Filipino "Friends"

In the Philippines, our group made two different kinds of friends. The first kind of friends were of the human variety. We enjoyed these friends very much and were blessed by them on a daily basis. The second type of friend were of the creature variety. These friends were less welcome and much less liked. Top creature friends included: geckos, flies (in droves), mosquitos (only saw a handful of these, thank goodness), and, finally, the most loathed of all: the cockroach. I had never encountered cockroaches (to the best of my knowledge) before Manila. They made up for lost time and introduced them to me on a number of occasions. Their appearance was generally marked with stifled screams, leaps onto furniture, or a sudden departure from the immediate vicinity. I don't care that cockroaches don't bite; their presence is about as welcome as a snake showing up at a rodent convention. I also don't care how cute the cockroach was in WALL-E. It's like saying you want a rat as a chef after watching Ratatouille.

Our first night at Mango, we encountered a little intrusion of cockroaches in the kitchen when we got a drink of water before going to bed. Craig Burrows remarked: "You know you've been in the Philippines too long when you can step on a cockroach bare foot." The thought nearly made me gag. We met up with many more cockroaches while painting Cashew. The worst was when we were painting the library and a cockroach was hanging out above the doorway close to the ceiling. We managed to leave it alone (and it us) until it came time to painting right above the door. Our resident exterminator, Graham, (as it was me, Jess, and Caroline in the room and it was anyone's guess which of us 3 were more terrified of the roach) knocked it to the ground using a scraper than smashed it with an impressive kamikaze leap from a chair. If he had just left it at that, he would have been hero. Sadly, he chose to scoop the roach up onto the scraper and advance towards Caroline. This lost him all hero points in my eyes, particularly when he left Caroline alone and started my way.

We had a few visits from geckos as well. Those are cool little creatures. They're lightening fast and can scale anything and everything. They also get in the way when you're trying to paint and choose to walk through the fresh coat of paint you have just applied to the wall. *sigh* Thank goodness they were fast so you could patch up the little prints before the paint dried funny.

I was quite thankful to return to England and not have to worry about roaches. It's a load off my already taxed mind.

Kristen

Graham killing the cockroach:

Post Mission Mood

I've been home now for 5 days and have slowly adjusted to the cold weather, the dry air (!), and English school children. Admittedly, it's been a lot harder than I thought it would be, made even harder with the knowledge that the rest of the group was back in Manila continuing the work at Cashew and Mango. All I want to do is talk about my trip but refuse to be the "let me bore you to death with my dull holiday stories" person. I think it will help to do the assemblies in a couple weeks time; it will give me 15 minutes where I can just spout off about how fantastic it was to be in the Philippines.

In my head, prior to coming home, I knew that it would be tough readjusting to school, English weather, and BST. However, it's one of those situations where, until you actually experience it, you cannot fully predict how it will feel and the effect it will have on your mind and body. For example, I have been getting headaches over the last few days because I've been dehydrated and not drinking enough water. It took 3L of water yesterday to ward off the headaches. Never before would I have anticipated feeling parched in England!

Anyway, enough moaning. The fact that I'm a bit miserable is actually a good thing. It means that the experience has impacted me enough to change my usual way of thinking and cause me to re-evaluate life in the West. It has also given me a very strong desire to return and continue working with ASCF. One of the best interactions I had with a student this last week was when I was casually chatting with my Year 8s before lesson. Nicole looked at me and simply asked: "Miss, do we have a lot?" Yes, Nicole. Yes, we do.

Kristen

Rich Blessings

Today was my last day at Cashew and my last night at Mango. I have struggled with the knowledge that I would be leaving before the rest of the group due to the fact that I have to be at school on June 7th but it didn't really hit me until today how much I'm going to miss the people here in Payatas.

Yesterday, Tirso, the headteacher at Cashew, presented me with a Cashew Tree House/ASCF medal and card signed by all the staff members at Cashew. I will admit, the vision blurred for a few moments. Today, when we were packing up to leave, Tirso shook my hand and said how much he appreciated the work I had done over the last week. They have been the most gracious people to serve with this week. I'm not using the word "work" because never did it seem like real work.

Tonight was my last night with the Mango kids as I am expected to be on an Emirates flight to London at midnight tomorrow. Friday night devotions are simply fun and games (literally) and I had a blast playing with the kids. Just as everything was coming to a close, Christy, the oldest Mango child, called me up and asked that I sit on a stool at the front of the room. A representative from each age group (Elementary girls, elementary boys, senior girls, and senior boys) shared a few words, in English, which meant a lot because the elementary kids and the senior boys struggle to communicate fluently in English. They all finished their speech with a hug. The senior boys' rep, Christian, was very shy and needed much encouragement from the other kids to come and give me a hug. David, one of the group members, reckons Christian may have had a little crush. Bless.

As you probably guessed it, the tears began to trickle. This trickle became a stream when they started singing for me and coming up to hug me. They also presented me with a large card that each of them had signed. The tears, which had abated, were back in full force. Naturally, I had come ill-prepared so David let me steal a Kleenex from his stash. I was able to tell them how much I appreciated everything they had done for me this last week and how I very much want to come back to Mango if I can. This was met with loud cheers. I honestly do want to come back and will, if needed, move heaven and earth to make it happen. I also told them how they lived out the story of the women with only two coins (see Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4) who literally gave everything she had to the treasury. The people at Mango and Cashew have given us their home, their food, their drinks, and, in some cases, their chairs to ensure that we are comfortable, happy, and enjoying our time in the Philippines. How is it possible to not walk away from that situation without feeling overwhelmingly blessed?

A plus tard...

Kristen

A video of the kids singing during devotions. Apologies for the quality. Due to the high cost of electricity in the Philippines, they only use LED lights at Mango.

Our daily routine

Over the past week, our group has fallen into a rather regular routine. For those (few) of you interested, here is what a typical day has looked like this last week.

NOTE: All times are in Filipino time which is akin to African time. This tries my patience daily.

6.00 AM - Alarm goes off. Morning showers begin. There are 5 girls and 1 shower. Not ideal but we make it work.

7.00 AM - Breakfast

7.50 AM - Devotions

8.30 AM - Depart for Cashew

9.00 AM - Begin painting/scraping/sanding at Cashew

10.30 AM - Break w/drinks provided by Cashew staff

11.00 AM - Resume work

12.00 PM - Lunch

1.00 PM - Resume work

2.30 PM - Break

3.00 PM - Resume work

3.30 PM - Treats from the Cashew staff arrive

4.00 PM - Finish work and depart for Mango

4.30 PM - Showers part deux. This round takes longer as we must all wash the paint flecks from our hair and scrub the patches of paint that have taken up residence on our arms, legs, hands, feet, toes, etc. There are still 5 girls and 1 shower.

6.00 PM - Supper

7.30 PM - Devotions

8.30 PM - Chill in our room

10.00 PM - Bedtime

The routine has helped us greatly - as many of you know, routines and I get on very well together. It will be hard to leave Manila knowing that the rest of the group will be continuing on in my absence.

Kristen

Tastes of Home

As I mentioned before, the Philippines is, food-wise anyway, an interesting mix of American, Filipino and British influences. You have the "local delicacies" aisle next to the aisle selling Lays and Ruffle potato chips which is next to the aisle selling Cadbury Dairy Milk. I have felt quite a home here in the grocery store and have enjoyed revelling in food stuffs not available in the UK. Cheez Whiz is very high on this list. The rest of my group has made fun of me, mercilessly at times, but I have stuck to my guns and enjoyed Cheez Whiz on toast every morning since we got here. Plus, as I keep reminding the group, Cheez Whiz is a source of calcium and phosphorus. How can you go wrong?

The night we landed in Manila and were driving out to Mango House, we passed (drum roll, please!) a...7-11. I nearly did a happy dance while buckled into the back of the SUV. Naturally, no one understood my joy at seeing a convenience store but I was okay with that. I understood the significance of the 7-11 and that was enough for me. The next day, we did a Sev run. It was reminiscent of my Taylor days when we would walk down Saddleback Road for a slurpee and a bag of chips. Only, this time I was in Manila. In a jeepeny. With a group of English people. I treated myself to a fairly large slurpee (orange and green Mountain Dew - the only flavours available) and some Tootsie Rolls, another piece of home that I had missed. I bought 2 so that I could share with the group. Sadly, only 2 people took me up on my offer and even then it was literally thrust into their hands so they couldn't refuse without seeming like complete jerks.

We spent about half an hour in a grocery store yesterday exploring and revelling in Filipino foodstuffs. My most interesting purchase was seaweed and grilled shrimp Pringles - thankfully two separate flavours! I actually quite like the grilled shrimp flavour and have not yet plucked up the courage to try the seaweed. I have a can of each and will not be touching them until I go home to Canada. I also stocked up on Goya chocolate - a favourite of the kids at Mango House. Tastes from home that I purchased include: Tide laundry detergent (oh, how I have missed thee!), Peanut Butter Nature Valley granola bars, no-name Fruit Loops, and Bac-Os bacon bits. Something I found interesting is that you can't find liquid laundry detergent in Manila. It's all powdered.

I do believe the food item I will miss the most are the mangoes. Now that I know what "real" mangoes taste like, I can't imagine trying to enjoy the tasteless fruits they pass off as mangoes in the UK and Canada. It simply serves as incentive to make a return journey to Manila next year...

Kristen

Relaxing Filipino Style

On Saturday, our group was taken to a dam to go swimming, cool off, and have a bit of down-time away from the kids. 2 staff members and a senior student came with us and we had an absolute whale of a time. The Philippines has some simply stunning geography and landscapes and we were able to enjoy it all. Sadly, packing a bathing suit never occurred to me, so I was stuck on land playing photographer/videographer. I didn't mind so much as I had my book and a relatively comfortable place to sit where I could put my feet in the water and stay cool.

The dam site was stunning; it looked like a giant waterslide that was beginning us to come and have a go or two. There were quite a few people there as well. The neat thing about the Filipino swimming customs is that you wear your bathing suits under your clothes and don't take off the clothes; you essentially swim fully dressed.

A large rock was available as a substitute diving board and, although it took awhile, 4 members of our group took the plunge. There was also people travelling down the river on rafts that were created by loosely stringing together some bamboo logs. Graham, our fearless leader, punted when he was at Oxford or Cambridge (I can't remember which as he attended both schools) so he asked to have a go. Hilarity ensued. Graham is very popular wherever we go in the Philippines ("Ohhh, you so tall!") primarily because he is approximately 6'4" and the children (and adults!) have never seen someone quite so gargantuan. He is often asked to pose for photos with groups of people and people flock to him whenever he enters the room.

The other impressive sight was watching some men attempt to move a boulder from the river up to the shore. They were successful, too! Many grunts were heard as they heaved that boulder across the river.

One of the funnier sights was seeing these little kids stand on each other's shoulders than slowly disappear into the water. It looked quite fun and, judging by the giggles and shouts of laughter, the kids were thoroughly amused!

Ducks and chickens wandered freely through our little sheltered area. At one point, I thought for sure they were going to come and make friends, a thought that made me shudder. I have a healthy respect for every kind of fowl in existence.

There is talk of returning to the dam this weekend. Fingers crossed...

Kristen

Back row from the left: Graham, Caroline, David. Front: Jess

I'm going down, down, down...

Graham punting

Rice, rice, and more rice

Over the last 6 days, I have eaten more rice than in the last 6 months combined. Possibly, the last 6 years. In the Philippians, rice is eaten at every meal and in vast quantities. The rice is generally sticky rice and usually quite palatable. I'm still not sold on the "rice for breakfast" thing and so I've stuck to cereal and toast - with Cheez Whiz! - as much as possible. This morning we had hotcakes; the kids had fish and rice. We are routinely thankful for the staff looking after us and ensuring we are not subjected to food we detest and cannot stomach (literally).

My portions of rice have gradually grown smaller and smaller with each passing meal. The reason for this is two-fold: 1) I'm getting tired of rice and 2) I'm generally not very hungry due to the heat. I eat at every meal but nothing compared to what I would eat at home. Hopefully this will pay off waistline-wise but it's tough to tell now because my body is so swollen from the heat; my feet ache even when I'm not putting any weight on them. But, I digress.

On Sunday, we went to the mall to shop and enjoy the A/C. While we were there, we stopped at the food court. I decided to try out Jollibee's, a fast food chain that is more popular than McDonald's. I know. Who knew? It's the Philippines #1 fast food chain so I decided to check it out. What I really wanted was a hamburger and fries. Sadly, they didn't have any hamburgers. I then went with a hotdog and fries. No hotdogs. I settled for chicken and fries. Sadly, that option didn't exist; I was not allowed to order a piece of chicken and fries. I was forced to accept that which was offered to me: chicken and rice. I was so desperate to have a rice-free meal. Clearly, that was not in the cards. Thankfully, it came with gravy which was delicious.

Kristen

Travelling in the Philippines

As you might suspect, travelling in the Philippines is not exactly like travelling in Canada or the UK. Although there are many cars on the road, many of them familiar makes and models, our primary mode of transport has been a jeepney. What's a jeepney, you ask? Put simply, a jeepney is scrap metal slapped together in order to pass itself off as a legitimate vehicle. Jeepneys are every where and even serve as 'buses' for the public transport system out in Payatas. There are no seatbelts which is just as well as there are no doors; the driver and his co-pilot are shielded only by a piece of cloth strung up like a curtain.

While the jeepney was fun at first, the appeal has now worn off and I loath getting in them to travel anywhere. They are dusty, noisy, and bouncy. However, I mustn't complain as they have been what gets us to and from Cashew every day.

The other interesting thing about driving in the Philippines is how people appear to regard the painted lines on the road, that mark out driving lines, more as general suggestions on where to drive rather than actual fact. The horn is also used more freely - I truly believe that Filipino drivers consider the horn to be as essential to the car as the gas pedal. As Graham (our team leader) summed it up: "They honk when they turn right, they honk when they turn left, they honk when they pass somebody, and they honk at people to get out of the way." Sadly, the only thing Filipino drivers don't do is signal. Minor oversight, most likely.

The inside of our jeepney.

Kristen

The Smells of Payatas

One of things that hits you before you can even see anything is the garbage that is strewn all over the streets and other areas in Payatas. There are two large garbage dumps in Payatas and, lucky us, we pass both of them on the way to Cashew. The smell is unreal. The best comparison I can come up with is a very large diaper pail that has been left full of dirty diapers for days on end during a 30 degree heat wave. The other pervading smell is that of burning garbage, a smell I recognise from childhood when we lived in the country and Dad would burn the garbage in a barrel out behind the house. Both smells turn my stomach and make me pray for the ride to Cashew to be completed ASAP.

Unfortunately, Cashew is located very close to one of the garbage dumps so we cannot escape the smells while we are working. If the winds are right and you happen to be near a window, the stench can nearly bring you to your knees. The smell intensifies after a rain which tends to happen almost daily and in large quantities. As Gemma (one of our group members) puts it: "It just chucks it down."

The best part of the drive home is when we begin the descent towards Mango; there are no dumps around Mango so the air tends to be quite clean and scent-free. Occasionally, the smell of burning wafts our way but it is nothing like the smell around Cashew. Sadly, most of the drive takes place in and around the garbage dumps which leaves me no option but to put on the iPod, close my eyes, and pray Eddie drives just a little bit faster that day.

Kristen

First (and second, and third, and so on...) Impressions

After 5 full days in Manila, I (and the group) have managed to settle in and acclimatize as much as possible for 7 people who grew up in the Western world. While the humidity still knocks us to our knees at times, we have become increasingly accepting of it and now don't even notice it until something happens to draw our attention to the clothing clinging to our bodies. For the most part, sleep has eluded us thanks to the heat and humidity. Last night, I had the best sleep I've had since arriving in the Philippines - a slumber that would be considered decent in the UK and therefore considered a gift from God in Manila.

Our primary purpose in Manila is working with a charity called Asian Students Christian Foundation which is actually based in Camberley. ASCF runs a few projects: Mango House, a children's home; Cashew Tree House, a nursery school; Papaya Academy, a primary school; and the Grapevine Project, a Saturday education program. We have been working to paint Cashew and have done a bang-up job thus far. The downstairs walls are a terracotta colour while the baseboards and doorways are lime green. Upstairs, the walls are lime green with terracotta for the baseboards and doorways. Some members of our team were delighted with the colour choices; I'm of the belief that they were chosen by someone who either: A) Has not been blessed with the gift of sight, B) Is colour blind or C) Has no taste. Quite possibly, it's a combination of all three. I must admit, it's turning out better than I expected. We have been joined by many members of the Cashew Tree family, i.e. parent volunteers. They feed us a hot meal at lunch and then give us treats in the afternoon. Friday it was caramelised bananas while today was sweet potato fries (covered in caramelised brown sugar) and coconut jam (sugar cane syrup mixed with coconut milk). The Filipinos like their food sweet, salty, and fried. Despite this, I've seen max 4 fat Filipinos in the last 5 days.

The people here have treated us like we are royalty; I rather feel like a visiting dignitary than a Canadian coming to sling some paint on the walls. However, for these people, our presence means the world to them as it means their school can receive a much-needed facelift. Words like "we are honoured" and "we are so blessed to have you" are oftentimes how we are greeted when meeting people connected with ASCF. And, you know they mean it. We are currently staying at the children's home and have had every need looked after. The Filipinos think we're slightly mad for drinking so much water but hey ho. Little touches have meant so much. For example, the night we arrived we were taken to the water to get some water. I noticed a jar of Cheez Whiz (!) on the shelf and got very excited. Friday morning, we get down to the dining room and discover that someone has put Cheez Whiz on the table for me to have with a piece of bread. It appears every morning. All we have to do is express interest in something/someone and the next thing we know, it has been made available to us. The children all try and give up their seat for us and love holding our hand/wrist/arm. Physical touch is very important to the Filipinos and they are very free with their hugs - they wear their hearts on their sleeves and have done so since the first meeting. The kids refer to me as "Ate (ah-tay) Kristen" which is a term of respect for an older female. Men are referred to as "kuya" (koo-yah); however, for some reason the kids have referred to the male members of our contingent as "uncle". It's very sweet, though, and I love it. Every night we meet with the kids for devotions and after it's all finished, the kids give us hugs before going to bed. Tonight's hug session lasted a looooong time. However, it's the best part of devotions for me.

Today, Craig, the executive director of ASCF who grew up in the UK but has lived in Manila for 27 years, took 4 of us to visit a family who live in the slums near Cashew. The other 3 in our group had gone Friday and today was our turn. Cashew is next to a mountain of garbage (it's sickening how large the hill is) and many of the kids come from families that depend on the garbage dump to eke out an income to support their families. All of the people living in the area are squatters (including Cashew) and have been threatened with eviction. Craig said he hopes he has put enough measures into place to save Cashew should anything happen.

We visited the Capuz family who have 3 beautiful girls: Jireh, Angelika, and Shakinah. They lived in what could (generously) be called a shack. To be honest, the words I want to use are NSFW so I'll just leave it at that. When we arrived, the girls were playing in a bathtub of water - it was close to 35 degrees today - and full of smiles and giggles. They ushered us into their home (it's a home more than it is a house) and we got to talk to them and ask them questions. All three girls are in school and all three girls have marks I wish I could have; Jireh's lowest mark was 84 in CLE (Christian Life Education). I fought back the tears the entire time I was there and indulged in a bit of cry once we were walking back to Cashew. I couldn't believe that anyone, let alone children, should be made to live in that type of squalor. Their roof is full of holes that lets in rain (more like acts akin to a sieve) and since the rainy season is beginning, it means they live in water. Shakinah is a little genius (all three girls are brilliant) and would like to attend the local private school but is unable to because of the exorbitant school fees: 10,000 PHP for tuition/year. This is about £300 or $450. All I could think about were the children at my school back in England and how they routinely whine about how miserable Kings is, how much they hate it, etc. Here, I'm meeting kids who want an education more than anything but can't have it because their father's only source of income comes from scrounging for goods in a garbage dump. It made me feel nauseous just thinking about it. I had to fight back the tears when all I wanted to do was weep and ask God a classic: "How can you let this happen?!" question. The pictures below are of the three girls and their home. The girls go: Jireh (on the left), Shakinah, and Angelika (on the right).

I do believe I will sign off now and head to bed. The alarm goes off at 6 AM and it's a serious struggle to get out of bed. I tend to stay in bed and shower last; a wet bathroom floor (our ensuite is a wet room) is a small price to pay for 40 extra minutes of sleep!

I do have access to email so feel free to drop me a line (or more!).

Love

Kristen