Nelie Bautista
Nelie Bautista is from Bontoc Southern Leyte, Philippines. She’s an uplift mentor volunteer for Uplifters, a non-profit organization empowering underprivileged communities with online education and peer coaching for all foreign domestic workers. She is a volunteer member of the migrant writers group in Singapore. She loves to write, and one of her poems titled “A Worker’s Life” was published in multilingual translation migration, “Spring Water” in Tiger Moth Review, “Hardship” was published in the Anthology Book of Adversity in Poet Magazine, My Daily life, and Rain on “Be literate” and other social platforms.
The Village Mountain
My village is near the mountains, where the water runs fast and very clear. The beautiful clouds float so low and near, and their stunning beauty is so refreshing. From the wildflowers, plants, and trees, the windy breeze delivers a wonderful aroma. While I sit here for a while, I enjoy the scenery—the mountains’ beauty and the nature they hold. I think maybe this is a lot like heaven.
Pagmmano is a custom Filipinos follow to respect others and elders. Even though every family is poor in wealth, respect will prevail among all people. The second image I am embroidering is the Christmas tree. I grew up almost without them because of my goals in life, and it took 23 years that I wasn't with them every holiday season. I was very emotional while I was just made up of knots and stitches of the needle. The image of the Christmas tree for me is a happy family that sticks together no matter how far we are from each other as if we were a bunch of trees strong together. Christmas is not only for me but for the whole world.