Testimonials

"It thrills me to see this blog. If this existed when I was in my early twenties, it would have changed my path completely. This WILL impact the gay Filipino community. THANK YOU for making this happen. I will share this blog with my friends, family and close ones."
- Wilson L.



"Tears slowly pooled at the corners of my eyes when I read the stories of the participants of The  Malaya Project; honest stories coupled with images of happy families and a young man's daily victory over HIV moved me. I saw The Malaya Project at my annual visit to the Festival of Philippine Arts and Cultures and I felt that the Project needed to be shared with more people. Why did I cry? What was so powerful about those words and images? Why should more people see this? And the simple answer and reason for me to want to share the The Malaya Project was that anyone can connect with the stories and the people in it. All people have a need to be happy and that is a truth for all individuals regards of how we identify ourselves. In my capacity, I was able to connect the artists of The Malaya Project with several UCLA Student Organizations- Pan Asian Queers (PAQ) and Samahang Pilipino and with the Asian Pacific Islander Student Affairs Network at UCLA.Through the student's efforts, The Malaya Project proudly hung on the walls of Kerckhoff Hall Art Gallery during the Fall Quarter. As staff and students we all believe in the power of education and learning happens in different forms and fashion. The Malaya Project educates and allows the voices of a marginalized community to be heard and seen. UCLA has at least 20,000 people on campus daily and I wanted the Project to have that kind of exposure. I wanted random folks on campus and any student to look at the photos and catch a glimpse at the life of someone from the LGTBQ community and to see that we're essentially no different from each other. And if we could only reach the students involved through PAQ or Samahang Pilipino, then hopefully they would have found inspiration from the participants who bravely shared their stories in words and images."
- Pia P.



"I was looking through your website and I started tearing up at how beautiful all these stories were. Seeing all these smiling faces and knowing that we all share in the same struggle touched my heart a lot."
- Jeff D.



"Being asked to be part of something monumental at The Malaya Project is a true honor. When I first sat down with Greg and Deney, I knew that I was being asked to be part of something much bigger than ant of us could imagine. Everything I learned about TMP, the story behind it, the reason for it's creation and the vision for the project. I just knew that if I didn't take part of this that I would regret it. It has definitely been one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences of my life and it does not end there. My life has been forever changed by TMP and I am truly grateful for this experience and to be a part of something epic and ever evolving. As artists we crate out truth. Malaya is my life and my truth. Thank you D&G!

Love you Guys!"
- Allison S.