Despadida!!!!

"Despadida" means party. Have you ever felt that you have never really understood the meaning of a word, until you have had a certain experience? After the first Thursday of the team's visit, I do. I have been to parties before, but up until that Thursday night, I don't think I had ever really partied. I think we all experienced an amazing sense of the party spirit on the Thursday evening, when we went to Dacutan, for a celebration of the time we had spent with the children and young people from the village.

Many people come to the Philippines, and get involved in builds or youth work, and we can contribute a fair bit, give of our time, our hearts, our warmth. But in the process, we end up gaining far more than we have given.

The evening celebration at Dacutan will stay with us all. We gathered in front of the SIBOL school, in front of the schoolroom, the floor of which we were meant to have been helping to restore, but that project fell through, as another group will be doing that in due course. We only worked with the children and young people, and yet, we were honoured so much, just because we were there, sharing with them. It is hard to understand perhaps, because none of us would think we did anything special. But for the people in the village, not just the kids but also their parents and families, and others, the simple fact that people from a totally different culture had come there, sharing their lives with them, for even just a couple of days, was so important. It is incredibly humbling...

Our friends Lourdes, Lhen, Rafael and Jeneth from Payatas in Manila are currently working with Emma as mission volunteers, mainly in Dacutan. They had done loads of work with the kids and young people to prepare for the Despadida, as had the techers from the SIBOL school, and the local Handmaids of the Lord. The youngest children greeted us with a song ("Welcome to the family, we're glad that you have come to share our lives with us, as we grow together"), and they moved up the age groups with items, including several dances, and the anthem of Gawad Kalinga (which means to give care). Josh sang one of his own songs, and each of the team were invited to speak. All did so, very movingly, I thought. All shared, in one way or another, what the time with the children and young people had meant to them.

As you know, we had raised funds at a few events, and Dacutan was to be the recipient of some of those funds, in particular the money raised at the gig at the Ship Pub on Easter Saturday. I had the privilege of handing over 25,000 PHP (just over £300) to the Kapitbahayan (community association), which will help to fund five new motors for fishing boats - this is more practical than our original thought of one new fishing boat, as it will keep five boats going. This news was greeted with much joy and appreciation.

After the formal bit, the party really started. There on the sand, in front of the school, the music was cranked up, the dancing started, the food was shared, and the place that Dacutan held in the team's heart grew even larger. It was an amazing evening. All the team got up and danced. It was impossible not to. Some very interesting dance moves were unveiled, some more by luck than by judgment. There were impromptu story telling sessions, loads of "Pictyooor" requests, and a level of happiness and joy was evident which quite frankly puts us in our western comfort zones to shame... These families have so little, yet they have something very precious too. Presents were given, shell necklaces as keepsakes to the team. One of the fishermen gave me his wristband, and although it is uncomfortably small for me, it is something I will really treasure.

Eventually, we had to leave. We had an escort back to the van, along the beach and through the village, by cellphone light. No street lamps here. That was one of many difficult goodbyes which the team experienced. But maybe the difficulty of the goodbyes is a measure of just how memorable the day had been...