitary hut abutting the bank of the river as our boat passed by, she innocently assured me that I can achieve my dream as it is bereft of any competition. I smiled at her lovingly yet at the back of my mind I concluded that her Occidental Weltanschauung had conditioned her to assume that leading the simple life is just a cakewalk. More than 15 years have elapsed since our tete-a-tete aboard that nameless boat and Laurence and I have parted ways. She has dedicated her life to caring for street children and Filipina girls who have been sexually and psychologically abused in some depressed community in Iloilo while from time to time travel back home rallying the European communities to lend her a h...