USA

The last time we wrote, we were at the dawn of a pioneering trip to the United States with the ICM Children’s Choir. It was a beautiful, exhausting and hugely successful two weeks, and the choir have been invited back again in April and May of this year! Since then we have completed 13 plane rides, been to each of our home countries to celebrate the festive season, and returned back to the Philippines full of New Year’s enthusiasm and vivacity to continue our journey.

A couple of our goals for this year are to firstly keep this blog more regularly updated… Michal hopes to have his first photography exhibition, write a feature length script that has been brewing for a few years, and shoot his next short film. I’m planning on recording my second album, so I hope to be able to write soon with developments

In the midst of the Filipino slow, laidback way of life which we are able to enjoy, we have started the laborious and often frantic task of applying again for the choir kids USA visas. This involves huge amounts of paperwork, legal documents, invitations and financial statements, a hefty application fee that would deter 90% of Filipinos from applying, as well as hours and hours spent on the phone to call center agents trying to book interview appointments. It’s a huge contrast to the ease at which I obtained my US visa; I logged on to a website, typed in a few details, paid a very small fee, and printed my confirmation. The whole thing took about five minutes! And for many countries, UK citizens don’t even need a visa. Part of me is very grateful that authorities are very strict with immigration for Filipinos, as it reduces human trafficking and illegal immigrants. But for many innocent, hardworking Filipinos who would just like to enjoy a holiday, the process is often just too difficult and too expensive to even try.

 Louise Joachimowski