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...

Some further updates on the first week

Well, I know that the team is back in the UK now, and I hope they will use the blog to download some of their thoughts on the fortnight in the Philippines. And some people reading this may even have begun to hear some stories, straight from the horses' mouths, so to speak. But I thought that, given a bit of a lull today, I would post some updates on what we actually did, then leave team members to add their thoughts.... (he says, elliptically).

The team did a major amount of work on the varandahs at Joyland over the Monday to Wednesday, so we felt everyone needed a break from that. Gordon and Reg in particular had toiled like Trojans under the sun, so we packed them off on a jaunt to Silay, known locally as the Paris of Negros. No Champs Elysee or towers there, though some of the driving reminds me a lot of driving round Paris. But there were plenty of old buildings to prove of interest, and from what we hear, some of the locals enjoyed getting an eyeful of two white guys, taking photos and enjoying life in a filipino provincial town. Reg's photos are particularly good, so grab a look sometime. You may even get a tale or two of some friends he made!

I went out to Joyland to pick up the older kids, who then joined about 50 kids aged between 9 and 13 at the swimming pool on Emma's subdivision. It was great seeing the joy on their faces, and their enjoyment of swimming in a pool. We had taken a lot of these kids to a pool back in October on the Crowe / Chapman / Randall team, so we were pretty sure they would enjoy the experience. But it may well have been a first for some of the Joyland kids.

That is Joey in the pink rubber ring, posing for the photo. The first day we went to Joyland, Joey sat on his own, crying. By the next day, he was everyone's friend, posing for loads of pictures, and the swimming did him a power of good too. A few weeks ago, he was quite literally living on the streets of Silay .. Vanessa, the social worker at Joyland, showed me his spot the other day. He is still sad sometimes at night, as he is the only one of the 15 kids living there who does not have a sibling living there, but his life is so different now, so much better. I have a real soft spot for Joey... He so much exemplifies what CAN be done for children and young people here, as long as people care enough.

Around lunchtime, there was a change of shift at the pool. The younger Dacutan kids went back to the village, the Joyland kids were delivered back home, Reg and Gordon were collected from their wanderings, and the older young people (aged 14 to around 18) replaced the younger Dacutan kids. Again, much enjoyment, though a lot more posing and performing to impress from this bunch..... Teenagers, the world over, perhaps.... But again, still, great gratitude for the outing...

But I think all of the team would say that what little we gave to them, we received so much back in return, later that evening.....

A few pictures from Joyland

Hi all

Here are a few pictures of work the team did on the verandahs at Joyland (ie we built these!!), and a group picture of the wonderful kids who live there.

Jo

Muicha Kang Itlog! (Jo...)

So we've been here a whole week now, and so much has happened that it will be a little hard to write it all in one blog! I am sure you are all desperate to hear all the details of 'when I was in the Philippines' but you shall have to wait another week!

Highlights have definately been playing with the kids at Joyland, each of them has a special character and dynamic that adds to the group experience, and even the ones that were shy and unwilling to join in last Sunday got a fair few piggy backs when we were there yesterday! I had the added pleasure of hearing them all sing 'Happy Birthday' last Monday in the classroom (I was the cause of many a classroom disturbance...) and using my skills of making 'Star bucks' out of cardboard, which are actually origami boxes....

The swimming parties and the McDonalds trip with the kids from Dacutan was also heartmelting. The kids are so happy to limpit themselves to you whilst swimming, even if you can bearly keep your own head above the water! Visiting the village on Thursday night and sharing festivities with the locals was also a major :D in all of our weeks - its amazing how well some of the members of the team can move on the dancefloor... We also had the chance to hang out with the Payatas volunteers over the last week and get them to teach us some Elongo and Tagalog, useful words I tell you, useful phrases. I am sure Jo will be most appreciative of my new ability to insult him in two languages... ;)

Jo and Emma have been great transporting us around and they had a well deserved rest at the weekend when we went to a Diving Resort in Sipilay, (South West Negros) It was great to experience a different side to Filipino life, relaxing on the beach, listening to music and drinking Ice drinks... a different experience indeed!

Saying goodbye to the Joyland kids was heartbreaking yesterday, Manang Ami was asked many a time if she would be back Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday... unfortunately the answer was a no. But when pressed for an answer I had to say, 'Fibe hundred sleeps...' The look on Resthor's face will stay with me...

Still, a new week is ahead, and a new adventure. Manila has the pleasure of our presence for the next week, and then life continues, a little differently than before. I have changed, in proportions that blogs cannot record. But you will see, next time we meet. Until then my friends.

God Bless.
xxx

Stage 1 complete - On to stage 2

It's Tuesday and we're passing through Manila on our way to our next base outside the city. Yesterday we finally finished the verandas at Joyland. Needless to say like all building projects it overran and had the usually problems of the wrong size materials and sufferred other minor practical difficulties - nevertheless, we still managed to complete 2 structures along the sides of the buildings and the shell and roof of the extension on the back. Joyland is an amazing project and we all look forward to sharing more on our return.

In Dacutan, we were (fortunately) unable to do any work, I say fortunately as it involved breaking up a cracked concrete floor with only hand tools. Although part had sunk, the rest looked remarkably firm and not something that could have been done in the two days, instead we were able to redeploy the time to Joyland as mentioned above. Anyway, the Chinese who built the school room and youth centre in the first place are to return to fix it.

So on to Payatas and a landscaping project in the youth centre, and all that it may bring. It has been great so far using time and effort to help make a difference with the work here - more will follow in due course I'm sure.

Glen

Dacutan outings

So, last time I wrote, some of the guys were finishing off the verandahs at Joyland (check out the photo I have added to the earlier post), on the Wednesday, which left the women in the team, and Chris, Jo and Josh to go with a group of 30 or so 3 to 6 year olds from Dacutan, the local fishing village we are supporting, to MacDonalds.

We were dropped off in the village, and for some of the team, they got their first view up close and personal of some of the conditions in which the poorest of the poor are living in this country. We actually ended up walking through the village and back to the road, to join the kids on the bus. We were accompanied by the teachers from the village school and some of the Payatas Mission Volunteers, plus members of a formidable group called the Handmaids of the Lord. Mostly former teachers, and single ladies, through whatever life event, who are great at organising events, and more noticeably, the children!!!! The kids were excited but pretty overwhelmed by the experience at first. We take trips to a fast food restaurant for granted. For some of these children, it may have been their first time out of the village. Certainly, from the looks on some of the faces, it was the first time they had driven past Robinsons, the big shopping mall on the main street to MacDonalds. We were joined by the seven children of similar age from Joyland, and even though we had spent a few days with them, they too seemed a bit overwhlemed by the experience.

Mcdo's had laid on the food, paid for by Heart of the Father, and a compere for the morning, and whilst she was bright and chirpy and welcoming, it was clear she did not have a clue regarding the circumstances from which these kids had come. They had several games and races, and a dancing competition, which proved that even at the age of six, some of these kids have a natural rhythm that we can only dream about!!! That point was to be well and truly emphasised the following day.

One noticeable thing is that a lot of the children ate their fries and drank their drink, but kept their burger to take home for brothers and sisters who could not come... We also noticed that they were dressed in what looked like not only their best clothes, but possibly even new clothes, and Deb in particular commented that it may have been that other kids in the families may not have been able to come, as they could not afford new clothes for all, so maybe that was why the burgers remained uneaten... We only hoped that the families had not gone without in order to enable their kids to take advantage of this "free" outing.... After the meal and games, there was some time in McDo's play area (there is no truth in the rumour that some of the kids could not play on the slide, as some of the adults went down it and got stuck!!!), and then, the coach picked us all up to take us over the road to the swings and slides at the local park. The kids warmed to this, and it was all pretty exuberant, with only one injury.... But what was sad was that there were other young kids there who seemed to be living in the park, and almost seemed even poorer than the ones we were helping...

After what seemed all too short a time, the bus came to pick the kids up, and off they went back to their everyday lives. The Joyland kids stayed on for a while, and we then had the joy of taking them back, and seeing the hard work of Gordon, Reg, Ian and Glen, plus Rafael, the other Payatas Mission Volunteer, at Joyland. The verandahs were almost finished, and it was clear that the work was much appreciated by Rick and Suzet....

There was very much a sense of a job well done, by the end of that particular day, but more joy was to follow on the Thursday....


Jo

Update from the Far Flung Ones

Well, we have not been very good at keeping our avid readers up to date, have we? All kinds of reasons for that. Internet coverage at Emma’s house has been very intermittent; we have not been near or by an internet cafe very often; and we have been so busy, doing the stuff we came out here to do....

So, this is a bit of a progress report. The team arrived safely from the UK on Saturday evening (29th March), dropped their stuff off at the accommodation and freshened up, then got their first taste of native fare, with a trip to the Bacolod Chicken House, for chicken and rice, then a touch of Bacolod cafe society, with pudding and coffee at Cafe Bob’s. A gentle enough introduction..

Sunday, after breakfast, we went to Promise City Church, the local church Emma attends. Rick, the pastor (a straight talking Aussie) and Suzet, his Filipino wife, also run Joyland, a children’s home in Silay, which currently houses 15 kids, but educates an additional three more, with plans for more to join in due course. More about that later. Church was good, with some great worship led by a pretty awesome band, and a typically straight to the point (though very funny) sermon from Rick, about fighting the fight of faith. That was quite an apt reminder, that when we are engaged in the Christian life, really engaged in it, and not just playing at it, we are likely to go through tough times, encounter opposition, have to fight our way through. The events immediately leading up to the team’s visit, with the fire at Emma’s house, was a reminder that things do not always go according to plan, In a way, it seemed like the worst preparation, but it could have been so much worse, and God’s hand in limiting the damage to property, and also to preventing the potential damage to Emma and her girls, was evident. Some of us found ourselves thinking that it would be a pretty good mission trip, if that was the level of opposition...

After lunch on Sunday, we went out to Joyland, to the children’s home, and the team got their first introduction to the 15 wonderful children, aged between 2 and 12, who live there. 6 of them moved there just before Christmas, and the remaining 9 towards the end of January. These kids were living in the worst extremes of poverty, and were extremely shy and pretty shell-shocked, just a few months ago. Now, the majority of them are really beginning to feel at home in the safe environment at Joyland. Rick and Suzet have a great team around them, and the kids really know they are loved and cared for. And on Sunday afternoon, they had a whole load of extra titos and titas (Uncles and aunts) looking after them. It was a lovely couple of hours, getting to know the kids a bit, getting them used to us..... A few of the guys (Gordon, Reg, Glen) who were clearly identified as the brains of the building outfit from Avenue, surveyed the building works required, and came up with a plan to construct the three verandahs which we had been tasked to provide. The others built something different. Friendships, relationships, which are so important out here. The building guys found that a good few necessary tools were not available, but the others only really needed to use two main tools, which we had in ready supply.... A big smile, and a loving heart.... Both were really easy to use, being with the kids made it impossible not to respond with love, and smiles and laughter.

It was dark by the time we left, and we went back to Cafe Bob’s for a snack and coffee, before the hard work of the next few days began.

Monday, after breakfast, we travelled out to Joyland, together with four volunteers from the Payatas area of Manila, who are over in Negros, working with Emma amongst the young people at Dacutan. The guys were engaged in either grunt work (digging holes, shifting wood, mixing cement, etc) or skilled labour (constructing the verandahs round the school room and one of the dorms); Ami, Alison and Deb were included in the classroom activities, reading to the kids, practicing conversational English, etc; and the Payatas volunteers were set to cooking, etc. Round about 3.30, school finished, and that was the cue for a lot of play time, to take over from the the work, for most of the team. Tuesday saw us do more of the same, and although we had some frustrations, including having to move some of the holes dug, in order to align the verandahs differently, and also obtain different corrugated iron sheets for the verandahs to match the existing roof, we got over these, and the English mentality coped pretty well with the Filipino way of life, pretty well, when all was said and done. Things are very different here!!!!

Due to some problems with the iron roofing sheets, we could not finish the job on the Tuesday as planned, but the building work some of the team were due to do on Wednesday and Thursday in Dacutan was not possible, due to a change of plan, by the local Gawad Kalinga community, so that proved beneficial, as it meant that the team could be split, with those who were more skilled in building being released to continue with the work at Joyland, and the others to concentrate on the kids activities.... More about that in another blog...

Suffice to say that the ability to be flexible and go with the flow is very necessary, and here it gave us the chance to finish what we started, to the great joy of the people at Joyland. We still have a couple of hours more work to do there, but we will finish that on Monday. At the same time, some wonderful relationships have been built with the children and staff there, who desperately needed some encouragement after the news that almost all of the kids were suffering from Tuberculosis, which will be very costly to treat. Some good news has come since, but the arrival of the UK team could not have come at a better time, to encourage Rick and Suzet, and it is great to see how the body of Christ can work together, across international boundaries, across cultures, etc. Faith in action.... God’s kingdom, coming, here on earth, in this part of the Philippines.

Enough for now...

Love Jo and the rest of the team