| Monday, June 25, 2007 |
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so right now im on one of the desktops at work and everytime i use google past searches come up. And on two of the computers i've tried so far what i usually get is; "Nobody wanna see us together" Most kids here can't speak much english beyond a few words but u hear em singing akon everywhere. Love it.
and since u've come this far already, an entry from my journal:
~ Culture Shock ~
I figured coming into the PI that although people here are living in substandard conditions, you really wouldn’t know from the people’s sense of contentment. And although there are always exceptions, from my interactions with the staff and the children, this remains true. You get this feeling after 5 minutes of talking, laughing and joking that people here are genuinely happy and satisfied with what they have. I’m sure that anyone who visits here or other “problem” areas probably leave with the same feeling: that there is much contentment in a simple and humble life. This flows right in line with the biblical perspective, which cautions us not to look for contentment in material goods cause you won’t find it there. The rich but simple lives of the people here (again sorry for the generalizations) is a testament of this. Here at LCP, people do not obsess about what they don’t have but are extremely thankful and grateful for what they do have. How’s that for perspective?
Coming from the rat-race, material wealth obsessed, “me infatuated” western world of living, it’s both invigorating and challenging to be living in this new setting: Separated from the black hole that is the TV, modern appliances like the washer and dryer, shower facilities, and at times running water and electricity and into a world where the bucket takes on a whole new level of importance, where turning on your room Air Conditioner Unit causes a brown-out for the whole block (nothing says “Nice to Meet you” better than knocking out your power), and where the caribou seemingly takes the place of the lawn mower. It’s a vacation like no other; hard to get used to at first but like a fine wine, gets better with age. |
posted by DarrenGene @ 5:04 AM  |
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| Saturday, June 23, 2007 |
| the dumaguete smile |
from my 3 days so far at the shelter I've been overwhelmed with smiles. And smiles here are sometimes deceiving because locals smile when they're happy, when they're stressed, when you commit a social faux pas. People here are so incredibly selfless and accomodating. The 6 year olds are teaching me a thing or two about manners. Everytime an elder enters the room, the kids on cue say "Good afternoon sir/maam" and take their hand placing it on their forehead (asking for a blessing) and then run to find a chair for the visitor to sit on. The hours that volunteers and workers work here are ridoncurous (one day off working sometimes from 8 in the morning to 8 at night).
What I'm specifically here for is to provide assistance and training to the social workers here in the areas of individual and group clinical counselling and present some new methods of intervention that have worked well with kids from my own experience. My actual duties are many and varied on the other hand: Past few days I've done site visits to the children's homes, i've done some advocacy work for my agency by spreading the mission of our agency to the kiwanis club among other rich social clubs, i've lead biblestudies (but biblestudies here are the equivalent of sermons back home since the leader is usually presenting to over 50 ppl).
My living conditions are pretty good according to local standards. I eat with the kids consisting of meals of rice and pancit (noodles) costing 5 pesos a meal (45 pesos make up an american dollar), when i have both electricity and running water at my apartment it is a good day. (I have a dinosaur ac unit in my room but the last time i turned it on, i knocked out the power for about 5 apt units so i think i'll probably not do that again). I've gotten used to the no shower bidness but am trying to but down on the number of buckets of water i require to do the job. Laundry will also be done in my shower bucket.
The ppl here have so little but they are so grateful for everything they've got and they dont take anything for granted. More updates to come =) |
| posted by DarrenGene @ 7:13 AM |
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| Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |
| still alive still but disoriented |
so manila's ridoncurous. Maybe it's the fact that road divisions and lines are really more guidelines, everyone cuts off everybody, u have cars merging into other cars coming mere inches from brushing against each other...crazzzzy! There's an invisible border that seperates the poor from the rich. The people at Counselo who are sponsoring our trip over here had us stay at the President's condo and then drive down to The Visayas Forum, Kim's safehouse where she'll be working at for girls caught in human trafficking and then checking out Kim's living quarters which looks pretty ghetto but by Phillipine standards in the slums is ballin.
I'm in Dumaguete now (i flew out from manila at 4 in the morning) and spent the whole day picking up household items that i'm going to need. Dumaguete is an interesting looking place that has the manila congested feel but it's a lot smaller than manila and feels more like a university town given the presenece of Siliman U, one of the prominent Universities in the PI. The place that i'm staying is going to be a little bit of a challenge for me since i currently don't have a shower (but a bucket instead), there's about a gajillion ants, coupled with the ridoncurous humidity that has the pores on my sweat sweating. But at the same time, I know i'm living it up in comparison to the living standards and conditions of my co-workers, which means i am in no position to complain.
But don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. If anything, I feel pretty grateful just to take this all in. I've had a chance to explore dumaguete on my own just walking on the streets (it's like frogger crossing the streets) and u see the strangest things: a boy trying to tug a huge oxen only having that oxen tug the boy instead, 5 ppl packed on a motorcycle meant for one, ppl are real friendly and happy to talk to you, every teenage boy rocking chuck taylors. The language barrier is apparent so im trying my best to pick up survival visayan as quick as i can. I'll throw up some pictures soon.
This week ahead looks like a lot of meetings and a lot more super heavy but delicious meals (5 meals a day! what!) and i start working at my organization next week. And while typing this blog, i think i've sweated away a pound...and it's 9pm at night. Thanks errybody for the wellwishes and prayers! |
| posted by DarrenGene @ 8:32 AM |
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| Monday, June 18, 2007 |
| arrived alive! |
| that's all for now |
| posted by DarrenGene @ 9:17 AM |
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| Thursday, June 14, 2007 |
| Good to go |
so i'm a day away from heading down to the PI and everything's looking set. Past few days spent just getting what i need, moving my junk to storage, getting scuba certified so i'm good to dive anywhere buying books on tagalog/cebuano, which i have yet to really open, and buying souvenirs to leave behind for the keeds.
Couple things left on the to-do list over here but i think i'm pretty much good to dig out now. So like i said, check back here for updates.
ALSO, let me know if u'd like something over here whether it be a postcard or something like that. I'm also arranging to pick up some switchblades and butterfly knives so let me know if u're interested in getting one and i'll do my best to remember you (don't worry, it's perfectly legal to transport weapons thru ur checked baggage so long as it doesn't go boom)
And like that I'm off to the PI. hollerrrrr |
| posted by DarrenGene @ 10:19 PM |
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