You know what they say about the young...send me on my way

Well everyone, I'm off again on another adventure! At Elon, we have a Winter Term and have the opportunity to go abroad during that time, so I will be heading to London, England for three weeks to do my Human Service Studies Practicum.

Traditionally, the practicum consists of working at one specific organization for 3 weeks and attending class once a week. But due to visa/work laws in the UK, we will not be doing that. Instead, I, along with about 18 classmates, led by two professors from Elon, will be visiting numerous agencies, nonprofits and NGOs in London. We will also be having class together during the week. The three themes that we will be focusing on while we are in London are 1) Immigrants and Refugees, 2) International NGOs, and 3) Public Health in the UK. I am looking forward to continuing to learn about how to help people in an international setting. It will certainly be interesting to see how the UK does things.

My perceptions of England are pretty much opposite the ones I had of Southeast Asia before I spent last summer there (starting with the difference of "developed country vs. developing country.") And to be completely honest, I think I am still a little biased against the developed world. I felt such a strong connection with the Philippines that I am a bit skeptical about my ability to embrace another foreign country (though I anticipate it to be similar to my own) that is so different from the one I grew to adore this past summer. But I am aware of this bias that I seem to have and my goal over the next three weeks is to challenge my assumptions, and even let them go, and to really explore and get to know London in my own way :)

My flight to London is at 6:55pm Saturday, January 2, 2010 and I will be returning on January 23. I am so stoked for this opportunity and cannot wait to discover what I will see, what I will learn, and who I will meet!

Home, Sweet Home

6 flights, 5 countries, 4 boat rides, many tricycle and tuk tuk rides, and 2 overnight trains later, my summer trip has ended.

This has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I will never forget it. The people I met, the food I tasted, the places I saw, and the things I experienced have surely left a mark on me.

Traveling teaches you a lot about yourself, and about those who you are with. I am so glad to have been able to share this experience with 3 incredible people-Mitch, Alex, and Carissa. We are 4 different people with extremely different talents, likes, dislikes, etc...but we really became our own little family over the course of the past 11 weeks.

I hope to continue to write about this trip as things come up, and will insert them into their place in the blog. Thanks to everyone who has prayed for this trip and was interested in the work I did this summer.

Where will I be going next?...London- in January for Winter Term! To do a Human Services practicum. More on that to come!

Hong Kong

Well this was our last stop on our trip, and I can't believe we will be flying home tomorrow.

Hong Kong is beautiful at night. The buildings, all set up in traditional feng shui arrangement across the city, light up once the sun goes down. Every night, the city puts on a lazer and lights show with the buildings that can be viewed from across the harbour.

We went up Victoria's Peak and saw the wax museum one day, and that was a highlight!
We also traveled along the world's longest escalator that took us up the city streest to different shops and restarants.
We made a stop at Kowloon Park and watched Kung Fu demonstrations and cultural music.

We also had an interesting run-in with a dim sum restaurant that was less than satisfying- absolutely nobody spoke English and we couldn't figure out how to order or choose the food, or the prices of each item for that matter (remember we are on budgets!) It was quite hectic as women with carts of food swarmed us with dumplings that we did not know if we wanted or could afford. This was a cultural experience we will never forget.

Possibly my favorite part of Hong Kong was visiting the large population of Filipina women who work in Hong Kong as maids. Every Sunday on their day off, thousands of them picnic in the city after church. This was, of course, something we wanted to see because we love the Philippines and the people there! It was an amazing sight to see...women were not only in the parks, but many just sat on the sidewalks near the train station and malls, with their blankets spread on the ground, and tons of familiar Filipino food that we had become accustomed to. We loved hearing the Tagalog being spoken and were able to visit with some women for a short time.

Thailand

Thailand has been amazing! What an awesome place. Flying into Chiang Mai is beautiful and very green. The Centara Hotel we are staying at is beautiful and the concierge service there has been so helpful in booking things for us to do.

One of the coolest things in Chiang Mai was the Thai boxing matches we saw! The matches attract locals and tourists who are up for an exciting night of gambling or just watching a few good fights. Some of these guys are really tough!

Chiang Mai also has an awesome night bazaar that is ridiculously extensive. The guys are buying lots of things and each probably have more than Carissa and I combined!

In Bangkok, we attended a Thai puppet show, which was a very different experience. I had never seen a Thai puppet show, and was surprised when the puppeteers were an onstage act instead of hiding behind the stage. 3 to 4 people handled and controlled one puppet at a single time and gracefully took on the characters they were portraying.

I hope to be able to come back to Thailand and explore just this country entirely, from the mountains, to the beaches, to the cities. Thailand is called the Land of Smiles, and for good reason- we met a bunch of great Thai people who were eager to help us and happy to see us.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Well our time is now up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and though it wasn't my favorite place in the world at first, I really grew to enjoy the city.

We were so thankful when we discovered that our hostel was actually a decent living space! The Hotel Paradiso hostel is located right in the middle of the Bukit Bintang area of KL- and it is awesome. We were put up in room all together, with two bunk beds. El Paradiso, as I like to refer to it, is a cool place where lots of young backpackers from Europe, Australia and the US come to stay, and we met a few fun characters while watching "football" in the common areas.

We toured the city, tried new foods, ate a delicious dinner across the street from the Petronas twin towers, and saw a musical called Merchants of Bollywood in the Istana Budaya- the national theater of Malaysia. We even saw the first lady at the show! The music in the show was composed by AR Rahman- the same guy who composed the music for Slumdog Millionaire! The show was full of awesome music, great dancing, and tremendous costumes that must have been changed at least 2o times during the performance.

Carissa's birthday fell in this leg of the trip- she is 20! Ah we are getting so old! (haha)

Traveling is great and we are looking forward to Thailand, though we truly are backpacking around southeast Asia and at times it gets really tough and tiring. But our little family is managing to take care of each other and continuing to have a blast on this amazing adventure!

I got yelled at by a Singaporean taxi driver

Right now we are in Singapore! After a flight to KL and a lovely (?) overnight train we arrived yesterday morning in Singapore, which is a beautiful city!

Last night we went to the Night Safari after navigating the subway and taxi systems. And yes, we got yelled at because we didn't follow the rules for waiting in a queue. Who knew there was a proper way to stand in line?

Anyway today we are off to do more exploring of this impeccably clean and orderly city.

We spent 3 days in Manila prior to our flight to KL and had an amazing experience there, walking through slum areas with some of Stairway's Manila staff, and getting to know the city better with Ken Lee, a friend who goes to Duke. Zach, Jao, and Mark were able to meet us in Manila on Friday to watch the new Harry Potter movie! It was awesome to see them again before we left- we definitely miss the Stairway family a lot!

More to come on the rest of our Manila experience!
We leave Singapore tomorrow night on a train back to KL to do some exploring there for a few days.

I'm leaving on a jetplane, don't know when I'll be back again

Well technically I am leaving on a bangka (boat). But yes- today we are leaving Stairway after 2 incredible months. I can't believe how fast it went- it seems like just yesterday we were sweltering in the humidity and heat of Puerto Galera because we were not used to the climate. It has been a month since the new batch of kids got here, and after seeing the slideshow that we put together for the kids last night, it is amazing how much they have already changed and grown.

It is hard to leave the kids- especially Lance and Louie, who were our first friends here! It is hard to leave these two boys, who have become to us like our own kids, or at least little brothers to us, with only a goodbye letter, book, combination lock, and an email address to hopefully keep in contact with them.

And the Stairway staff have become like family to us as well.

But the boys will leave Stairway and a new batch of kids will come in. Lance and Louie will grow up. These things end and time continues to pass, like clockwork. I will miss these new friends that I have made, and know that I will always have a home on a small island, in a tiny barangay in the Philippines.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every matter under heaven.
a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
atime to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time for laughter
a time to mourn, and a time to dance
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend
a time to be silent, and a time to speak
Ecclesiastes 3:1-7


plans from now on:
Headed to Manila for 3 days.
7/18: flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
7/18-19: overnight train to Singapore- two days there
7/21: overnight train to KL- a few days there
7/25: Carissa's bday- flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand- there for 5 days
7/30: flight to Bangkok, Thailand- there for 1 day
7/31: Flight to Hong Kong- there for a few days
8/4: flight back to New York

we have quite a busy schedule and lots planned for the next two weeks. Please pray for safety as we have a lot of planing and training to do!

Too cool for school

"Good morning, visitors!" yelled the 50 students in unison and stood at their seats as Mitch, Alex, and I entered the brightly colored yet small Grade 5 classroom at Aninuan Elementary School.

Teacher Rosemary was about to start her English reading lesson when she invited us in to observe her class. We took our seats in the back of the classroom as the students, dressed in white shirts and navy blue shorts or skirts, finished the teacher's open ended sentences and answered her introductory questions. The lesson was about paragraphs, and how to identify topic sentences and supporting details. Together, they enthusiastically read the paragraph on the board and Teacher Rosemary asked them to identify the sentences. There were also new vocabulary words or them to learn. I was impressed to see the words "garner" and "valedictory address" on the board.

Though they were a bit giggly whenever they turned around to look at us, all of the kids were extremely well-behaved and respectful toward the teacher. One would assume that a classroom of over fifty students with only one teacher would be out of control. That is the way larger classes in the United States are. But it was not chaotic at all during the lessons. Another great thing about the school is the campus. Though it is small with maybe 12 classrooms in lines around a courtyard, not one bit of space was wasted. Even the gardens have learning in them. Color was everywhere.

Rosemary spoke to us while they kids were doing their group work. She said that she loves
being a teacher. She has been there for eight years and is a foster mom for some of the children who had gone through the Stairway program. But it is a hard job, and is especially hard financially because she spends more than half of her salary on teaching supplies. The government only gives each class 300 pesos- enough to cover the cost of chalk. She talked about the students and said that this was the poorest batch she has had. That three or four of them actually learn the material quickly but the rest are slow to learn.

I was quite uncomfortable when she said this because the kids were sitting right there and could have overheard us talking. That happens a lot here, I have found. People speak very matter of factly about others, even if it is unkind and they are standing right there. It happens especially with the adults speaking about the children. There is such a divide between adults and children here. This is much different than at home. It can be good in many ways, especially in order for kids to learn how to respect their elders, but it is also a detriment in many ways. For example, parents do not talk to their kids about things like sex or drugs. This is actually a huge factor in the problem of sexual abuse- especially because if a child is abused, he or she would not be comfortable talking to their parents about it.

Anyway- the trip to the school was a great experience and lots of fun for all of us. Lance and Louie were especially excited to see us- it is a good thing we weren't visiting their individual classrooms, because otherwise we might have been more of a bother!

You know you've become Filipino when...

You wake up an hour before breakfast- 5:30am -without alarm clock.
You look forward to rice at every single meal.
You aren't really doing anything but are very busy and have time for nothing.
You don't sleep with your mosquito net.
You randomly burst out singing "Hey Jude".
You don't identify with the white TOURISTS who you might see on the beach.
You go rock climbing in slippers or barefoot.
You start calling flip-flips "slippers".
You can't eat without both a fork and a spoon simultaneously.
You drink coffee at every meal.
You can get more than half of the fish meat off the bone and into your stomach without consuming the bones.
You don't want to leave in a week because the past 8 have flown by all too quickly.

Dancin' in the moonlight

Every Tuesday night is dance lessons with Jao for the kids. We burned him a bunch of songs from our computer for him and as a warm-up the kids freestyled to "Boom-boom-pow" on repeat for about 15 times.

The four of us, watching the action on the stage from a dark second-floor deck of the yellow house, looked on from a distance so that the kids wouldn't see us and potentially become embarrassed. When Jao started to choreograph a dance to the song "In the Ayer" we followed along and decided to learn the dance and surprise the kids and Jao when they finish the dance.

It was only slightly awkward when Johnny came up and saw the four of us dancing clumsily on the porch in the dark.

4th of July in the Philippines

Yes...we celebrated.

We brought a little non-manifest destiny taste of America to Stairway in the form of a fun history lesson, a huge bucket of "dirty ice cream", a game of kickball, and hamburgers for dinner.

Alex and Mitch put together a fantastic powerpoint presentation including not only the story of the American revolution, but also videos of some of America's finest cultural moments such as Jazzercise, the Bu font hair style, platform shoes, MC Hammer, etc.

The best part of the presentation was when we showed them what an assembly line was. In order to convey the point, we looked to Lucy and Ethel, in the episode where they get jobs wrapping chocolates. If you want a good laugh, check it out here, on youTube.

Both the kids and adults at Stairway were in tears because they were laughing so hard.

What is dirty ice cream? It's not dirty- it is actually quite delicious. They call it dirty ice cream because you can buy a cup of it for only 3 pesos. But it also comes in HUGE containers if you are buying for a lot of people- and we ordered two flavors- chocolate and cheese. Yes. Cheese ice cream. It was more like strawberry with some type of cheese in it- it was actually good!

We played kickball on the beach with the kids- the closest thing we could get to baseball! It took a few innings for them to get the hang of it, but wound up having a blast once they figured it out!

For dinner, we were planning on having hamburgers. We had gone to the market in the morning to get the ground beef for the burgers. We did not expect, however to see the woman helping us to cut the beef directly from the carcass that was dangling from the top of her stand, then slap it on a (probably unwashed) scale, then onto a (definitely unwashed) block of wood, chop it up a few times, then throw it in a grinding device and plop it directly into a plastic bag that you would use to carry groceries. Talk about fresh meat?

Nani Sitas, the cook, said she would prepare the meat for us and to come up after beach time to make the patties and start grilling. When Carissa and I came up to help her, the hamburger meat looked more like hamburger meat soup, and she had started to use tinfoil on top of the grill to cook the gloopy concoction. Knowing that the kids would probably not enjoy hamburger pancakes, I quickly suggested that we find something to add to the mixture to absorb the liquid. Breadcrumbs were the only thing in the kitchen, so our burgers wound up tasting a little bit like meatballs! But with ketchup and mustard, they wound up tasting pretty good! At first the kids were nervous that there wouldn't be rice at dinner, but we kept with the every day tradition and ate rice as well. The kids liked the burgers so much that they were hiding then in their pockets to save.

Overall the kids loved every second of the treat-filled day and all of the fun, and we enjoyed showing them a few things from home.

Pictures will be posted as soon as possible!

All around the world, this one's for the girls

I met the most eloquent, energetic, and lovable 11 year old girl the other day. Her name is Joy. She speaks almost perfect English, and could even keep up with our sarcasm. Then I found out that she spoke some French, and German too.  I met her on the beach, and she was playing a game in the sand with the other kids. Maybe that is why I noticed her and was so absorbed by her; she was playing on the beach, with the boys and maybe one or two other girls. 

I always see Filipino boys playing on the beach, in the river, in town, playing sports etc., but the girls are always casually absent. I asked Zach, Lars and Monica’s son, where all the girls were and why they weren’t out on the beach on a hot Saturday afternoon. He said that they usually just stay home, complacently, clean, and take care of their younger siblings during the day. If they are not doing that, they just are not allowed to leave their homes because their mothers are afraid that they will get into trouble. 

 The girls do not play sports- not because they are not allowed or because they are not athletic, but because there are simply no programs for girls sports. If the girls play sports with the boys, they are called Tomboys-which is not a good thing for  Filipina girl to be called, because it means she is gay, which is so frustrating to think about. We try to explain to the people here that at home, tons of girls play sports and it does not mean that they are gay...it means that they are girls who like sports.

It makes me sad, though, to think about Joy. She is an extremely bright girl, on her way to speaking 4 languages. But she will probably wind up maybe going to high school, and working as a masseuse or sari sari shop owner for the rest of her life. Not that many women are not very happy doing those jobs. But for Joy to only have a miniscule chance of continuing her education in college or beyond, or traveling to Europe like she dreams of, is disheartening for me. 

The Nepalese man stole my slippers

This weekend we had visitors from the Nepalese Human Rights Commission staying at Stairway. I never really thought about what it would be like to meet a Nepalese person, nor did I think about the fact that if I did meet one, he would steal my brown and pink flowered, size small, flip flops (they call them slippers here).

But that is exactly what happened. Usually here, we take off our shoes at the doors, and in the Yellow House, we place our flip flops by the stairs on the patio, going up to our room so we don’t get everything sandy. All was well with my flip flops, I thought, until Carissa came up from the bathroom and told us we should check to make sure our flip flops were still at the base of the stairs because she had had an awkward and unexpected run-in with a Nepalese commissioner as she watched him casually slip into her slippers and walk away in them. Of course I went down to see if my slippers were there. I didn’t want to lose another pair of flip flops, mostly because I didn’t want to haggle with the women at White Beach again not to sell me flip flops for 250 pesos just because I am white. (We got our price down to 80). Anyway...I went downstairs and hysterically, my slippers were absent as well, along with the other 4 pairs that were down there. REALLY? Apparently the Nepalese people thought that our ragged, worn in flip flops were put their for them to use.

That is not the funny part.

As we were showing the Nepalese people around Stairway and the beach, they continually asked us why we weren’t wearing any shoes. In my head I thought... BECAUSE YOU’RE WEARING OUR SHOES! In fact, the commissioner who was talking with Alex even offered him "his" (Mitch's) flip flops on the way to the beach!

I didn’t get my slippers back until the next morning, when I saw that my culprit had left them outside his door. As much as I enjoyed the awkward hilarity of the entire situation and making up excuses for why I wasn’t wearing shoes the whole weekend, I swiped those slippers as fast as I could and kept them in hiding until the Nepalese departed from Stairway that afternoon.

We did have fun with the Nepalese however. After they watched Cracked Mirrors on the stage, we whipped out the bongos, guitars, and other instruments and jammed while they taught us traditional Nepalese dances. Mitch, Carissa, Alex, and I continued the party with our buddies Lexter, Diego, Tonio, Jao, and one of the Nepalese men until 2am, singing American songs and probably keeping up the rest of the Yellow house.

Hmm...serves as payback for the loss of our slippers over the weekend!

Said I was a Buffalo soldier, troddin' through the land

I saw a water buffalo on the way to church on Sunday. It wasn't in the water. It wasn’t remotely near the water. It was in a field and looked like a cow with rhinoceros skin and Shrek ears.

We ate fried chicken last night for dinner. I usually avoid fried chicken to the dismay of my southern friends and if I do eat it, I almost always,in the interest of not clogging my arteries, take the skin off. But last night I shamelessly licked every bite of chicken off of my chicken leg. We don't get familiar food here very often, and though the food here is great and much better than I had expected before coming, it is really nice to eat something and know what it is.

It was also the first birthday of the new batch of kids. Mark turned 12 and was, at first, very shy about the birthday attention when we sang to him at breakfast, but he loosened up as the day went on as his peers wouldn't let anyone forget that he was the birthday boy. It was as if they were as excited about Marks birthday as they would be about their own. We all watched The Road to El Dorado and ate cake at the Main House. It is really adorable the way they do birthdays here. No matter how big the cake is everyone gets a piece, no matter how small. I insisted that is was not a big deal if we didn't eat cake so others could have more but Ate Donna wouldn't hear of it. The birthday kid gets to choose a movie to watch at the Main House, and is given a gift.

For many of them, their birthday at Stairway will be their first birthday celebration that they have had in their whole lives. Some don't know their actual dates of birth so Ate Donna asks them when they would like their birthdays to be, and they celebrate on whatever day they choose. I just wish my birthday fell during the time we are here!

Picture this, a sky full of thunder

Yep it is the rainy season here in the Philippines, and we are experiencing a minor typhoon according to Ate Ami. It is quite rainy and there is thunder, but it is not so windy. We're not in any danger, that I know of. But the four of us "joke" that a hurricane or another potentially problematic event could come plunging through here and we would have no clue that it was coming due to the fact that there is no cable television here and nobody cares to check the weather much online, that we know of, at least.

Also, I finally got some photo albums online. You can get to them from the links section on the top left of the blog and click on the link that says Pictures.

Anything you can do, I can do better

Since coming to the Philippines, we have unanimously decided that Filipinos are essentially good at everything. Even in the things we thought we were pretty well versed in, our Filipino comrades have proven themselves, though humbly, more superior. For example:

Our expedition with our very own professional jungle trekkers
If you would have asked me yesterday if a was an outdoorsy person, I would have said yes, of course- I enjoy hiking, camping, white water rafting, snowboarding and being just outside in general- and have had lots of experience in the great outdoors. But since coming to the Philippines almost everything I thought I knew about myself has been challenged, and our hike- or should I say mountain trek- was no exception.

We set out with Ate Ami and Kuya Tonio on Sunday morning right after breakfast on a hike to a place called Aninuan Falls. When within the first five minutes Ate Ami, a very petite yet feisty woman, had us scaling a steep rocky incline, navigating through a shoulder-high grass field and getting attacked by monstrous, pinching red ants in the jungle that cling to your body until you rip them out of your skin to release their death grip, I knew this would be one of the most difficult “walks” (as Ate Ami called it) of my life. It was a challenging hike (for those non-Filipinos of us) but it was a beautiful one. As the peaks got higher and the terrain more difficult, the panoramic views spanning from the lush, green mountain to the turquoise-blue ocean became nothing short of breathtaking.

When we arrived at the falls we were relieved to find a large, refreshing and cold pool below a strong waterfall- the perfect oasis after our two and half hour excursion through the jungle, in the heat, over mountain tops, and past lots of cows. We ordered coconut juice and wondered where the cooler was until we saw the guy chopping open the coconut with a machete. As you can probably imagine we took a nice long nap after returning to Stairway. Tonio went kayaking.

White Beach wall-climbing wonders
The other day we went on an unexpected adventure. A simple walk to white beach with Lexter and Diego turned into yet another rock climbing escapade (Adding to the fun was the fact that I was wearing a dress and flip flops.) We walked to the end of White Beach, marked by huge rocks that jet out into the ocean from the mountain. We climbed up the very vertical formation using roots and vines too pull ourselves up. The rocks were very sharp, and though we were struggling with flip-flops on, Diego seemed to have no problem prancing across the ridged surfaces barefoot- again making us aware of how lame we are compared to the natives here! After taking in the striking view we climbed down the other side towards more rocks that we climbed, and watched the sunset as the tide came in and the waves crashed against the giant rock structures. Unfortunately we did not have our cameras to capture this awesome find, but we intend to go back before we leave the Philippines.

Other examples of Filipino awesomeness

Everyone here looks much younger than they are. For example, Ate Carol, a vivacious, adventurous woman who has been working with us on the campaign and chilling us in our spare time (taking us snorkeling, to a cool music place called Coco Aroma on the beach, etc) looks no older than 29 years old. She is in a band (and is actually a celebrity here in the Philippines!) We found out the other day that she is 38. When she told us that- my mouth literally dropped wide open and I was speechless for 30 seconds or so. Not that I think 38 is old, but she just looks so much like she is in her 20s! I hope that I can age as gracefully as she is- particularly the way her spirit has. During the time I have spent with her and the conversations we have had thus far, I think she is an awesome woman with great faith, a serene personality and a kind heart. I am so glad to be working with her this summer.

Flips are very popular with the kids here on the island. Back flips, front flips, handstands…they do everything. Lexter and Jao teach the Stairway kids how to flip also. They have been trying to teach us since we got here, but with little luck. And of course, some of the Stairway kids, who have been here a few days, are already flipping! It is crazy! Everyone is just so athletic here, and picks everything up so quickly!

Musical talent- so I thought I was pretty musical. I have been playing the piano since I was 5, I can play the clarinet, some sax, and a little guitar. But nope, the Filipinos put me to shame again. Everyone here can just pick up the guitar and start strumming to any American song- no lessons, no sheet music… they just teach themselves. AND they all can sing! Johnny is an awesome rapper. And Ate Susan has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard!

It has become a bit of a joke among the four of us Americans each time we see another feat accomplished by one of our friends here. But it is really fun to see what other people can do, and how sometimes they go about things differently than we would and I am learning so much from them.

Down in my soul, Sweet beautiful soul saving joy

Yesterday I witnessed more joy on the faces of 10 skinny, malnourished street kids than I had witnessed on a person's face in a very long time. In their new bathing suits, the new batch of kids that just arrived from the detention center in Manila, had their first glimpse of the ocean...Well they had more than a glimpse- it was more of a free-for-all of running in the sand, splashing and swimming in the water, and practicing handstands and front flips on the beach.

Upon their arrival, the 10 boys walked into the front courtyard of the Stairway Foundation empty handed and up the stairs to the dining area. We had formal introductions on in a circle on the stage, right underneath the sign that proudly procaims "Every Human Has Rights," and I was shocked to hear the children say their ages. These 10 kids, ranging in age from 10-14, looked no older than 9 years old. Seeing them in comparison to the kids of the employees who live here at Stairway was an eye opener. Lancelot, 10, looks older and bigger than the 14 year olds. Zach, age 13, Lars and Monica’s son, towers over all of the kids by at least a foot.

Many of the kids have visible skin diseases, and others have scars from cuts on their arms. I expected the kids to be shyer than they were, to act more jaded. But when we helped each one carry their shiny new wash basins with their 4 new pairs of clothes, a new bathing suit, toothbrush, flip flops, and other necessities, up to their dormitory to organize their new things, they acted like any other kid I have seen on Christmas.

We took "before" pictures of all the kids, to have something to compare and measure their physical healing and development over the next year. Then they headed down to the beach, washed up, and got ready for Izana's 6th birthday party at the main house. We had a big feast and watched a movie on the lawn in honor of Izana's birthday, the Philippines' Independence Day, and the arrival of the new batch of kids. (We had to explain to the kids that every day was not full of cake, movies, and parties!)

Over the past two days watching these kids at the beach, at Izana’s party, and at their orientation session, I have been very impressed with the way they act. They are all very polite and obedient. I don’t know if they are making good first impressions, or if they are afraid that they will get in trouble like they did at the detention centers if they acted out of line.

I am interested to see, in the coming days and weeks, how these kids interact with each other and the Stairway staff in other situations.

A wedding? I love weddings…

On Saturday night I attended my first Filipino wedding! Everyone here knows everyone else- so apparently we were invited to the wedding reception, that was held outdoors, near a cluster of homes by Lance and Louie’s school. We walked with Lexter, Jhao, and a few others from Stairway through a very muddy road (it had rained all day) towards lights and music coming from the party. It is very difficult to go somewhere and not be noticed because the four of us always stick out like sore thumbs among our tan and petite Filipino friends, and this occasion was no different. We arrived at the tent and got a huge welcome from the MC who saw us near the buffet (which was delicious). After we ate, we realized that we actually recognized a lot of the people at the wedding. Many of the people on the Stairway staff were there, and we also knew people from the beach.
At a Filipino wedding, it is tradition that the women sit in a circle of chairs, and the men pay money to the bride and groom to dance with the women. Though I am somewhat against the concept of objectifying women and having men pay to dance with her, Carissa and I, wanting to experience a little cultural immersion, conceded when Jhao showed us to our seats in the circle. For somewhere between 20 and 100 pesos per dance, Carissa and I were on our feet the whole time. There were also free dances, where everyone could come out and dance, and those were the most fun because Alex, Mitch, and our entire Stairway family came out to dance with us. We had taught our Stairway family the Souldja Boy dance, and one of the highlights of the night was dancing all together when the song came on.

After Carissa and I grew tired of the awkward dancing with random men, we all walked back and sat at the Sailor’s Shack, a very cool little hangout on our beach.

Overall, the night was a blast and will definitely be a highlight of our trip.

Pizza pie in your eye

We ate pizza last night- and it was delicious! Yes- a New Jerseyan admitting to delicious pizza outside the New York metropolitan area. I don’t know if it was because we needed to have a taste of home, or what it was, but the beachfront Italian restaurant called Luca’s was a piece of heaven.

The charming deck we ate on had a very relaxed feel, and we were the only 4 people there. We ordered two pizzas and pasta to share. We were skeptical, but once that pizza came out, all doubts went out the window as we enjoyed a little comfort food and prepared ourselves for today, when we will be starting our newest project from Lars and Monica- creating a marketing strategy for Stairway in the United States, and to create a campaign for October, 2010.

More on that later!

Waterfall, lovin' me

On Thursday we hiked to a beautiful waterfall high in the mountains. Zach (Lars and Monica’s son), was our jungle guide along with Jonathan, and Sir Lance and King Louie tagged along for the adventure as well. We walked down the beach, over rocks, and across more beach until we cut into the mountain.
I felt like I was on a safari at a petting zoo because everywhere I looked, there were goats, dogs, and cows just sitting on the edge of the forest. We were warned to stay in the middle of the path, away from the trees, in order to avoid death due to falling coconuts. The animal adventure continued as we walked through a Mangyan (the indigenous people of the Philippines) village---lots of huge turkeys, pigs, goats, and puppies popped up as we traveled through the village and further up the mountain.

The mountain was very, very steep and there were some inch-wide ledge paths above a rocky river that we needed to trek across. The climb up to the falls was full of mud, rock hopping, and my yelling at Dalme- our gross, flea infested, “walk –in” dog that likes white people, because a Frenchman once fed him, and has a particularly affinity for me- to get away from me!

The waterfall was awesome! The water was very cold and refreshing, and we were able to jump from the ledge into the pool. The hike back down the mountain was challenging, yet relatively uneventful, until we returned to the Mangyan village.

We saw a woman screaming and running towards us, and then a man carrying a limp woman into a hut. It was extremely chaotic, especially due to the fact that I know only a few phrases in Tagalog, and could not understand what was happening. Zach told us that they were sending for a tricycle to take her to the hospital that was just down the road. There was almost a sense among the people that they knew there could only be so much done to help the woman. I don’t know what happened to the woman once we left, but I couldn’t help thinking that if we were home and something like that happened, it would be no problem getting a person to a good hospital where they could almost certainly be helped. It was quite a weird situation for me to be in, because I wanted to help, but couldn’t.

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Just let me state for the record, we're giving love in a family dose

Red Leaves was successfully launched on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at a very chic premiere event held in Manila at the RCBC plaza. UNICEF co-hosted the event (a true sign of Stairway’s foothold and efficiency in its field) and many important people and stakeholders were in attendance. There is currently an anti-child pornography act going through Congress. For some reason, it is illegal to buy or sell child pornography but it is not illegal to own it, though if one owns it, he most likely bought it. The bill is not controversial, so everyone is keeping their fingers crossed that it goes through.

As part of the Stairway family, we all traveled to Manila on Monday morning and arrived at the hotel we were staying at called Bianca’s Garden, formerly called True Home. It is a quaint Spanish-style collection of small rooms tucked away in one of the slum neighborhoods of Manila. Upon arrival, we had lunch and went on to put together 300 training kits that consist of a DVD, storybook, and manual that go with each of the three animations that Stairway has put out. We sold the complete package along with other Stairway products at the event.

Then we all piled into the jeepnee and Revo and headed over to the plaza- to set up for the next night’s event. The RCBC is a huge venue that holds various companies, restaurants, and theaters. We were in a branch of the building that had a theater with a huge projection screen that was able to drop down from the ceiling and could be let up for theatrical productions.

Outside the theater was a large, beautiful foyer area where we set up tall tables, a photo exhibit, and a booth for selling products. We set up the stage set for the theater production, Cracked Mirrors, that was put on by three of the Stairway staff members who were formerly clients at Stairway, set up the photo exhibit, and ran around making sure everything was in place for more setting up the next day.

The actual event was awesome. There was an excellent turnout- over 450 people attended- and everything ran smoothly. There was a cocktail hour in the beginning as people entered and then we screened Red Leaves Falling. Then there was an intermission with a buffet in the foyer, and the event continued in the theater with the extremely powerful musical, Cracked Mirrors. I filmed the entire program for Stairway to use for various purposes.


At the end, Monica was presented red roses in recognition for all of her hard work and the Stairway staff was recognized for all of their support and hard work. Watching them from the balcony, where I was filming, I felt so proud of all of them, and so happy to be just a tiny part of what Lars, Monica, and the rest of the Stairway family is doing here. It really is like a big family here, and after our trip to Manila, I truly feel like a part of this unit.

Final Cut and Red Leaves Falling

Friday morning, Lars gave us our first official assignment-to create a trailer for Red Leaves Falling, Stairway's new advocacy animation. Good thing I essentially lived in the Mac labs at school for one of my classes this semester and am very well acquainted with Final Cut Pro, because we only had 2 days to complete the trailer. Over the course of Friday and Saturday (and very early this morning) we put in about 30 hours of work on the trailer that will be used online to market the new animation.

Red Leaves Falling is an story about child pornography and child sex trafficking. As part of their advocacy campaign, Stairway Foundation creates animations related to the topic of sexual abuse for people of all ages, to get people talking about it. Their third and newest animation will premiere on June 2, 2009 (Tuesday!) at the RCBC in Manila, an awareness event that will bring out about 450 politicians, NGOs such as UNICEF, and other "high- stake-holding-people," as the staff at Stairway call them, who are expected to attend. Everyone at Stairway is both anxious and excited, as they hope this event will influence the ratification of the new law, to make posession of child pornography illegal, that is currently being processed.

Thursday we received word that the final animation had been put onto a CD and that it would be in Puerto Galera for us to pick up that night. We had our own pre-screening up at the main house (Lars and Monica's house).

We will all be traveling together to Manila tomorrow to prepare for the event. I will be documenting the event on Tuesday night and we return to Stairway on Wednesday.

On an separate note- Carissa and I almost had to sleep with a gecko on Friday night. We came in from working on the project pretty late, and were greeted by a HUGE amphibian that would not move. The four of us, exhausted from working, spent about 30 minutes trying to devise a plan to get it out. It was definitely a production but with a little coaxing, Carissa's bed mattress, and a squeegie, we managed to rid Carissa and my room of our unwanted visitor.

Here is a link to view the Red Leaves Trailer

Jeepnees, Mangos, and the Beatles

After breakfast on Monday, our first full day at Stairway, we went with Jaou, Nani Jean, Ate Susan, her two sons, Lancelot and Louie, ages 9 and 7, into the town of Puerto Galera. (Jaou, Ate Susan, and the two boys live at Stairway and are part of the staff. Nani Jean is one of the cooks). The women needed to buy food at the market for the week, and Alex, Mitch, and I wanted to purchase cell phones.

Jaou drove us in Stairway's jeepnee, a truck that is used in the Philippines. It was a beautiful 15 minute ride around the coast with perfect views of the turqoise-blue water. We approached the town, and Jaou maneuvered the large jeepnee through very narrow streets until we got to the market.

It was more of a market-street. It was so colorful and bustling with people- and everyone stared at us because they weren't used to seeing us "white people" in the market- a very non touristy place. Jaou showed us the right place to buy a phone and we explored from there, taking pictures along the way. The market was right on the bay, and the little kids who were hanging out there saw our cameras and wanted to get their pictures taken.

We walked back to where the jeepnee was parked and found Lance and Louie hanging on it. Until now they had been shy around us, but after we let them take picture with our cameras, they began talking to us more (they speak Tagalog and enough English for us to communicate pretty well). Now it seems we can't get them to stop talking!






After the market, we went to pick up a volunteer who was coming to Stairway- she runs a resort in Puerto Galera that is located on a lagoon. We drove up the path to her place and were able to eat mangos that Jaou was hitting down from the trees with a long stick. They were delicious!

Then we went down the mountain to the lagoon- it looked like the a scene from the default Windows desktop pictures- crystal water, a small rowboat, and a dock. There, we had a photoshoot with Lance, Louie, and Jaou, who were very amused by my camera.













On a separate note, "Hey Jude" has to be one of the most popular songs in the Philippines. On the drive back to Stairway, it came on the radio and everyone in the vehicle burst out into song, even 7-year-old Louie. But that wasn't the first time we heard it. We had to have heard it at least 8 other times since arriving in the Philippines. In fact, Isana, Lars and Monica's 5-year-old daughter, sings the song, and the 4 puppies that live at Stairway are named Jude, Lucy, Prudence, and Max, from Across the Universe, the movie that goes with the Beatles' song.

To see more pictures, click here.

The Trip and Arriving at Stairway

Well I am here at Stairway in Puerto Galera, Mindoro in the Philippines and it is amazing! We are all settled here after a very long trip.

The flight from JFK to Hong Kong was about 16 hours long, but due to the fact that I was sick, I slept through most of the flight…thankfully! But I don't know if I can say the same for Carissa, Alex or Mitch. We had a short layover in the Hong Kong airport and had our first taste of real Chinese food! The flight from Hong Kong to Manila was only about an hour and a half long and we landed in Manila around 6:30 PM on Saturday evening. Getting through customs was a breeze- no lines at all. The humidity was the first thing that hit us as we walked out the doors of the airport. It was 7:00pm and had to have been 90 degrees and 98% humidity. We bought SIM cards for cell phones and hired a taxi to take us to our hotel for the night, the Milate Pensionne. The drive to the hotel was an interesting one, as the four of us were introduced to the disorganized and crazy Manila traffic. We passed through narrow streets and dozens of colorful markets and neon lights on the way to our hotel, which was located behind a Starbucks, ironically. After checking into our rooms we dropped off our luggage and walked around the street of our hotel to find a place to get ice cream so we could take our malaria pills.

The second we walked out of our hotel, however, we were instantly reminded of why we were in the Philippines in the first place, as children came up to us asking us for coins and trying to sell us flowers. It was heartbreaking to see these children, about 5 years old, wearing no shoes and walking around begging for money at 9:00 at night.


Exhausted from our long trip, we went to bed early and woke up the next morning to meet Byron, the man Lars sent to drive us from Manila to Batangas, the port from where we would take a boat to Puerto Galera. The drive was 2 hours long, and when we arrived in Batangas, we waited to board the boat called “the Osprey.” We were a little apprehensive about the boat ride because just the day before a boat capsized and 12 people drowned because they overloaded the boat! We were safe, though. The boat ride was about 45 minutes long and looked like a scene out of Pirates of the Caribbean . The water was crystal clear and there were gorgeous rock structures near the islands.

Once we arrived at White Beach, we met up with Jaou, a man who works at Stairway, who was sent to pick us up from the port. A short drive later, we were at the Stairway Foundation.

The closest thing to which I can compare the campus of Stairway, is a huge treehouse. The campus is not very big, but there are many levels built into the mountain and connected by, appropriately, stone stairs. Our rooms are in the Yellow House, which is on the lowest level directly when you walk into Stairway. Each of our rooms has two twin beds and a bathroom. Also on the first level is a stage and two ping pong tables.

The middle layer of stairway has a 3 level concrete building with a large patio dining area covered by a bamboo leaf roof. On the first level of the building is the kitchen. The second floor of the building houses the large Stairway office and the third level is a large, open deck with tables and is used for workshops. The second level of Stairway also has an “art gallery” where kids paint on canvases and do other crafts.

The third level of stairway is where the childrens’ dormitory is located, as well as their school house. The fourth level is where other staff houses and the Main House, Lars and Monica’s house, is located.

There is much more to say, but we are all sharing a computer and I need to let the others have a turn!

I will post pictures soon, as well as more about the great people here and more about what we have been doing!

And so it begins...!

Well, tomorrow is the day! I am all packed and ready to embark on an extraordinary trip- I can't believe it!

Today Alex and Mitch flew in to Jersey from Chicago and Norfolk, respectively, and the four of us are waking up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to get to JFK for a 10:10am flight. Our flight from JFK to Hong Kong will last 16 hours. Then we have a short layover in Hong Kong and have another 2 hour flight to Manila, where we will land at 6:30pm Philippines time...which I believe is about 5:30am in Jersey. We will be spending the night in Manila, and someone from the Stairway Foundation will be picking us up in the morning to escort us to the Stairway Foundation on the island of Mindoro! Hopefully I will be able to update more once I arrive!

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day Weekend!
Please pray for safe travel for Carissa, Alex, Mitch and me over the next two days!

Love.

Preparation

Professional Preparation

Over the course of the past couple of months, I have undertaken extensive preparation to ready myself for this trip. My coursework during my first year at Elon has been perfectly relevant to the work I will be doing in the Philippines. Currently I am a double major in Human Services and Strategic Communications. In the field of Human Services this year I took Introduction to Human Services, International Human Services, and Counseling Individuals and Families. These classes have helped me to understand how to help people effectively and sustainably and how to ask good questions.

In the field of Communications I took a Communications in a Global Age and one of my favorite classes, Digital Media, a course where I learned techniques of creating visually appealing media. I learned to develop on my existing skills of photography, writing, and web design, all of which will be useful for the projects Stairway wants me to work on. In addition to refining these skills, I learned to use the video editing software “Final Cut Pro,” a skill that will help me create the best documentary possible for Stairway. This summer opportunity will help me to further integrate my two majors- at first glance they might seem completely opposite, but for me they are working hand in hand. This summer I will be able to see how I can use Communications skills in a Human Services context.


Health and Safety Preparation

I know that everyone is going to have some questions about my health and safety while I am away this summer. I am fully aware of the health concerns that come alongside international travel and service. I have been to the Duke Travel Clinic and have received all of the necessary vaccinations and medications. During my stay in the Philippines, I will be on Malarone, a prescription medication to prevent Malaria. I also have antibiotics that I will be bringing with me in case of food poisoning. (Though I will be following all recommended eating guidelines and will hopefully not have to use those at all!) In the event of emergency, Stairway is five minutes away from a basic 24-hour clinic, and in the event that serious care is required, there is a quality hospital in Manila just 1.5 hours away. I have travel health insurance, so getting back to the United States will not be a problem if I should become ill. The Philippines is a relatively sanitary and medically safe country – there are requisite vaccinations, but beyond those, I am not likely to come into contact with something particularly harmful.

As is the nature of any international service project there are safety concerns that must be addressed. As the Stairway Foundation is situated on the coast of a remote island, its physical location presents few if any safety concerns. Though some islands of the Philippines have been identified as “terrorist watch sites,” these islands are located EXTREMELY far south of Mindoro on an island called Mindanao. (Conflicts organized by the New People’s Army have historically been isolated to this region and have never targeted foreigners.)

I have registered my stay in the Philippines with the United States Embassy in Manila. I will also have access to WiFi internet, and will have access to cell phone use.

All the staff members with whom I have spoken at Stairway are very aware of the safety concerns that I could face as an international student. They are used to having students come from the United States and from Europe and have not had any problems. I know that with the considerations mentioned above, I can remain safe and healthy during my summer.

My Summer Adventure 2009

I am so excited to share with everyone the amazing opportunity that I have this summer. I will be in the Philippines for two months working with the Stairway Foundation, a recovery center for sexually abused street children and former child prisoners. Stairway is located on the island of Oriental Mindoro, about an 3 hours from Manila.

At Stairway I am working on their campaign against child sexual abuse and exploitation called Break the Silence.

I am traveling and working with 3 other students from the United States- all of us will be working on projects at Stairway. The Stairway Foundation is a residential facility and we are living on the Stairway campus.

I feel so blessed to have been given this incredible opportunity to learn first hand about the culture of the Philippines, to meet the people there, and to hopefully help the Stairway Foundation and the kids there in any way that I can during my stay.

For more information on the Stairway Foundation, check out their website.

If you have any more questions, feel free to shoot me an email! My email address is mharrison9@elon.edu.