Small Voices (2003)

Dreams are what Melinda brought with her the day she left for the flung provincial town of Malawig. The young teacher arrives to find a land of coconut and rice fields, and a people barren of hope. Poverty has made the townsfolk passive, resigned to a bitter fate, while others fight in the mountains, staking their lives for some kind of change. "Only the rich can afford to dream. We can't." The words of a child urge Melinda to strive to make the town listen - poverty does not make victims of people. Hopes are essential, and dreams can be made real. Against the skepticism of town, Melinda and the children of Malawig join a humble singing contest. Their small voices ring out against darkness, against poverty, death, and despair. Their song awakens in everyone a small flame of hope a daring to dream, and a willingness to fight for it. Melinda leaves the town believing that it is within one's power to make a difference, that within one's self is a voice of hope waiting to be heard. -- © Munting Tinig