Wednesday, January 8, 2025

From Silicon Valley to Kesong Puti : A Reflection on my Unconventional Journey

Imagine trading lines of software code for creamy carabao cheese. That's exactly what I’ve done, embarking on a remarkable journey of over 40 years that has led me from the heart of Silicon Valley to a small town in the Philippines, where I now champion sustainable agriculture and community development.

My career has been marked by a series of bold transitions. At 20, I began in the IT industry, developing financial software in the United States where I had just arrived as a young immigrant. A decade later, driven by a desire to put into action the Jesuit mantra of becoming a man for others (which I took to heart), I transitioned into public service, becoming a Public Relations and Community Education Coordinator for the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco.

There, I passionately advocated for civil rights, engaging journalists to bring public attention to anti-immigrant policies, unjust evictions of low-income elderly in Chinatown, poor working conditions for custodial workers in Silicon Valley, exploitative wages of garment workers in sweatshops, and discriminatory firing of Filipino security guards for speaking Pilipino in the workplace. I also started to hone my skills as a freelance journalist, contributing to publications like Filipinas Magazine and Philippine News.

Later, under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, I worked to improve healthcare access for Asian Pacific Islanders as Program Director of the Asian Pacific Islander Health Information Network, where I took the lead in providing Internet technologies to public health groups to share policy news and information to Asian Pacific Islander communities across the country.

Ultimately, it seems, I found my calling as a social entrepreneur. Returning to my roots in 1997, I first managed my father's actuarial services firm, where I played a key role in setting up the Public Safety Mutual Benefit Fund Incorporated, a mutual benefit association that provides life insurance benefits to uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police after they had been unceremoniously dropped from their own government's life insurance system.

After a period back in the US, I returned to the Philippines in 2011 to care for my aging mother and to initiate Remit4Change, a US-based NGO project focused on leveraging remittances for social impact. It was during this time that I ventured into agriculture, initially planting and selling organic sweet corn.

Facing serious challenges in raising organic crops, then in 2014, I shifted my focus to marketing carabao milk after the Municipal Agriculture Officer had asked for my help to market carabao dairy products of local farmers. Recognizing the potential of the undervalued food, I collaborated with carabao dairy farmers of Magdalena and Rosario, Batangas to address surplus milk production. This led to the creation of a microenterprise known for supplying high-quality, raw carabao milk and marketing artisanal cheeses, including the popular kesong puti and a local halloumi-style cheese called Magdalloumi (which the provincial Department of Trade & Industry director affirmatively viewed as an innovation, please watch https://youtu.be/cILpXwUIz7E?si=U6UjRCcqZENlcJOp).

I saw an opportunity not only to supply raw carabao milk for world-class mozzarella and burrata to a popular Filipino-owned brick oven pizza chain in Metro Manila but also to empower local farmers and contribute to my hometown's economy. My efforts have not only helped boost the local economies of Magdalena and Rosario but have also promoted sustainable dairy agriculture. Along with local dairy farmers, I took the lead in organizing the Magdalena Agriculture Cooperative in 2017, serving briefly as Chairman of its Board of Directors in 2022.

In addition, I took the lead in my family’s philanthropic efforts towards community development, facilitating land grants to the municipal government including a bypass road to improve vehicular access to four barangays; a plot of land for an aquifer pumping station that provides potable water to thousands of households in two barangays; a small plot by the highway on which to build a carabao dairy processing and sales outlet; and another plot on which to house an early childhood care and education center.

Now in semi-retirement, I continue to champion sustainable agriculture and community development, proving that it's never too late to reinvent yourself and have an impact. Looking back, my diverse experiences and unwavering commitment to social and economic progress may yet make me truly a man for others.

Through various platforms, including my Facebook page, I share insights -- wise and otherwise -- on carabao dairy endeavors and community initiatives; I also regularly opine on relevant local and national developments.

(You can find the Filipino translation: https://rcavosora.blogspot.com/2025/01/mula-sa-silicon-valley-hanggang-kesong.html)

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