A Filipino Student’s Vacation by W. E. Lanier

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Sep 14, 1916

A Filipino Student’s Vacation

By W. E. Lanier

THE record made by one of our Filipino young men may be of interest to some of our brethren in other parts of the world. This was not a large record, but it was made under conditions that make it a good one.

Ricardo Sabella, of whom I speak, is a young Visayan boy who has lived with us most of the time since we came to the islands. During the past two years he has been in school, earning his support by working in the publishing house. When school was out, we advised him to canvass during his vacation. The vacation here is one month shorter than in America. We assured him that if he would work regularly he could make more than he could in the publishing house. He chose “The World’s Crisis,” in Tagalog, as his book, the best binding of which sells for seventy-five cents; and so with only a few hours of instruction in salesmanship, he started to canvass.

The place to which he went had been canvassed last year for “The Coming King;” and more than that, just a few months before he began canvassing, the country had been visited by a severe storm, which almost totally destroyed the coconut crop. Raising coconuts is the main industry of this section; and as it takes almost a year to grow a new crop, his territory was not the most promising.

Although this was his first experience, he decided to make a special effort among the better class of people. It was largely to this that he owes his success. In one town he received orders from the president, vice president, secretary, chief of police, and from each member of the police force. In the next town he did almost as well. In the last town where he worked, he stayed with the vice president, from whom he received a list of about fifty names of prominent persons. All but four or five of those recommended by the vice president bought books.

Ricardo worked about two hundred hours, and took orders to the value of about $215, and delivered about $205 worth of these. The two hundred hours covered the time spent taking the orders and delivering.

Ricardo is a bright young man. He speaks quite fluently English, Spanish, and two native dialects. He expects to finish high school next year. He hopes then to take a medical course. He would like to take that at Loma Linda.

W. E. LANIER.