today's headache is brought to you by...

today's headache is brought to you by...a car accident! (booooo.)

yesterday, we were on our way to the Int'l School of Manila to teach a session on the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (by the UN) and HIV/AIDS and it's impact on children, to 4 classes of gr. 5 students. i was so stoked!

we were in the PJM vehicle (picture a 12-passenger van, with a regular driver and passenger seat, and then take out the rest of the bench seats and put 2 benches that run the length of the vehicle in the back (so everyone sits facing each other), driving on the C5 (Manila equivalent of a free-way, 6+ lanes, so approximately 8 vehicles wide). PJ, the PJM staffer who always drives (and is an unbelievably good driver, i might add - those of you who have experienced traffic in developing countries can probably appreciate this) was behind the wheel.

everything happened really fast, as it always seems to in this kind of situation, but from what i gather, an L300 (like ours), was basically stopped in front of us but it had no brake-lights. PJ braked hard but too late, and we slammed into it at about 50 km/h. the thing about these vehicles is that there's no front hood to speak of - thus, nothing to crunch and cushion the blow. so, the 4 of us in the back all got thrown forward - it was unreal, the force of it - i smashed my forehead and we all kind of landed in a pile. no blood and no broken bones at first sight, just some serious pain from landing in a pile of 4 people.

we had been rear-ended as well and so we sat, sandwiched between 2 vehicles. the highway patrol guys came and got us after a while, the men stood outside and discussed the situation, we were loaded into a pseudo-ambulance to go get checked out (as part of the insurance claim). the best and most hilarious part, in retrospect, was when the van we were in on the way to the hospital turned on it's sirens...and no one really moved. one car kind of turned it's wheels to get out of the way, but that's about it. awesome. we went to a very impressive hospital, got some x-rays and all the rest - everything checked out.

so, the grand conclusion is that i'm fine but for a few bruises - but i think the trauma of it all is still shaking me up a bit. as soon as we had impact and i had recovered enough to sit up, i had a bit of a cry and thought 'man, i am not cut out for this,' - but put on my brave face, and we all held together and made it through.

the sunflower staff had lunch made for us when we finally got home - the van was driveable, and i was incredibly impressed that PJ just climbed in behind the wheel again. we're insured well, so it's all taken care of (despite the fact that the driver at fault tried to bribe PJ...perfect). all in all, it was frustrating more than anything - i was excited to get going, but this has set us back a bit, as we need a bit of time to recover and all. but, i'm trying to keep a positive attitude and understand everything as part of a bigger plan.

i'm not sure what this week holds, but i will do my best to keep updates here. all the best!

p.s. i've enabled the comment function so that you can comment even if you're not a blogspot member, so comment away if you feel so inclined.