Taking Care Of The Little Things

I really have not done much today worth talking about - mostly just getting rested from the travel and adjusting to the new time.  The time here in Manila is 14 hours ahead of my home in Albuquerque.  I slept a little last night but tossed and turned and kept checking the time to see if "night" had ended.  At 5:30 I finally gave up -- shaved, showered and then headed for breakfast.

Pritong bangus , or fried milkfish

Breakfast was a buffet set up with rice, eggs (sunny side up), a few varieties of sausages, fried milk fish, and some version of pancit.  It was all quite good.  And of course some coffee - strong and freshly brewed!  The only sad part of breakfast was eating alone -- I tend to rush through the meal since there is no one to chit-chat with.  Still, it was a good start to the morning.

After breakfast I returned to my little room.  It's actually quite nice, although many of my fellow American's would likely turn up their nose -- it's nice by Filipino standards, but by US standards it might qualify as "quaint" at best.  For the price I paid and for the convenience in location, it has worked out well.  My only complaint at all is that the hot water for the shower was . . . how can I say this simply . . . not hot.  In fact, it wasn't even warm.  Oh well, nothing like a cool shower in the morning to wake up with!

I shot some video of the room and the upper grounds of the hotel: the dining room/bar and swimming pool.  I also took some of the city from the rooftop -- I will shoot more tonight when the city lights are on -- much more appealing.

I splurged and bought a cell phone for use in the Philippines . . .  it cost me a whopping $35.00 and has as many features as my more expensive phone (less the qrety keyboard).  Most US phones (not counting smart phones) don't work here in the Philippines, so it made sense to pick up an inexpensive one.  I will let one of the church members use my phone after I leave (her's was stolen in a robbery - more about that later maybe).  As long as I don't do too many overseas calls it shouldn't cost me too much to maintain it.

I am right next to the Metropoint Mall here in Pasay, Manila.  Usually the mall opens at 10:00 am, but since today was a holiday (All Saints Day), it didn't open until noon.  The problem is, no one at the hotel seemed to know about that little change in schedule, so they weren't able to tell me that it was not open when I went bouncing out the door at 9:55.  Oh well . . . I walked around for a while, smashed by the crowds of people, dodging the tricycles, jeepneys and service vehicles.  The crowdedness here is a little much -- I appreciate the more peaceful locations like Bohol.  Even Tagbilaran, with nearly 500,000 people didn't seem as intense as the streets of Manila.

I did lunch at the restaurant here in the hotel.  It's a little more expensive, but the crowds at the mall eateries were ridiculous.  I had one of my favorite meals - sizzling squid.  As someone who really likes seafood, the Philippines is a great place to be -- I like Albuquerque, but the availability of fresh sea food is . . . well . . . it's in the desert, what else can I say?  After lunch I roamed around the local streets, just enjoying the people and the street scenes.  I gave 10 pesos to a young beggar girl -- it was obvious to me (one doesn't need to be a special ed teacher) that she had some mental disabilities as well as a severe speech problem of some sort.  Anyway, so I had no problem giving her a few coins.  It wasn't much, but she was very happy with getting something.  I didn't hang around in case she decided to come back for more -- sometimes you can create a worse situation by being too kind.

So now I am sitting in my room, reviewing the first half of my first day in Manila.  I will probably get a short nap and then venture back down to the streets.  I will take the video camera with me just to capture some of what I've experienced so far.  I'll include some in a later post.  Oh . . . I had quite a difficult time back in the US with finding the mini DVDs required for my borrowed Sony HandiCam.  I thought I found some online . . . twice . . . but they were not the right ones . . . twice.  I did find some at Staples, paying a ridiculous $12 for a package of three (including jewel case).  I found some here at the mall . . . 10 pesos for the disc and 6 for the case -- 16p divided by 40p to the dollar . . . $.40 each (or $1.20 for three, for the math challenged readers).  So I picked up enough for the trip and will return the others to Staples upon my return.

Ok - well, as I suggested, it's nap time.   I will post more tomorrow.

Just a Note From San Francisco

Sitting in San Francisco, watching as the fog swirls around in the jet wash at the airport.  First leg of the journey was completely uneventful, except for the overpriced breakfast burrito.  Oh well, it's part of the travel game.  Will leave in about 70 minutes for Hawaii/Guam.  Not sure if I will have any time to comment from either of those locations.  Probably my next note will be from Manila.

Just thinking how much of a contrast it is here compared to what is happening on the east coast right now, with all of the rain and wind.  My thoughts are with all who are struggling with the effects of the storm.

Anyway - I'll send a few pics from manila.

24 Hours

Well not much to add at this point.  In 24 hours I will be on a flight to San Francisco -- from there on to Hawaii and Guam and then Manila.  Most of my "stuff" is packed, although I haven't weighed my main suitcase to see if I am overweight or not.  Part of me just says "pay the extra" but I'm not sure if that's really wise.  I can cut back on a few clothing items - and maybe find some things to wear at the stores in Manila or CDO.  The only real problem with buying clothes there is finding something that fits my 6'3 200+ Amerikano frame --  most Filipinos are about a foot shorter and 60 pounds lighter.  They just don't have a need to sell clothing in size "giant -- extra-fat".

Bohol from the air

I have a few chores to do around the house today plus a bit of writing that I MUST get finished today.  Most of the day will be rather mundane activities -- a run to the county landfill, dropping off my absentee ballot for the presidential election, getting a watchband repaired ( just a new pin), and calling my credit card companies to let them know I will be travelling overseas and using my cards on occasion while in the Philippines.  I have a few toiletry items to pick up -- razors, deodorant, shaving cream -- that's about it. Pack it all, weigh it, make any adjustments and go from there.

Then there's the waiting.  I am sure I will find things to do, including last minute emails, little home projects or even organizing a few tools in the garage.  The biggest issue is . . .  do I go to bed tonight, or do I stay up all night in an effort to adjust my "clock" for the 14 hour time difference that I will soon be facing.  Depending on how things go during the day, I may take an extended nap in the late afternoon and then stay up late.  I will be leaving the house at around 4:00 am.  I know if I try going to bed early that I will just toss and turn.  Guess we will see what happens.  In the grand scheme of things, how I deal with it  is not all that important -- I will get there and deal with it on the other end.  Knowing me, I will be to "amped-up" to sleep anyway.

I guess that's it for now.  Maybe I will say a few words while in one of the airports along the way.  Certainly by Nov 1 (Manila time)  I will post something here to give my status and travel observations.  You never know when there will be an interesting tale to present.

Mabuhay

A Few More Days

It's getting "down-to-the-wire", folks.  It won't be long and I will be sitting at the airport with great anticipation of the up coming weeks.  In the last remaining days I still have projects to finish here at home, a sometimes demanding writing schedule (more about that in a minute), and I haven't even begun to pack or buy those last minute items that I will need for the journey.  But that's how I normally operate -- not that I'm a last-minute person, but there are always more important things that need my attention, and I know I have a schedule in my mind for taking care of those things.

Inside the Albuquerque Sunport

So here's where things stand as of today:  I'm still leaving early on Tuesday morning (5:55 am) from the Albuquerque Sunport with stops in San Francisco,  Hawaii, Guam and then Manila.  I'm hoping that I can find that infamous and unoccupied three-prong outlet at each airport so that I can recharge my laptop's batteries and also get some work done when laid-over -- especially in San Francisco when I sit for three hours waiting for my next flight.  I can get a lot of writing done in that time since I have nothing else to do.

I will be in Manila for around 36 hours and then will catch a flight to Cagayan de Oro in the northern part of Mindinao.  A few days later (with a stop or two in between) I will find myself in the town of Ubay on the island of Bohol.  That's where I will spend most of my days, working at the Icthus Christian Academy helping to evaluate students for learning disabilities etc. and to teach the staff there how to do the same thing so in the future they can evaluate students without me.

I have several other side trips on the schedule, but things have changed a little already and I haven't even left yet, so I don't see any reason to publish a "maybe" schedule.  Suffice it to say that I will be busy regardless of how the schedule works out.  For every place that I will visit there are 4 other people asking me to visit them at their place. . . where ever that may be.  So there is no shortage of people to see and needs to consider.

The tarsier monkey, one of
 Bohol's inhabitants.

I will also be busy in the evenings doing some writing.  I've been given two science fiction stories to ghost write -- one that I've started and the other I will receive information on sometime today or tomorrow.  These are important as they are  my primary source of income for my personal expenses.  One of my biggest concerns with doing mission trips like this is having employment that will give me the necessary income to take care of my expenses while still having the flexibility to travel when I need.  (I do not get any payment from Educate Bohol for my personal needs.)  So this writing gig has turned into a real blessing.  I'm making nearly as  much as I was working retail management at some horrible little store here in Rio Rancho . . . no, I won't go into details as to why it was horrible . . . but it wasn't the people who worked for me - they were actually quite remarkable.  Aside from the freedom to travel, this new work is much more enjoyable and carries a minimum of stress.  As long as I don't get distracted by Facebook or some other social media I can usually get quite a lot done.  There are still some issues that come up that I need to learn how to deal with.  And there are the totally unanticipated events like a death in the family (which just happened last week) which throws the schedule out the window. Other than that, I think this is a realistic endeavor, at least for now.  We will just have to evaluate as we go.  If at some point it no longer fits the need then I will move on to something else -- but at this point, I am truly hoping and praying that this will continue to work out.

Well, today is "garage" day.  I need to clean it out and organize it so that, a) people can find things if they are looking for them, b) so that at least one vehicle can be parked there in case it snows while I am gone, and c) so that my son's and his fiancee's "stuff" can be organized and easily accessible for being loaded onto a moving truck tomorrow.  I don't have any writing scheduled (yet) for today so I'm turning it into a work-around-the-house opportunity:  garage, swamp cooler (if you're from southwestern USA you will know what that's about), re-weatherstrip the front door and caulking around some of the windows.  That will easily fill my day "off".  Then back to the writing on Friday.  Oh . . . and some peeps have asked what the name of the book is that I'm writing . . . sorry, am sworn to secrecy . . . part of the ghost-writers-of-the-world pact.  So do me a big favor and just don't ask.

Five days to go . . . but who's counting?

Bible, Bibles, Bibles

When I was helping build the new church building in Serra Bullone in Bohol, I noticed a handful of water stained Bibles sitting in a box to be taken to the new facility.  Apparently they had been the victim of a heavy rain storm that came up unexpectedly.  Well, think about it . . . you're in the middle of the tropics just north of the equator, surrounded by ocean . . . rain storms are going to happen.  Also, most of the windows in the facility they were using were open  -- no glass to keep out the weather, although most did have a screen of sorts to keep the "critters" out.  It shouldn't be a big surprise that things would get wet once in a while.  So . . . one of the things that Pastor Jose Arig  asked of me is if I could supply some new Bibles for the church.  Since the  new facility is reasonably weather proof, I do think that books and teaching supplies will survive a little longer.  Of course, humidity and mildew will always be a problem no matter what you do.

So when I arrive in the Philippines, one of my assignments will be to locate, purchase, and transport a couple dozen Bibles to central Bohol.  There are a couple of stores in Tagbilaran on the far west end of Bohol that I could get them from . . . but that is the opposite direction from where I will be at in Ubay, which is on the far eastern end of Bohol.  Sierra Bullones is almost directly in between.  So one of my days may be spent taking the van from Ubay to Tagbilaran to go shopping for Bibles.

Typical storage of books - notice the non-weatherproof walls.

Another option, which I like better, is that my first stop after arriving in Manila will be in Cagayan de Oro in northern Mindanao.  CDO is a large city with a couple of book stores and even a Christian book store.  So I  think I will try to purchase the Bibles there.  I will be visiting with Nemesio and his wife Terry, along with his daughters Rachel and Love (they run the Christian school in Ubay).  They have a small rent house in CDO where they often stay when working at the new church plant in Camiguin. They will be able to help me find the stores and get the Bibles to transport to Ubay after we spend the weekend with the new church in Camiguin. There is a cost to this assistance -- not that I mind, please don't misunderstand.  But the church in Camiguin also needs some Bibles - at least 20.  So . . . it looks like I will be needing to buy some Bibles for that church as well.

Camiguin is a small volcanic island between the main island of Mindinao and Bohol which is to the north.  It is one of the lesser visited places by tourists and expats seeking a refuge away from more crowded areas of the Philippines.  I'm looking forward to visiting there, as it looks like it might be a pleasant first venture of my trip.  Nemesio and his wife are already doing an outreach to many of the children in the community there.  The facilities are austere by American standards, but in the Philippines, any little bit of shelter can function adequately for a gathering place . . . and apparently there is a pizza place just around the corner!  Can't beat that!

Kids outreach on Camiguin with Terry Carbonilla

Bottom line . . . if anyone would like to help buy some Bibles, I will be glad to take a small donation -- $5 or $10 -- to help offset the cost.  I'll be glad to do the grunt work . . . you know, travel all the way around the world, travel on outrigger boats and on little motorcycles with funny looking sidecars, eat strange and exotic foods (some of them I don't really want to know what its made with), sleeping under mosquito netting and having to drink bottled water to keep from getting Montezuma's Revenge.  Of course, I will be doing more than transporting a few Bibles, but it's just one of the many tasks that I need to accomplish while in the Philippines.  You can leave a donation on my website at the PayPal "Donate" box at the bottom of the page: https://www.educatebohol.org/index.html  .

Stop back daily, please, as I hope to be adding new stories and tales each and every day.  And always with pictures and maybe even some video if I can figure out how to upload it here to my blog.

Salamat!

The New Church in Diffun

One of the places I hope to visit during my November trip is Diffun in northern Luzon.  The church there has just received the blessing of a World Mission Builders construction project.  This gives them a permanent home and a wonderful place to begin a Christian academy.  Brother Gilbert Guillermo, pastor of the Diffun Church of Christ, is excited about the prospects of providing such a service to his congregation.  From what I've seen of comments and photographs from him, he has a positive relationship with community leaders, including the mayor of Diffun and several councilors of the municipality.  There is a large parcel of land adjacent to the church's property which would be an ideal location for a school facility.   The land that Pastor Gilbert is hoping to use for the school is approximately 8000 square meters (2 acres).  The site is rural but close enough to the community to be easily accessible by students and parents.  The cost for the land is around 1.5 million Philippines pesos, which equates to around $37,500 US.  Compared to prices of land in the US, that's quite a bargain!

Another project that I'm involved with on this trip is to provide some materials for homeschool students who are studying geography and social studies.  This idea started with my own grandson (being homeschooled by his mother and grandmother) -- he will be following my travels and plotting them on a variety of maps.  I will also be sending home photos and videos of the places I go to and the people I encounter.  There are countless applications here, so if anyone would like to be on my mailing list, just leave me a message with your email.  I think it will be both fun and educational.  And for those who enjoy such travel shows and Andrew Zimmer's  Bizarre Foods or Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, I plan on exploring as many local culinary delights as possible.  I'm not going to travel half way around the world just to eat at Pizza Hut.  I did that on my last trip and was seriously disappointed!

Please, take a few moments and leave some comments for my blog.  Those comments are useful to me, as they can help guide future posts, but they also help to create a community among my readers and can spark some truly educational and entertaining discussions.

So, until next time!
Scott

Soon and Very Soon!

Counting down the days until I leave for the Philippines.  The biggest obstacles I am facing involve finances.  I really need to have enough support to buy around 20 Bibles to give to families at the Sierra Bullones church.  That's around $60 usd.  I would also like to provide Bibles for the new church work in Camiguin, Mindinao -- another 10 Bibles would be sufficient ($30 usd).  The rest of the financial needs are for in country travel expenses.  I'm not sure how I'm taking care of finances at home, but I'm trying real hard to do that myself and not ask for personal support -- if I can help it.  I know the traditional missionary model would approve of that, but. . .  I'm not a traditional missionary.

My Hanh, a former student of mine

No, I'm something different.  Paul was a tent-making missionary, but  he was still living and working among he people he served -- although he did travel around a lot.  But . . . I'm not really serving anyone here in the US -- well,  maybe indirectly, by being some sort of model (that's a scary thought).  And if the day comes, which I hope it does and does soon, where I will lead groups from local churches over to the Philippines, then perhaps in that fashion I will be serving the local community.  But if that actually does come to be, then at that point I will probably need to draw some sort of salary, as I will be too busy organizing and coordinating.  I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

On a vastly different note . . . one of my former Vietnamese students just got married.  I wish her and her new husband the best of luck.  It does make me feel a little older when I see that sort of thing happening, but I am happy for her and know she will be a wonderful wife.  So, congratulations to My Hanh . . . I pray that God will smile on you and that you will accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.

Three Weeks To Go

Mt. Hibok Hibok on Camiguin, Philippines

So I will try to get back into the habit of blogging here.  After my return from the Philippines in February, I had to scramble to find some employment.  And of course, once I found employment, I had to work work work to get caught up for being off work for so long.  Anyway, during the time that I came back from the Philippines and until the present, life has been quite interesting.

In August I formed Educate: Bohol, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping school children return to school and to help them be successful once they are in school.  It also works to help schools and teachers who are trying to work with special needs children.  As a result of this effort, I will be returning to the Philippines the end of October and will return in early December.

Most of my time will be spent working at Icthus Christian Academy in Ubay, Bohol.  I have been asked to conduct assessments of all of the children there for learning disabilities.  I will also provide some basic vision and hearing screenings, as most children there do not have access to these simple exams.  While I am working with the children, I will also provide some instruction for the teachers there on how they too can do basic assessments for learning disabilities and also how to modify their curriculum to work with special needs children.  Also on the schedule is a class on spiritual gifts for the teachers.  While many of the teachers are Christians, they have had little guidance on how to recognize their gifts nor on how to use them.

And of course, there are always numerous side trips.  I think my tentative schedule looks something like this:

- Oct 30 - Depart Albuquerque (4:00 a.m.)
- Oct 31 - Arrive in Manila (11:00 p.m.)
- Nov 1 - Tour Manila (Mall of Asia, Manila Zoological Park)
- Nov 2 - Depart Manila for Cagayon de Oro, Mindinao
- Nov 3 - Tour CDO with Nemesio Carbonilla and his family (flooding site of December typhoon where many squatter settlement  families drowned.) Will visit Christian home for street children.
- Nov 4 - Visit Camiguin island, Mindinao, for worship service at new mission church.
- Nov 5 - Depart Camiguin and arrive Ubay, Bohol, and begin work at Icthus Christian Academy (ICA)
- Nov 9 - Depart for Carmen/Sierra Bullones for weekend worship with David Salingay and Jose  Arig and the churches in those communities (I helped build the church building in Sierra Bullones in February), and to evaluate children for educational needs.
- Nov 12 - Return to Ubay and ICA – continue evaluation of students and staff development courses.
- Nov 16 - Depart for Cebu - visit two Christian colleges and Sunday worship with Jungie Ramirez, pastor of Mandaue Christian Church, and to evaluate children for educational needs.
- Nov 19 - Return to Ubay and ICA – continue evaluation of students and staff development courses.
- Nov 23 - Depart for Tubigon to meet with Pastor Florante Lagahit and Pastor Jul Castellano to discuss Christian schools and for Sunday worship. Evaluate children for educational needs.
- Nov 25 - Depart for Siquijor to meet with Junrie Rameriz, pastor of Siquijor Christian Church, for Sunday worship and evaluate church children for educational assistance. (Siquijor is an island where witchcraft is practiced openly.)*
- Nov 26 - Depart for Dumaguete, Negros Occidental, tour city and province.
- Nov 28 - Depart for Cebu and then to Ubay and ICA – conclude evaluation of students and staff development courses.
- Nov 30 - Depart for Tuguergarao in Cagayon province, Luzon, then to Diffon, Quirino, to meet with Pastor Gilbert Guillermo to discuss a Christian school startup there and for Sunday worship. Evaluate school children as needed.*
- Dec 3 - Return to Manila
- Dec 5 - Depart Manila for USA

*These trips are not funded – an additional $300 is needed to include these important meetings.  

I'm tired just typing it all out.  Of course, it is also subject to change.  I don't quite have enough financial support for some of those side trips, as they involve additional airline travel (Siquijor and Diffon).  I pray that more supporters will step forward to help with these visits.  I also have been asked to provide some Bibles for the Sierra Bullones church as theirs were water damaged during a typhoon. And of course, there are always little things that come up.  Many of the Filipinos see an American as an ATM machine with endless resources.  While I don't mind helping, I myself have very limited resources and so I must be very selective regarding which assistance I provide.  I could find myself broke and begging on the street corner very quickly if I help everyone who asks for it.

With that itinerary, I will have plenty of things to post here and on Facebook.  I will be borrowing a video camera for the trip and hope to document this trip with as much video as possible.  I've also been asked to take more general interest photos this time.

I hope to post more here in the next three weeks as I prepare for the trip.  Not sure what topics I will dicuss, but .  .  . I will try regardless.

Scott