I interviewed Michael John Espino, a Civil Engineer by profession for 20 years working with different peoples and non-governmental organizations in the Philippines. Mr. Espino is temporarily in the country to finish a post-graduate degree sponsored by a funding agency.
As a child, Mr. Espino wanted to be a nurse or medical doctor. But fate or destiny, as he said, changed his path of choosing a college degree to take. It was his father, who was then a farmer in their province north of the Philippines, who encouraged if not forced him to choose an engineering course rather than a nursing course. His father believes that being a nurse is a profession reserved for females and an engineering profession is well-suited for male like him. Without any interests at all, he entered into bigger University. His University that time was known as a hotbed of student activism. Time passed, he was also hit by the fire of campus activism. As a student, he advocated that students, scientists and engineers should serve the basic masses of the society. Science and technology should be directed on uplifting the dire conditions of the poor then.
It should developed technologies on helping the farmers to uplift the backward agricultural situation then in the countryside, without using any health-risk pesticides. Mr. Espino managed to graduate and passed the board examinations. In line with his commitment and principles, he volunteered in a local non-governmental organization that seeks to provide basic necessities in the countryside through small-scale technological developments. He spent months in the remotest villages in the country providing and developing the local farmers basic irrigation on their plantations. He also helped installing small-scale solar panels to provide electricity to villages. Their organization also builds deep wells and other sources of potable waters to be used by the locals. Even organic farming and backyard gardening for the wives of farmers and fishermen is also part of their program to give alternative source of living to the people in the countryside. These are only some of the successful and most unforgettable experiences and work Mr. Espino had with his organization and the basic masses. He is currently in the country to finish a post-graduate degree to enhance his knowledge and capabilities on providing the latest and updated technologies that he can adapt and use for his organizations’ projects and activities. As closing statements, Mr. Espino encourages me and other students of science and engineering course to take the road less traveled by people, serving the basic masses. It is not financially rewarding yet we will be rewarded by the warmth and love by the people whom we are serving.
Mr. Espino’s experiences are an eye-opener for me. All the while, I thought after graduation I will only be confined on multinational companies or offices. I never thought that there are alternative paths to be taken that are just waiting for us to grab. It is more rewarding on my personal opinion, that basic and broader people will be benefited directly on what I have learned in the University by taking the path Mr. Espino took.
