The beginnings...

Mabuhay from Manila!

I’ve hummed and hawed about posting a blog, but figure it’s probably the best way to keep people posted (without clogging up inboxes :) – so here goes.

(A little background may be useful at this point: I’m spending February and March in Manila, volunteering with an organization called Precious Jewels Ministry. For more info, take a peek at www.precious jewels.org. Essentially, PJM works with children and their families (many of whom are impacted by HIV/AIDS) and acts as a support for those in need.)

Michael and I arrived at the Sunflower House (the main “base” of PJM) in Quezon City (a suburb of sorts in Manila) on Friday afternoon after 24+ hours of travelling and a +16 hour time change. We’ve spent the past few days getting oriented to the house, catching up on sleep and trying our best to adjust to Filipino life...a lot to adjust to! Sunflower is home to 6 children (ages 4-9) who are in the care of PJM (most are orphaned or abandoned) for the time being (long-term, the staff is trying to place these children in adoptive homes); and about 10 staff members for PJM (who take care of the children and also run PJM’s programs at the Extended Child Care Center at the hospital, community visits, etc etc.) Needless to say, it’s a busy house and there’s always something going on! It’s been really amazing to get to know these children so far, they are so fantastic and so much fun to be around. “Ate” (first syllable rhymes with “hat”, second rhymes with “hay”) is the Tagalog word for older sister – thus, I am Ate Nicole.

This week, Michael and I have been asked to work on the Manila Habitat for Humanity (H4H) site in San Mateo (another part of Manila). Several staff members have been selected to get houses at the site (which is in a kind of townhouse format, forming a community of 15+ families), and each “house partner” is required to contribute 600 hours of labour to the project. Much of this is through hired labour, but the PJM staff is contributing on their days off and PJM volunteers are working out there as well.

We’ve spent one day out at the site, and will return tomorrow for 3 more days (staying with a PJM family living in one of the completed portions). I am learning to put my expectations aside...a Filipino worksite is a whole different adventure than in Canada! Having to cope with the heat, different food, language barriers, and cultural differences is all magnified on a worksite.

A quick example...we were instructed to work on a hole that was being dug for a septic tank for one of the homes. How many people does it take to dig a hole in Manila? 8. 2 digging; 2 holding open old woven cement mix bags for the diggers to put their dirt in; 2 to haul those bags out of the hole and walk them across the worksite (through some of the houses, which at times, have <5.5 feet of head room); 1 to sit on top of the wall at the edge of the site to dump the dirt onto the other side into a vacant lot; and 1 on the other side of the wall to rake the dirt around to prevent a massive mountain from forming.

There is also a group of guys working on removing the root cluster of a massive mango tree that was cut down – a job that would take a chainsaw less than an hour, but has so far taken about 2 days of labour. Wheelbarrows are held together with rebar and wire, but rusting through (which makes moving sand difficult) ; shovels are on the verge of breaking; hollow cement blocks crumble if you don’t put them down gently enough...

Needless to say, a lot to adjust to! Cultural stress is an understatement – the combination of the physical stress of working in the heat and with limited tools/machines/resources and the mental/emotional stress of dealing with a new culture is a lot to handle. Prayers appreciated!

At the same time, it’s a real privilege to be able to contribute to this project – H4H has been on my heart for a number of years as a potential career goal for the long term, so it’s great to get some practical experience working for them. Plus, we’re contributing to housing that will really make a difference in the lives of the staff that work so hard here.

Missing family and friends a little bit already, but I still feel like it’s a real adventure :) My stomach is still getting used to a very different diet (and the fact that my appetite is significantly decreased in the heat), so prayers for my physical well-being would be much appreciated.

N.

P.S. Not much to speak of in the way of photographs yet, but I’m attaching a shot of me journaling on the porch at Sunflower...more to come.