The FHA housing loans program was created to help out the millions of Americans who need to get a home loan but cannot because they were stricken by the economic crisis. It is also able to help a lot of the homeowners facing foreclosure. The FHA itself (The Federal Housing Administration) was created way back in the 1930’s. Back then, America, our glorious capitalist country, was also suffering from another economic recession which we all know as the Great Depression. Incidentally, this world economic recession is a prelude to World War II.

Going back to the Great Depression during the 1930’s one can find a profound image of hardship etched on the faces of the people. We have all seen the pictures as well as how this era was depicted in movies and television shows. This is a rather sad time for the country. I remember seeing the pictures of the people when I was a kid.

There are many famous black and white photos of that era. One of my favorite photos is the one entitled “lunchtime atop a skyscraper.” That was one very scary photo. It shows several workers having lunch on their lunch break, nothing so strange or out of the ordinary about that right? Except that these workers, around eleven of them in the picture, are all sitting on a thin steal beam with no ropes or anything to hold on to while below their dangling feet are the dwarfed sprawling buildings of the cityscape. Just imagining being there hanging a hundred stories up in the sky with no support or handhold is enough to make my stomach churn with butterflies. There are also the pictures of those old ladies and old men just sitting around, jobless, homeless. There was no FHA housing loan back then. You can automatically see the hardship in their faces and expressions. There are also pictures of food distribution where people lined up to get a piece of bread or some soup.

And now I look at our nation and this current recession and I see the same faces. However, we are definitely much better off with our modern affordable conveniences. But still, the faces of the people whose homes were taken away from them, the faces of my friends whose jobs’ were lost, the faces of those whose businesses plummeted, I see in these faces the same hardship. And I am thankful that the FHA housing loan program exists to help everyone out.

Philippine education is truly the winning edge of the country in the global Asian call center and BPO industry. There are a lot of factors why this is so. First of all, the English language is mandatory, taught from kindergarten pre-school, grade school, high school, and even up to college. As if that was not enough, the Philippines is also inundated in U.S. culture.

Contrary to what some belief, the education in the Philippines is top notch and high quality. Of course the same thing can be said about the schools in the United States, but there is a big difference. Surveys of migrant Filipino families show that a lot, in fact almost all Filipino kids who have gone to school in the Philippines find school in the United States a whole lot easier. Most of these children who got average to above average scores and grades in their Philippine schools were surprised to find out that their standing in the American schools goes up significantly. Is it simply a case of better teachers? Well, since these children are getting higher scores than their classmates who had been in those schools for a long time, then this cannot be the reason.

Philippine school curriculum by all accounts, is much harder than the typical U.S. curriculum. Perhaps one reason why Philippine students get better education is because there are a lot more private schools in the Philippines and these private schools are a heck of a lot more affordable than private schools in the U.S. which is unexaggeratedly reserved to the American affluent elite. This is also why a large part of the population has received education. Contrary to popular belief, the ratio of the educated versus the uneducated Filipinos in the country is quite high compared to other countries. And this is the reason why the Philippines is a topnotch (if not the best) Asian call center and general BPO business location.

There is no doubt that the Philippines, along with India, are the best Asian call center locations. They are actually not only the best location in Asia but also in the world. India is a little more ahead of the Philippines because it was where the industry first developed and even if the service quality is not as high in the Philippines, the salary of call center agents in India is cheaper just as a lot of things in that third world country is dirt cheap.

There are so many kinds of FHA housing loans that are available for us here in the United States of America. Here is a list of some of these FHA housing loans that everyone in a bad financial situation should take advantage of.

Conventional, Fixed or set rate housing loan
The fixed rate mortgage loan offering by the FHA is one of the most basic mortgages available in the program. With this kind of loan, one will not have to worry that much about the fluctuating interest rates as well as amounts that other people will inevitably worry about with adjustable rate mortgages. The rates and amounts will not fluctuate not in any year of period of payment through the entire course of the loan payment lifetime. This is perfect for people who do not want to deal with the new developments of a changing loan interest.

Conventional, Adjustable rate housing loan
The FHA offers people this basic type of loan mortgage. The amount of the mortgage is set and does not change. However, the interest rate does change in several periods during the course of the loan payment. The changes are usually set during the third year and the fifth year of the loan payments.

Hybrid Housing Loan Mortgage
A Hybrid Housing Loan mortgage is just like the adjustable rate FHA housing loans. Again, the amount of the loan is set in stone. But the rate of interest will fluctuate. The difference between this loan and the adjustable mortgage loan is slight. They only differ with the time of the changes. Also, the changes are much farther apart and much longer.

Balloon Housing Loan Mortgage
The balloon housing loan mortgage is not as scary as it sounds. But yes, as the name suggests, the amounts of payments does indeed balloon over a period of time. The amount you have to pay starts small. Then, at certain periods, the amount increases. But the increase happens at different steps and it is fairly easy to keep up with because it is anticipated and very far apart from each other.

Self Employed Income Housing Mortgage
This kind of loan mortgage is made for those who earn money by their own means. Therefore, it is hard for them to show documents because they do not have pay slips. This applies for a lot of those who own their own stores or small businesses. As well as those who do freelance especially through the internet.

Volunteering is not something that is for everybody. This is true. Some people don’t want to volunteer. Some people, if you try to bring them to a red cross Ondoy relief operations or to a GK Expo, they will just decline. Although one might think that some exposure might just be the ticket for them, that once they try out volunteer work they might like it, this is not always the case. Dragging them into those things can sometimes be disastrous.

I have had some volunteer experience recently in the Philippine national Red Cross foundation for the relief and rescue operation of the Typhoon Ondoy victims (or Ketsena as the storm is internationally known). It was just was so tiring to be in that kind of environment and not wanting to be there at the same time. I thought I would feel that warm and fuzzy feeling that everyone who volunteered seemed to have. My friends who were also Gawad Kalinga people (they organized the GK Expo) dragged me into the whole affair.

That’s when I started to realize just how bereft I am of morals. And I was saddened by this fact. I didn’t know what to do. Maybe it was just because I couldn’t empathize with the victims because I was never such a victim. I have always lived a life of comfort and privilege. This was so frustrating. That was when I decided to try volunteering again. Then I registered as a full time Gawad Kalinga worker. It was a decision that changed my life.

Now I can see more of what is happening outside of my white bread world. There are simply hundreds and hundreds of people who are suffering in our country. I can now share their pain because I have seen it with my own eyes. Now I am part of the organizers of the GK Expo. I encourage everyone to join in the effort to raise our fellow poor Filipinos from the quagmire of poverty. It really does feel good in the long run.

A study recently made by the Columbia University found that after the country of India, the Philippines is said to be one of the biggest recipients of outsourcing deals. Almost 30 percent of the market is captured by the Philippine call center industry. In another market survey in 2005 executed by an independent group concluded that the Philippines ranked as the best place for quality service in Asia, above India, China, and Malaysia.

All of these things point to one conclusion: the call center offshore industry is the one of the soaring growth fields in the Philippines that gives it thousands of new jobs that help increase the whole country’s economic status. This is why the industry is called “the sunshine industry.” The industry has set up infrastructure in the main cities of the country. Virtually every business center in the country is littered with call center offices. Zamboanga, Pampanga, Baguio, Cebu, Bacolod, and Manila are all the usual call center locations in the country.

Right at this moment there exist more than 70 call centers in the Philippines. And looking at the global trend of offshore outsourcing, there will be many more centers to be set up for active operations in the country. The Philippines will truly benefit from such a golden on this opportunity since the country is full of English speaking people that are something rare as compared to other Asian countries. Virtually everyone in the country can speak or understand the language.

The country is also such a verdant ground for offshore outsourcing. It is one of the most highly educated populations in all of Asia. Education is cheaper and accessible in most parts of the country. Also, English is taught from pre-school, grade school, high school, and even up to college. Therefore, there is no doubt that anyone who has gone to school in the country can speak English.

In recent years, the Philippine call center industry has elicited debates from people in favor and from those who think that it is not good for the economy. Those Critics opposed to the industry point to low quality of the job, and more significantly, these people argue that outsourcing is bad for the health of the workers as well as the long term economy of the Philippines.threatens the livelihood of domestic workers. Those who are advocates, say that call center companies that utilize this industry in order to get savings for investment provide better salaries and thus income for the people.