Maligayang Pasko!

Maligayang Pasko and Merry Christmas!!!

Pasko (Christmas) here begins the 1st day of September - I awoke on September 1st at 6am to Alvin and the Chipmunks singing "I Can Hardly Wait", followed (thankfully) by "Joy to the World" sung by humans. Joie, my host sister told me that Christmas here officially begins "with the -BER months".

So, Typhoon Juan was experienced with Christmas music (when there weren't brown outs), as was the Ms. Gay Pride parade and the leave-taking of my wonderful Paje Family in Olongapo.

My arrival here on November 13th to work with Taw Kabui on Palawan coincided with the children's intense rehearsal schedule for their Christmas stage performance at the Capitol on December 10th (phenomenal that these severely disabled children performed well in front of 400 guests - great experience for all).  Thus, except for the last 4 days of August, my entire time in the Philippines has been cocooned in Christmas. Or so I thought.

Nothing compares to the advent of December 1st: THE BER of the -ber months!  I haven't been to as many parties, events and celebrations in the past 5 years as this last month!  I hit the ground partying here - and, as in the States, parties are networking opportunities...I was the new kid on the block and excited about my NGO and took action.  So, Pastor Mon, his wife, Ofelia, and I were able to get the word out on the NGO and secured a lot of interest and commitments from social workers, academicians, health workers and foundations.  We were overwhelmed with the interest and the work 'we' need to do...I'm just so happy that I know how to do this and can show them!  The week before Christmas, we attended four parties, I think and this week probably another four.  We were able to attend a sumptuous dinner the Mayor  held for out of town dignitaries   

and I sat next to Mayor Hagedorn, whose focus on the environment has gained him mega awards.  Now, we hope, he will show interest in the plight of the Special Children here and support us! 

The food, you ask?  Lechon (an entire roasted pig in full view on the table), vegetable and pork lumpia, fresh grilled lapu-lapu or tilapia or yellow tail, chicken curry, meatloaf, radish and carrot salad,  lobster hollandaise in the shell, gargantuan hipon (shrimp); and sweets: agar-agar salad (seaweed),  maha-blanka (corn in a sweetened cornstarch base with coconut on top), flan, bicol (sweetened rice), ube (violet colored sweetened yam), buko salad (coconut), etc. etc.  Enough carbs and cholesterol to kill Santa Claus...just like home!

The gift-giving was different from American traditions - my Ustares family had everyone over for Noche Bueno (Christmas Eve) and we chowed down on spaghetti, chicken adobo, macaroni salad, seaweed (beautiful and really salty and crisp) and snails 

       (I couldn't believe it - I hunt for hours at the beach for shells (kabibi) and they are chowing down on these beautiful creatures - depressing to see all the easily purchased shells) and rice (ubiquitous at every meal and every occasion).  The gift-giving wasn't the main event, and not everyone gave (or got) a gift.  I couldn't figure out who got presents ('regalo' here), but I think all of the children got one and some of the adults - several people gave me presents and I felt guilty that I only had a few small gifts for my immediate family (which I gave them later). 

We feasted Noche Bueno and Brenda and I were to attend a women's group party on Christmas Day, so we put the left overs away for that.  I stayed up late doing some work and fell asleep around midnight.  I awoke to a great clamor at the locked gate around 6am - yells of "Merry Christmas"..and knew that teenaged Genesis would never wake up.  Jessa Mae let everyone in and I felt awkward joining since I'd not recognized any voices.  Finally, Jun came to get me  "Tita Deb!  Come out!  It's another party!"     Came out in my pj's to about 20 people chowing down on all the leftovers!  This also was another tradition - that no one told me about (I mean, why would they?)  Cousin Jethro said, "The termites have arrived" which I really liked!  Unfortunately, Brenda and I had nothing to take to the next party, but what a fun surprise!

So, at 9am on Christmas Day, about 25 women met at a local swimming pool (where there were tons of people - a tradition it appears) and had a gift exchange (I stuck to the 100 peso limit as instructed, but was embarrassed to see that others spent much more). 

These women have started an empowerment group and it was wonderful to watch.  Everyone talked about their difficulties and blessings and thanked God for everything.  Many tears and smiles.  Including mine when they accepted me as their "adopted Pilipina." 

The pool water was too cold and crowded to do real lessons, but I tried...and am determined to have Brenda, Ofelia and Glenda swimming before too long.  It is hilarious to see Ofelia in her woven winter cap, sweater and sweat pants, saying "Malamig!" (Cold!) when it's 24C (72F) outside, but maybe I'll get her in the summer.

Today is the 26th; my family is at church all day and I'm contemplating here in my room.  Thinking of all the blessings I have had in my life, and that this is an unlikely place to find happiness.  No hot water or shower or TP; seven sharing one bathroom; mosquitoes, tuko and frogs as roommates in an 8x8 room; unpaved roads of dirt/mud/rocks; hand washing muddy clothes with no dryer; no oven to bake my Christmas cookies (1st time in 30 years no cookies!!).  But, I'm needed and valued and accepted for who I am in an incredibly caring and loving culture.   Really, what more does one need?

Blessings to everyone in America, on this Christmas Day, 2010

76 Kalye Maunlad, Tiniguiban, Puerto Princesa City

This is the name and address of my new host family and where I will be living for the next three months. (And where you can send letters!)




Maunlad means "progressive" in Tagalog, though the kalye dead ends at our neighbor's house.




The barangay of Tinguiban is about 15 kilometres from Puerto Princesa City (PPC), the provincial capital of Palawan. It's a 10 minute walk on dirt/rock streets (on a sunny day - you don't want to imagine a rainy day) to get to the National Highway, where you can catch either a 'multi cab' (costs 10 pesos) or a 'tryke' (costs 40 pesos) to bayan (PPC).

Although you can see tourists in PPC, this is a residential area, and I've seen no other whites here, and everyone stares at me wherever I walk - especially when I walk with my host 'mother' Brenda who is 4'7" - what a pair we make! And the transportation is even smaller here than in Manila - the multicabs fit perhaps 10 Filipinas, but my legs are so long that I extend far beyond half the width of the cab, and I consistently hit my head getting in and out...almost blacked out once because I hit so hard!!

And everyone speaks Tagalog...except me. If I am expected to participate in a conversation, I literally start sweating - no bullets yet, but dramatic. Yesterday I was in an air conditioned office watching the Pacquiao replay and two men were talking and including me. I sweat profusely, but managed to mumble enough correct words to get by - whew!!

The Ustares family with whom I live is lovely - Mario, 49, Brenda, 38, Genesis, 16, Jessa Mae, 14, Jane, 5 and Joanne, 4. Mario is the younger brother of Ofelia, the wife who, with her pastor husband, founded the NGO for Special Children called Taw Kabui, where I work. They all belong to a 'born again' Christian church, and the parishioners all adopted Taw Kabui as their church mission and staff the school. Quite amazing people. They are devout: daily church services at 4am and Sunday from 9-5pm. I've told them that I am Unitarian, and although they don't recognize that here, they haven't pressed me too hard (yet?) to join them. I have taken to reading the Bible occasionally, which pleases them. My main problem with religion is the hypocrisy and the destruction caused by those in power. And, it is the same here, although the people I've had the privilege of living with here in the Philippines are the best people I've met in my life - true to their convictions and practicing what is termed "Christian" values. Charity, even when they have little to give; bonding together to help each other; checking in with each other; humble; accepting of others with different beliefs; supporting family and community members who are somehow incapacitated, etc. Wonderful, wonderful people.

The size of my room shrank a bit from my Olongapo digs - there's room for a single bed and a table and fan. It looked like this when I just visited the first time. However, now that I've moved in, it's messy most of the time! I haven't figured out how to keep all of the papers, medical kit, toiletries and clothes organized with only 1 hook on the wall and only one table - much of my stuff fits under my bed. But I'm working on it! I feel badly that I have kicked Genesis out of his room - he now sleeps on a bed like mine in the large kitchen, but he has never said a word - even that this was his room.

The roof is very tall, although everything is open - no ceilings on the rooms and the 10 foot walls stretch up reaching for the 20 foot high roof. Mario has done a lot of work on the property - the kitchen is completely remodeled and stands alone and lockable.

There are no ovens here - the stoves are propane and like hot plates. There is an open area between the kitchen and the rest of the house where we grill food, wash pots and hand launder the daily laundry (a story of its own). At the back of the property is the living area and CR (comfort room). I haven't had a hot water shower since arriving in the Philippines - all are 'bucket' showers with cold water - but at least the water is from a faucet and I don't have to pump it. Mario has laid beautiful tile floors in the entry, my room and the CR, although, again, there are no ceilings in any of the rooms and only temporary flooring - Mario put a ceiling in my room a few days ago, so now the moths don't swoop in, and most of the frogs and centipedes stay out (although I do like finding the tiny baby frogs). My (unscreened) windows abut a swamp that fills with the most amazing frogs...well, yes, and mosquitoes too...and the noise is incredible after a rain when they are happiest!

I've now been here about 3 weeks and am - dare I say it? - happy. I truly enjoy the people I'm around and feel that I can really help these folks out. I'm a wealth of knowledge for them because the Philippines is so far behind the US in learning disabilities. I've written a script for a video that I'll start filming tomorrow with a potential investor from Colorado who is very interested in helping us; I've completed much of the teacher training curriculum (specific disorders, how to teach SPED and special therapies); and we've written a proposal that we're praying gets funded for a donation of used computers and equipment with which we'll stock the new office and teacher/parent Resource Center that a group of us are building in late December - Wow!!

I haven't bought a bike yet because of the sharp rocks in the roads here, but when I find a place to rent in the next couple months (surrounded by mostly paved roads!), I will explore to my heart's content. As it is, I've swum in the South China Sea and boated the Underground River cavern, where I saw this 4' long monitor lizard.

The entire family (20 of us) took me to White Beach last week, where I swam for literally 3 hours in luxury. And, the family is planning to take me to their family homestead in Bahile about two hours north for Christmas - for an adventure I only hope pans out!

All of this and I enjoy the people I'm helping and am making contributions in an area I care about and which makes a huge difference. There is so much poverty here - even my middle class family has just enough to put on the table - there are no feasts and I have gone slightly hungry a couple of times. But it doesn't really matter - the smiles are everywhere and people count their blessings and adore their families. And are so accepting of me - how could I not be happy?

Blessings to all!

PC Trainee no longer - I'm a PC Volunteer!!

Finished boot camp in Olongapo, left my family there and had an official swearing in ceremony in Manila, with 70 other PCTs - now all PCVs. Sounds like I'm in the army now!

Pa and Annie - my roommates and anak na babae dito (daughters here) got me ready. Pa straightened my hair and did my makeup and I looked Fabulous as you can see here:

My counterpart from Palawan asked me, when we arrived a couple hours before the ceremony, if I was excited and I was rather blase...but as curtain time approached, I realized that I was really excited. The country director, Sonia, asked if I would be willing to speak with the press and the Embassy - wow!! The ambassador sought me out afterward to compliment me on the interviews - what an honor. I've been bummed not to find the interviews anywhere online, but just doing them was spectacular on an already spectacular day.

We left the next day for the Manila airport - ridiculous traffic..a 40 minute drive took us 2.5 hours.....but we made the plane with time to spare, and arrived in Puerto Princesa City (the capital) in the early evening. 7 people came to get us and we barely fit in their "multicab" - especially with my huge luggage - brand new and scarred - ripped pocket and mangled, unusable handle. My room is pretty small, so I use the luggage to stack my pants and blouses (although while I was laundering today, I noted a broken oval mirror stand and am now hanging blouses on that - scavenging here is a necessity :).

The morning following arrival, I met a PCV who has been here for a year and works on the environment - in El Nido - "The" spot in all of the Philippines. It is a 9 hour bus ride from here, but she promised free SCUBA gear if we help her kill the crown-of-thorns starfish that is eating all the precious coral. If you want to see the biodiversity and beauty of the Philippine marines, just go to the San Francisco Natural History Museum, where the permanent exposition is The Philippines - it's astounding...and to think that I now live here!!!

The Ustares family, with whom I live, speaks mostly Tagalog (and four or five other languages of the Philippines), and I resume my Tagalog lessons tomorrow with a college educator niece of the agency's director...and one of the uncles (Jun for Junior) wants to meet with me every day at 2pm to practice conversation - my head hurts already. But, the agency has a big fundraiser performance on December 10th at the Capitol in Puerto Princesa and is practicing and practicing, so, now is the time for me to cram!

Seredipitously, Pastor Mon (the director) emailed an American who had promised to help fundraise - we agreed that introducing me might prompt something....the following day the man said that he wanted to do a video on our agency and that he would be here in December!! Yikes. So, I wrote a script and theoretically will be videotaping this starting next week! My first week here has been quite eventful.

The Philippines reminds me of where American schools were about 50 years ago regarding Special Education. Actually, they only term such children as "Special" here - there is little actual education taking place. Many children are abandoned by there parents because they know that they can't take care of them; poverty here is almost unimaginable for most of the people I know in America. Mothers will sell their new baby in order to pay for food for their other 5 children - situations here boggle the mind. But, placed in similar circumstances, I think I'd do the same. When you live here, you begin to see that there is no "right" or "wrong" - that most everything is situational - and that only a tiny, tiny percentage of Americans have experienced anything like this at any time in their lives. So, the "Special" children - the deformed, deaf, blind, mentally retarded, autistic - are the first to be abandoned. Those parents who attend to these children are offered no hope for the future and keep their children home from schools which are unequipped to teach them, and students who bully them. Many times children are hidden from the view of communities who do not understand them and shun them and their families.

Lest you be shocked, or feel superior - I recall "Chuck" in my elementary school in California - he was mentally retarded and rode a bike to school - and was babysat in a sequestered room. I remember the boys constantly teasing him and think his life must have been miserable. But, at that time, there was no such thing as SPED in the states - even progressive (and, at that time, well-funded, California). And everyone suffered the consequences.

I came to Taw Kabui, the NGO here in San Jose barangay, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan thinking that I would work to help them with their policies and infrastructure. I was taken off guard when I discovered that these folks have very little training in SPED, but have an incredible amount of Love and Patience and Dedication, just like SPED began in America so long ago. So, it seems that my first tasks will be to train the teachers in the various disabilities (of 52 enrolled students, aged 6-22, all are non-verbal - a daunting task).

And, the communication issues continue - not only have I not been able to telephone anyone (no signal most of the time, and even when all the bars are there, I get cut off!), the teenagers in the family downloaded games onto their computer...and my laptop, external hard drive and USBs all now have a Trojan virus. I'm taking a multicab (like a jeepney, but a Palawan version) into town tomorrow to try to find someone to bail me out - if you have any frugal ideas for me, please email me!!!

Yesterday, the host-mother of my PCV friend and site-mate in Puerto took me and others to the Underground River - quite amazing. I'm sunburned today from swimming in 80 degree water before we entered the river. Stalactites and stalagmites galore - it is about 10km long! Check it out online
















So, at this, the end of my first week at my home for the next 2+ years, I am happy and at peace. And wishing everyone well from Paradise!!

Diary of our “Street Immersion” program in Manila

We have done several practica here in Olongapo: literacy at an abused girls' home; sports camp for 50 abandoned children and tutoring at the Old Cabalan high school. To round out our exposure to and understanding of difficult circumstances that youth find themselves in here in the Philippines, we journeyed 3.5 hours to Manila to experience the lives of prostitution, living on the streets and other modes of livelihood of the truly poor (less than $1 a day).

Friday: Up at 4:30am to catch the 6am Victoryliner bus to Manila, where we had what is termed a “courtesy call” – usually a visit of respect to introduce yourself to a government official or agency. In this case, we visited the Department of Social Welfare D (USWD) and listened to a vice-official (the head of the department was in another meeting – something we’ve experienced here frequently and, I’m guessing, to be expected in general). Then off to Childhood Asia, who works educating street children via mobile units and educators who build ties with the children and actually conduct lifeskills and literacy education in the backstreets of Manila with urban activity all around. Our visit was cut short by rain, but we then visited Harrison Mall and witnessed pimp/prostitute action within minutes of arriving. The difference for me was how blatant everything was and how young the girls were. Casey had a pimp lead him to a row of young girls, saying “take your pick – 1500 pesos” which is the equivalent of $30US, and another in our group was approached by a mother, offering her 15 year old daughter for the same price.

Saturday: Several of us breakfasted at a new venture of Indigenous People from Mindoro – fascinating and brilliant man who has really helped his group…I got his email. We visited another agency – ERDA, based in Belgium, who worked with street children and schooled many of those out of school to pass the alternative skills competency exam (ALS) so that they could continue with their education. ERDA took us to a site they serviced, where children acted as scavengers: Smoky Mountain garbage dump – which had, by far, the most impact of anything I’ve yet witnessed. Walking on compacted trash 30’ deep, we watched ant-sized children comb the distant 100’ high mountain of garbage, smoldering as it decomposed. Well inside the guarded dump was an official barangay – with a captain, a council, church (fittingly, “Our Lady of the Sorrows”), daycare center, pool hall/videoke and sari-sari.The strangest thing was watching as people went about their lives - women walking with sun umbrellas and men bicycling to work. This neighborhood of many hundreds of people was staggering as Manila’s public acceptance of this as a way of life for its citizens. As low as this made me feel, I wondered what the city would otherwise do with the mountains of trash being “recycled” by these occupants, and secondly – what would all of these people do to earn their meager living if the dumps were all destroyed? Such are the issues here.

We finished the day by traveling to another wonderful agency to help them feed about 100 street children in a public park. After playing group games with them, we served them pansit , bread and bananas to them, noting how some of the children saved some to take ‘home’ to their parents who also lived on the street.

We ate that night at a schwarma place near to our Pension Natividad and in the red light district of Manila, where, after the best chicken schwarma I’ve ever had, we went to the corner bar to witness how prostitution works here. We saw old, ugly, white and Chinese men with the more legal aged girls probably 40 years their junior (although we were told that the 12-15 year olds were also housed upstairs). I’ve never seen this, but it didn’t seem that different from what I imagine goes on in the States – the difference is that I didn’t observe any young girls, which is the true focus of our work – preventing such child abuse…however, I can’t imagine that any prostitute wouldn’t swap her job for another paying the same salary, and the blatant debasement of women upset a majority of the group.

Sunday - After a brief language lesson, Kit took three of us (Matt, Annie and me)to Intramuros, the beginning of the Spanish settlement of Manila. The Peace Corps said that more Americans touring together would be a bad idea, but we missed our other two companions – we’ve formed a tight bond. Intramuros was beautiful, historic, and put smiles on all our faces, counteracting the stark reality of the previous day.

We rejoined Pa and Chris and headed for MOA – Mall of Asia, supposedly the largest mall in the world. Didn’t find much we needed, and headed back for an early night of packing with the anticipation of meeting our supervisors for the next two years – and finding out where we will be stationed and which area of Children, Youth and Families we will deal with for the next two years.