The island of Bohol is known for its lovely beaches, chocolate hills and wide-eyed tarsiers. It is also known for its bees.

If you're taking a trip to Bohol, make sure to take time out to visit the Bohol Bee Farm, a simple vegetable farm that has grown into a resort that advocates organic farming and community building. The force behind this is Vicky Wallace, a US-based nurse-turned-farmer who says that returning to the Philippines to start a business was one of the best decisions she made in her life.

Starting a hive

The decision to return to the Philippines was not an easy one for Wallace. After her husband died in 1988, the New York-based nurse examined her life and figured out what her priorities as a mother were. "You make good money in the States but you have to ask yourself what is it all about," Wallace explains, "I had three jobs. I hardly saw my kids. So after the school ear there ended, I brought them here."

It wasn't an easy decision to make, and Wallace stuck to it, no matter what other people said. "My mother said, 'Why are you dragging your kids to the Philippines,' as if it was a bad thing," she relates, "But I never regretted my decision. What kept me going was the thought that I didn't want to live a life where my children grew up not knowing who I was because I was always working, and later their children would grow up the same way."

Wallace settled in some land that she had bought for cheap. She started selling vegetables to her children's classmates. "Parents married to foreigners liked to come to my farm and harvest their own vegetables," Wallace says.

Afterwards, she also began to offer them homemade bread. "Our local bread is very different from how foreigners like their bread. They don't like it sweet," she explains, "I started making bread to suit their tastes."

To this day, the Bee Farm's herb bread is a hit with foreigners, while Filipinos love their kamote bread, which is slightly sweeter. Soon, Wallace was expanding into muffins, and then crafts, which she had learned while in the US.

Steady growth

What started as a small business with four workers eight years ago has now evolved into a growing enterprise with 232 workers, about 70% of them women. The road hasn't been easy, but Wallace is grateful for every lesson that she has learned along the way. "When people asked me what my vision was five years ago, I didn't know what to answer," Wallace says, "Now, I've realized that one's vision is all about how you can be a blessing for others. I practice that by integrating different livelihood programs with my business."

This is both sound business acumen and a practical way to help the community. The Bohol Bee Farm currently supports different livelihood projects such as soap making, organic vegetable farming and raffia crafts. And of course, honey. "If you just made honey, you could never expand your business, so you try to diversify that. That's why we have a lot of honey-based products. Diversifying the business, I think, is the key, especially if you want to help the community today. We have an area where we do crafts, the different crafts that we sell in the store. That's also how we advertise our products, how we find markets. We have to make sure that what we make, what we produce is also for our restaurant, our rooms. So you can see many crafts in our rooms. This is the way we market our products, by being the consumer ourselves," Wallace explains.

Nurturing queen bee

In growing her Bee Farm, Wallace got her wish. Her whole family is involved in the business, which means that she gets to see them on a daily basis. She confesses, however that she has had to make many lifestyle changes to be able to adjust to farm life. "I'm one of those blessed people who live where she works," she says. "Still, we have to make time for each other. When it's time to eat, you just have to spend time with the family, (even if just for) an hour or two. And I'm an early person, by 2 am, I'm up already, doing my manual accounting and (seeing to the) bakery, but I go to bed at 6pm. That's how you balance. It may be a different lifestyle but it suits me well."

As of the interview, Wallace's eldest daughter, Melanie, 27, also a nurse, was just about to join the business. Her son Abdul, 22, is already active in the farm, as is her husband. Her youngest daughter, Maggie, at four years old, is still young but seeing her enthusiasm as she explores the length of the Bee Farm, one can easily see how she will involve herself in the business when she grows up as well. "Maggie is such a good addition to us. She helps us balance our lives. Before, I didn't know when to stop working. Now we have no choice (but to stop). It's a good change," Wallace says.

Wallace's family extends to her workers as well. Six years ago, the Bee Farm started a scholarship program aimed to support the children of its workers. "I was just helping families who were employed here. I just started with 3 children of my workers. Now they're graduates. I did not expect them to come back. We have two schoolteachers (who graduated from the program). But they took their exams and they passed and now they are taking their masterals," Wallace says proudly, "(We also plan to) start a livelihood academy for those who want to start a business like ours."

Thoughts on OFWs

Having worked overseas before starting her business, Wallace has some thoughts on the many modern day heroes who leave their families so that they can make ends meet on the other side of the ocean.

"We have to understand that for me, us Filipinos, when we work outside the country, we are the most disciplined and hardworking group of people but in out own country, somehow we let go of that," Wallace says, "I'm just bringing that back to remind us to understand that attitude and discipline is very important if you want this country to go forward. It's very important that the change has to start from us first. Don't blame the government. I'm not into politics but that's the thing. Change starts from inside."

She adds, "Our country is beautiful. It's a thing for us Filipinos. We have to start believing that we have a beautiful country."

For Wallace, giving thanks is a very important value that should not be forgotten. "Last March, I visited my daughter in New York. That was after 25 years. She works in Brooklyn New York and we drove almost 4 hours upstate just to be thankful to the place (I stayed in when) I was there," she relates, "(I said,) 'This is the apartment where I lived. This is the tree that bore witness to me back then when I was crying, when I was missing home.' I was young and winter was killing me. You know, we expect so much of the States. It's great just to be thankful. We passed a beautiful house that I used to see on my way to the grocery store. We stopped there and I said, 'This used to be my dream house. Not anymore.'"

Vicky Wallace takes time every day to be thankful for the success of her heard work. To her, every experience can be channeled for future good, even if we do not know it at that moment. She says, "I think if we listen to what we really want, identify who we are, try to listen, I think we stumble and learn from it. Learning who we are, going forward is easier."

Things to do at the Bohol Bee Farm:
- learn about bees (of course!)
- partake of yummy organically grown food at the restaurant
- take a tour of the farm and participate in some of its activities
- take in the wonderful view of the sea
- take home lots of goodies to remind you of your trip

Bohol Bee Farm
Dao, Dauis, Panglao Island, Bohol
+6338.5022288
+63917.3041491
http://boholbeefarm.com

Happy 2009!

It's traditional for almost everyone to start the New Year off with a list of (oftentimes) grand things that they plan to do or avoid for the next 365 days.

And then they proceed to spend the next 365 days breaking each and every one of them.

While I don't believe in drawing up a to-do list for the new year (or if I do, I make sure to fill it with stuff I've already done and am continuing (i.e. Get column on gmanews.tv) or things that I really don't do (ie. Stop tickling stray cats) for an instant sense of self-fulfillment.

A big reason I don't do resolutions is because I realized that goals tend to change over the course of the year. If you write down something really specific, chances are, if you change your mind about it, you might feel bad about not fulfilling your resolution and do it anyway. Or you don't do it but feel bad for having broken it.

That doesn't mean that you shouldn't have goals, or that you shouldn't figure out how to better yourself the next year. In the spirit of becoming a better person this 2009, I've come up with a list of guidelines whose specifics can change as the year progresses, allowing for growth without restriction.

These are, in no particular order:

Finance

I will keep a closer watch on my expenses. This means writing everything I earn and spend on down, so I know exactly how much I have at the moment. I'm also going to "pay myself first" -- set aside a sum of money for my savings before I spend the rest. I also plan to be more regular with my tithing. Offering money to one's house of worship isn't just a religious thing. You'd be surprised to find that even business books advocate this, as it counters selfishness and is also an exercise in thinking of money as something you own and not something that owns you.

Productivity

I've given myself a productivity schedule: a list of things that I have to do on a daily basis. Surprisingly, one of the things that I keep forgetting to do is to relax, which is essential if one wants to remain productive. I'll have to pencil that into my schedule.

Fitness

I hate exercise, but lately, I've realized that exercise does make a difference in my output. Because of this, I'm forced to move around more than I usually would. They say a little masochism is good for the soul.

Socials

I tend to get buried in my work, so I have to make a big effort to see my family and friends more this year.

Happiness

This is my favorite part. I must always evaluate what makes me happy, then strive to achieve it. At this point, it's food, so I'm eating lots and without guilt. If you see someone swimming in a tub of yoghurt, that's probably me.

So that's my list of guidelines. I should be pretty to adhere to, and it should allow for changes, depending on my goals. By couching it in fluid terms, I give myself room to grow and don't feel bad in case I decide to change or abandon them.

I hope this encourages you to come up with your own list of guidelines. It's still early enough in the year for them. Remember, it's your long-term growth and not the short-term checklist that matters.