Stefan Tangen

Reflecting On Time Well Spent

by Stefan Tangen
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My time spent eating balut and riding in overcrowded tricycle taxis is coming to a close. After five months of being in the field I will return back to the United States of America and begin the next phase of my life. I pray that all the work we have

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High Hopes in the Philippines

by Stefan Tangen
Pagalum Office

Hot, humid, busy, loud and exciting are good words to describe my experience stepping off the plane at the airport in the Philippines. My destination, you ask? A tiny, rural province called Misamis Occidental on the island of Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines. Everywhere I looked, constant

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How Different Are We?

by Stefan Tangen

As a Vittana Fellow I find myself often comparing my educational experience  and my life in the United States to what I see on the ground here in the Philippines. Although the Philippines is a far cry from Washington State there are still many similarities between my life there and

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Believing in Human Potential

by Stefan Tangen
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I must admit I knew very little about the Philippines before I arrived. What I did know was that it’s an archipelago in South East Asia and the only Christian nation in Asia. I knew basically nothing about what the people, politics, economy or food was like. It was a

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3…2…1…Take Off!

by Stefan Tangen
Loan Launch

I have been on an education high recently and its because of a very exciting event that occurred here in the Philippines. Since my arrival, Vittana’s partner here in the province of Misamis Occidental officially launched its student loan product! Our partner, Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PMPC), held the event to

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