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I was an eight-year old kid
in the mid-1990s.

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I grew up in the southern Philippines.

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At that age, you are
young enough to be oblivious

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about what society expects
from each of us,

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but old enough to be aware
of what's going on around you.

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We lived in a one-bedroom house,

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all five of us.

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Our house was amongst clusters of houses

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made mostly of wood
and corrugated metal sheets.

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These houses were built
very close to each other,

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along unpaved roads.

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There was little to no
expectation of privacy.

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Whenever an argument broke out next door,

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you heard it all.

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Or, if there was a little
something something going on

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(Laughter)

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you would probably hear that too.

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Like any other kid, I learned
what a family looked like.

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It was a man, a woman,
plus a child or children.

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But I also learned
it wasn't always that way.

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There were other combinations
that worked just as well.

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There was this family of three
who lived down the street.

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