fun and friendship day with IJM

 

Just last week, IJM Manila hosted a “Fun and Friendship Day” at a local shelter where several of our clients live. One of our vice presidents from Washington DC was in Manila, and we wanted to plan a special day for him to spend with our clients. We enjoyed a day of games, music, and art.

Our clients enjoy several art therapy sessions throughout the course of their time under IJM’s care. During these sessions, our clients are given the opportunity to be creative and express themselves through art.

I was a group leader  for the day, and I had the privilege of painting along side a few of our clients. We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of painting and laughter together.

During this session, each person painted a small part of a large mural that was pieced together at the end of the day. This art activity was  lesson in how working together to reach the same goal can yield some pretty amazing and, might I add, colorful results.

The finished product.

australia day: january 26

This year I was able to enjoy a very special that is celebrated in the land down under. Australia Day is celebrated on January 26th. It is a day to celebrate all things Aussie.

Mike, the legal fellow in our office, grew up in Sydney, and wanted all of his office mates  to enjoy a little taste of his home. We enjoyed organic honey and Vegemite from Australia. He even provided little Australian flags for the snacks.  

The honey was fantastic; the Vegemite was not my favorite. Check out more about Australia Day here.

Meet Mike from Australia!

samaritana

 

Garden area inside the Samaritana ministry center.

Meeting area at the ministry center.

A dish of pancit! This dish is usually served at birthday celebrations because it is associated with long life. It just happens to be my favorite Filipino food.

Since arriving in Manila, I have been blessed with wonderful friends. God has definitely created a community of internationals  here in Manila, and I it has been so amazing to meet people from all over the world who are serving in the Philippines.

The latest addition to my growing list of friends here is Ziwei (pronounced Zeeway). She is here serving with an organization called Samaritana, a ministry that helps women leave prostitution. I am so impressed with this ministry because they literally meet the women where they are in life by going to where they work, the bars of Metro Manila.  

“Inspired by Jesus’ example, Samaritana reaches out to modern-day Samaritan women. By offering them community, friendship and accompaniment, these women are also slowly freed up to be who they truly are, as people loved just for who they are, regardless of their backgrounds, and valued for who they can yet become as they begin to trust in themselves and others and as they renew and pursue their dreams and aspirations.” (taken from Samaritana’s website)

Ziwei, who has been here for over a year and has an impressive grasp on Tagalog (Filipino language) invited us to come and visit the Samaritana ministry house to celebrate her birthday with several of the women that Samaritana works with on a daily basis. 

We  spent an afternoon touring the facility, getting to know the women of Samaritana, and cooking a birthday cake for Ziwei’s party. Our day with Ziwei was an excellent opportunity to catch a glimpse of the work that is going on all over Metro Manila.

Finally, our visit to Samaritana was a refreshing reminder that God desires to use His people to rescue and then transform those who find themselves in the most hopeless of situations.

If you want to learn more about Samaritana and the work that they do among Filipino women, please visit their website:    http://www.samaritana.org/

Here are a few of the recycled coffee bag totes the women were making. You can see the different stages of production. The bags still smelled like coffee!

Samaritana women learn to sew as a way of generating income. These women are creating fabulous totes out of recycled coffee bags from Ten Thousand Villages.

Mail!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, 2009 was a year of firsts. Experiencing my birthday and Christmas on a different continent qualifies as one of those “first” experiences. Even though I found myself away from home during those times, I was so excited when I received birthday and Christmas cards from home. So many of my friends and family took the time to send me beautiful cards with hand-written messages inside. Having something in the mailbox every few days is so refreshing because it is a little piece of home.

Personally, I am sluggish when it comes to sending cards because it can sometimes take effort to find the perfect card, the right address, and then comes the daunting task of writing a meaningful and appropriate message. It takes thought, and most importantly, it takes time. So thank you all so much for taking the time to slap a stamp on that envelope and send it across the Pacific!

As of right now, Ms. Sandra Register is in the lead for sending the most cards. She has sent me a Thanksgiving, birthday, and Christmas cards. The rest of you need to follow her lead!

todo, we’re not on pahnka road anymore…

One of the things I miss most about home is the luxury of green grass, fresh air, and peace and quiet. While I am in my cozy little apartment, I am always aware of the world that is right outside my balcony. I hear the muffled sounds of the city. There is always the sound of a truck shifting gears and gaining speed, the occasional siren whizzing by, there is at least one horn being blown at all times; and from time to time, in the mornings I hear music being played on loud speakers.

During the holiday season, lights joined the sounds of the city. I happen to live a stone’s throw away from the Meralco Building (Meralco is the Filipino power company). During the Christmas season, lights draped the Meralco Building and the grassy area that surrounds it. My bedroom was illuminated each night with the soft glow of Christmas lights. Interestingly enough, Meralco rates went up during the holiday months. Coincidence? I think not.

Here are a photos of my backyard! I have balcony, but I rarely venture out on to it.

Meralco Building

it’s the little things in life…

You would think I am city of over 14 million you would be able to find just about anything right? Wrong.

Believe it or not quality gum is nearly impossible to find here. They have Orbitz here, but it comes in something reminiscent of a medicine bottle filled with pieces of gum that look like the Clorets gum my dad used to always chew during church. Apparently, soft gum that comes wrapped in paper or foil can’t sustain the heat of Manila, so I have to keep my USA gum stash in my ref (that’s Filipino for refrigerator).

And my most favorite lip gloss from Bath&Body doesn’t exist in the Philippines, which is probably due to the fact that Bath&Body does not exist in the Philippines.

And finally, the greatest tragedy of all in this is the non-existence of sugar-free drink-mix singles. I first became addicted to these little pouches of magic back when I was a teacher at Laurel High School. My students would constantly walk around school shaking water bottles filled with Crystal Light or Hawaiian Punch Singles. Naturally, I would always require them share with me on the grounds that I would take their forbidden bottle of water away from them!Ever since then, I can barely drink water without craving one of these little singles.

I would have never thought that such small tangible things would take on so much meaning while living in another country and culture, but they do. They are my escape from the reality of traffic jams, pollution, and malls. These little things take on such significance because they remind me of the tastes, smells, faces, and places of home.

A special thanks to my cousins Reed and Hayden West. At Christmas time, these two miracle workers provided me with all the Orbitz gum I can chew and all the drink-mix singles I can handle! You two are the best ones of the best ones!

     

my saturday

relocation area for victims of ondoy

September 26, 2009, was a day that would stand as a turning point for thousands of families in the Metro Manila area as Typhoon Ondoy (or Ketsana) pounded the Philippines. Areas where homes and communities had once been alive and vibrant were transformed into murky lakes in just one day. The Metro Manila area experienced more rainfall in one day than they normally receive in one month. This natural disaster was likened to Hurricane Katrina, a storm that devastated much of the Southern United States in 2005 and a storm many of us lived to tell about.

Many of the affected areas were the areas that squatters have claimed and established makeshift communities. The average squatter community is made up of homes that are built from material never intended for a house: old tin, tarps, used lumber, and just about anything else you can imagine. Not to mention, most of the squatter communities are located in areas that are prone to flooding. In the midst of the flooding, these squatters found themselves floating in no less than eight feet of water where their simple homes once stood. Once the rain stopped, thousands of families found themselves with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and nowhere to go.

Fortunately, several NGOs and foreign governments have provided aid to the Filipino government to help relocate thousands of families to new homes away from the flood-prone areas. This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to visit one of these new relocation sites located in the province of Rizal. The group I was with ministered to sixty families with New Testaments, a gospel presentation, and a bag of dry goods, simply things that carry great significance for families who have literally lost everything, and that was not much at all to begin with.

Sometimes it is good to experience a brief reality check, a simple and swift reminder that I want for nothing. I am safe; I have access to food and clean water; I have shoes; I am healthy; I am rich in every way imaginable.

Juan 3:16

First Time for Everything

2009 was a year of firsts. I survived my first year of teaching; I moved to a another country for the first time; I missed every single MS State football game for the first time in three years; I celebrated Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas, and New Years away from home for the very first time; I have not been behind the wheel of a car in almost three months. Believe me, that is a lot to process.

But then I realized something; my list of firsts for 2009 looked pretty pathetic and self-absorbed. With that realization, I decided to stopping being dramatic and I made myself a new list of firsts.

1. 2009 marked the ending to my unbelievable adventure as a first-year teacher, and I took on the role of interning with an amazing human-rights organization that is dedicated to ending injustice and oppression in the Philippines.
2. I got on a plane, buckled my seatbelt, and headed for Manila for nine months…by myself!
3. I cheered on my bulldogs all the way from Manila, Philippines!
4. I had the opportunity to visit the children’s home I worked at in 2008, I met the founder of Threads of Hope, on of my most favorite livelihood projects here in the Philippines.
5. For Thanksgiving, I had turkey twice, and I was able to celebrate this special day with new friends from all over the world.
6. I had the Filipino version of Happy Birthday sung to me.
7. I am reluctantly conquering public transportation.
8. My mom and my Aunt Dian got on a plane, buckled their seatbelts, and headed to Manila…just to see me!
9. Me, mom, and Aunt Dian all celebrated Christmas together in the Philippines!
10. I got a sun burn in December!

Christmas day in Manila!

subic bay

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Back in early December, Leah and I had the opportunity to leave Manila for the weekend and enjoy a few days in Subic Bay. Our friend Dior who teaches third grade at an international school in Subic, invited us to talk to her students about American culture.

Her students were so sweet, and they were all eager to learn about American culture. We talked about the 4^th of July and all the traditions that surround our Independence Day celebration.

We also introduced the students to one of the greatest achievements in American cuisine, the s’more. The students were able to construct their own chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker treat, and then we nuked them in the microwave for about ten seconds. The students had a blast getting to sample this delicious American snack!

the 3rd graders loved the smores.

Along with our visit to Brent School, we were also able to see some of the sites around Subic. We visited the Zoobic Safari where we were able to encounter some native and some not-so-native animals. I was also able to pick up a few gifts for family back home. I found some killer hand-made bow and arrows that mom took home to my cousins Bryce and Luke.

meet barack the tiger. the other tiger at the zoobic safari was named hillary...not sure what happened to michelle.

Spending a few quiet days out of the hussle and bussle of Manila was magical!

christmas carols

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Leah and I met with our small group to celebrate this beloved American holiday. After we had stuffed ourselves with turkey, corn casserole, and  pumpkin pie, we cranked up the Christmas music, put on Santa hats, and helped decorate the tree.

After the tree was complete, we enjoyed a concert of Christmas carols from a local children’s home choir. The kids in the choir are former street children who have been given an opportunity at a new life through the help of the Virlanie Foundation (http://virlanie.org/). 

Click the link below to enjoy some of the carols!

 http://drop.io/christmascaroling