Sunday Surprise

I was walking through a market after church on Sunday, and as we were leaving I heard "Tita Megan! Tita Megan!" I turned around to see one of our clients running towards me.  She met the people with me, then took my hand to lead us over to the booth where she was working.  I was so honored she sought me out and was so proud of her, witnessing her at work and making her life better.  She was just so beautiful to me....and my favorite part of the day.

Friday, May 28, 2010 Visayan Foundation

In a previous post a while back, I attended a Mardi Gras Ball

benefiting the Visayan Forum Foundation

(http://www.visayanforum.org/portal/).  It was there that I met

Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, a modern day hero and one of the most amazing

people I have ever come in contact with. She has incredble energy and

undying love or victims of human trafficking.   Since I met her, I

have had several opportunities (inclduing a videoke party) to witness

and experience how insanely fun she is, as well.  It has been her goal

to open a safe house for victims of traffcking before she retired, and

today we got to witness the inaguration of the Center of Hope.  She is

very close with our field office director, and our organizations have

worked very closely in the past.  The opening of this shelter is very

significant to IJM because a need for a secure and safe shelter for

our clients has become more obvious over this past year, as the

shelter we have been referring to seems to be getting somewhat over

crowded.  They had a group of survivors sing the song Journey by Lea

Solanga, and one of our clients said the introduction to the keynote

speaker, Ms. Leslie Bassett, Deputy Chief of Mission from the US

Embassy.  I was so overcome with emotion, I was wiping tears from my

eyes as my boss tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Megan, why are

you crying? This is just an introduction."  I think it was from what I

witnessed after the clients sang. They were crying and Cecil went up

afterwards hugging them.  It was so beatiful to see the genuine love

she had for them that they so clearly reciprocrated...I felt like I

got a glimpse of the changes she has been making and will make in

these clients' lives. On the program was the story of one victim, a 14

year old girl who, after being tricked into a job of prostitution, was

forced to sell "fake virginity" by having cotton balls soaked in

pigeon's blood inserted in her, in addition to being forced to have

several abortions before being rescued by Visayan Forum.  Shocking

information, but a harsh reality of the things that are ocurring to

these girls. There was an opportunity to make a donation to the

organization, so I used some donor money to purchase a "healing

package" for 1 client in the shelter for one year, meaning it would

pay for 1 client's rehabilitative services.  I hope that's ok :)

Thursday, May 27 2010 World Vision

IJM has a partnership with World Vision, the organization known for

having child sponsorships (http://www.worldvision.org/).  Josie had a speaking engagement at their

Children's Congress in Laguna (a gorgeous, lush area in the

Philippines).  She invited me to attend and assist her.  We drove

about 3 hours on winding roads, passing very rural areas where people

used the road to dry out their rice, and seeing a woman driving a

motorcycle while holding an infant baby in her arms...brings new

meaning to multitasking.  Once we arrived at the Caliraya Resort, we

had to take a short boat ride over to the island to reach the

Children's Congress.  When I went inside the conference room, I was

blown away by the amount of children in the room.  They immediately

sparkled with smiles as we came in and sat down with the other

distinguished guests in some chairs that were front and center.  I had

no idea what I had signed myself up for.  They sang and danced for us

before reading to us their mission statement.  Afterwords, it was the

job of the guests (us) to react or speak to the children.  Originally

it was Josie who was supposed to speak on IJM's behalf, however they

handed me the microphone.  I wish I had been more prepared for the

opportunity...but I said to them "I will be short and sweet....thank

you so much for inviting us maraming salamat. Magunda ka."  That's

right.  I spoke Tagalog.  And I told them they were beautiful.  Josie

then shared her story with the children, a very powerful testimony

where she explains that although now she is a director of social

workers, for most of her life she has been the client, as her parents

both died at the age of 5 and she was raised by her "yaya" (nanny).

The children were receptive and so grateful to have us there.  What an

honor. The celebration finished by one of their leaders announcing the

new child president would soon have the opportunity to read the World

Vision mission statement to the U.S. Congress.  Incredible....I think he was terrified.

The boat we had to take over to the island.

The children doing one of their dances

Me trying to the "double Korean" a pose our clients constantly do when taking pictures...

____________________________________________________________________________________

I got to see Dashboard Confessional in concert tonight.  Brought me back to some good times in high school with Sara and Crystal.  They, like most other bands I've seen here, were competely shocked how well everyone here knew their songs and I think they had more fun than the crowd, as chris spent most of his time away from the microphone listening to the crowd sing.  He said they would definitely be back.  Someone should have informed them 1) how much people in the Philippines love music (hence...constant videoke everywhere) and 2) how good they are at singing. Leah and I had a good time.

Wednesday, May 26 Staff Care Day

I have been put in charge of monthly Staff Care days for the office.

Since we are on a limited budget, we decided to have a movie day down

in our basement, so then our sole financial responsibility would be

some light snacks for the afternoon.  Our Field Office Director

e-mailed me yesterday asking what I was planning for snacks.  I

responded that Hope and I had already bought some popcorn, chips and

soda, and that on Wednesday (today) we would be sending a messenger

out to get some fruit and puta.  Now understand.  Puto (with an o at

the end) is a common, cheap, Filipino dessert...like a rice muffin.

For any of you that speak spanish....you know puta.....is a bad word.

For some reason I feel like I can type it here because it is a

different language to me.  So I meant to tell the Field Office

Director that we were sending our messenger to get putO, however I

said something comepletely different and inappropriate.  I should have

known since I have training in espanol....however iiiiii messed up.

Thankfully...she thought it was funny...and I never reached the point

of asking the messenger to go bring back some puta because he would

have been pretty disturbed, I'm sure.

Tuesday, May 25 I was fired today

Aparently I spoke too soon.  I recently sent the dress designer that I'm in love with an e-mail with a lot of questions, interspersed with many dazzeling compliments.  I do have doubts with the process, as her price was pretty high....even compared to ones in the US ( I originally wanted to do this if it meant I could get a dress cheaper here than in the US), and she responded to me that I seem like I am too hesitant and maybe she is not the designer for me.  After e-mailing her back, I have yet to hear from her since.  I'm trying to convinve myself I didn't get bridezilla on her...but honestly it's good closure for me.  Better that she fired me, cause I'm not sure I would have been able to decide later on.  The process was getting pretty stressful for me since I did not have my mom and sister with me to help me decide. Now I can look forward to trying on dresses when I get back home...and the process of dress designing here has been super fun and exciting.  Maybe if I had a few thousand dollars to splurge it would be more exciting and not as stressful. The timing is good, because my mom has checked on the prices of some of the dresses I have liked in the magazines Leah's mom brought me, and they are insanely cheaper and more beautiful.  I'm in a good place.  I promise.  Does it sound like I'm trying to convince myself?

Monday, May 24,2010

I had the opportunity to attend a hearing today for a client that is a victim of sexual abuse.  We woke up bright and early to meet at the office at 6:30am before heading over to the court by 8:30am.  Once we got there and figured out which court room we would be in, we were notified that the judge was absent from court today…something I’m learning is common here in the Philippines.  I was asking the social worker with us more about the court process, and she said it’s for reasons like this that cases are extended for so long here.  There is only one date set a month for a hearing, and if something happens to postpone it, you have to wait another month…when maybe the next time a prosecutor doesn’t show up and it’s extended again for another month.  I saw the disappointment in the client’s face when she heard the judge was not there.  There is so much build up for something like a hearing. The clients get so nervous and spend time practicing what they are going to say. Plus I imagine it’s hard knowing, “today I’m going to see the person who violated me.”  It’s such a significant let down when they are unable to just get it over with, which is what they really want to do.  Finish the process.  Find closure.  My heart went out to her, but I was so honored because she kept looking up and smiling at me, and eventually she took my hand and did not let it go until it was time to leave.  I loved being able to be that person for her and look forward to being there for her again on her next hearing date.

Sunday, May 23 - can I be girly for this one?

Soooo.....I'm pretty sure I have found a designer to design my wedding dress.  She studied at the New School of Design...the one from Project Runway. heee :) And of course we had to ask if she had any interactions with Heidi Klum, which she had.  The dresses we saw that she designed were gorgeous, and did not look like cheap prom dresses like we feel we have seen in some other places.  She also has a pretty incredible collection of fun wedding headpieces.  and when I say we...that equals me, Hope and Leah, my interim bridesmaids while I'm here. :)  I heard about her from a friend of ours who used to go to school with her. 

This decision is so big though....and it makes it even harder that there are literally NO places to try on dresses here.  We have heard of one place to try on dresses, and when we went today....we found out they only do custom designs too.  No trying on. They just don't do that here.  So the process involves a lot of trust, but the fun part is you can make adjustments along the way, and have as many fittings as you want.  If I go with this, I'm sure the designer will regret ever telling me that. 

To those of you who have donated for me to be here:  the cost of the wedding dress would come from my parent's wedding budget for me....not from donations.  just wanted to make sure that was clear as I discuss these things :)

More girliness...:  I was inspired by my mom who recently got her eyebrows threaded...and which is really common here...to get mine done since it had been...let's face it...3 months (since I left the US).  I went in (with insanely bushy eyebrows) confused about how it works, and left equally as confused.  I just know they did a good job, and charged me $3 to do it.  Leah originally told me she was thinking about getting it done too, but was going to wait to see what it was like until after it was done.  So the real test of how well it worked was whether or not Leah got hers done after mine.  Since my eyes were closed while they threaded my overgrown brows, I couldn't figure out what was happening other than it was kind of painful every once in a while, and felt like scissors trimming hair at other times.  When Leah got hers done...good sign...I tried to watch, but only to figure out the stylist did magical things with her fingers and thread to shape and trim eyebrows that I cannot explain.  I'm not even mad.  I will definitely do it again.

Friday, May 21, 2010

We took a vacation today to go visit El Corregidor, an island located in Manila Bay.  On our taxi ride into manila, we saw another fire happening in an open field along the way....I still have yet to actually see a fire truck around here. I'm pretty sure there are fire stations, right?  The fire was getting dangeoursly close to a large bank, and no one really seemed all that worried about it as ashes were falling from the sky.  As we reached El Corregidor's dock, a large group of people were meeting outside for a free morning workout session, unaffected by the nearby fire.  Theeeey were pretty funny.  It reminded me of 80's workout sessions. 

We got on a jeepney that would take us to the ferry boat we would be riding on to get to El Corregidor...A wowowee was installed on the TV overhead, so edgar and I immediately spotted a videoke opportunity, and passionately sang total eclipse of the heart for our friends and others aboard...at 730 in the morning.  If I were them I would have hated me...which I'm sure they did....but it was fun. 

El Corregidor is most easily described as the Ellis Island of the Philippines.  I have been surprised at how little of the Filipinos we have talked to actually have been to El Corregidor.  It's gorgeous and so close to the city.  We signed up for a day tour and took a 45 minute ferry ride from Manila to the island.  It was disgusting to see the water closest to Manila....neon green colored from the pollution and full of shoes and trash.  As you get closer to El Corregidor the water gets bluer and more fresh looking, but it was so tragic to see the way the water just outside of Manila was being treated.  Seeing the natural beauty of El Corregidor made it obvious how Manila could look if it wasn't overwhelmed with pollution and city life.

The day tour was purely historical...we took a tram around witnessing and walking amongst the ruins and memorials from World War II.  We took this picture right after a fiasco in some barracks located right next to this cannon.    The other interns were entering this super dark room as I was trying to be bold and explore further inside to see what was up.  As I got closer to the back of the barracks, something came flying towards me...like I was in a haunted house.  I'm still not sure if it was a bat or a bird, all I remember is screaming and ducking low as fast as I could before bolting out and running into Ziwei...breaking her glasses. I'm pretty fast so no need to worry guys....I avoided getting bit by a bat and therefore did not get rabies during my trip to El Corregidor...thank goodness. Hope witnessed the whole thing and thought it was hilarious.  My heart was still beating pretty fast in the picture above. And in case you were worried for Ziwei...the glasses I broke were a pair of fake Ray Ban's (Ziwei I hope you don't mind me admitting this), which I also had a pair that I could just give to her to replace. 

The tour was pretty interesting...and overwhelmingly hot.  When I am outside here, I am just...constantly moist with sweat.  ...and at times, drenched.  I don't know how else to describe it.  It's disgusting.  One of our friends likes to remind us that it is good for our pores....but I don't even care.  Even Filipinos are saying it's hotter than usual.  I saw on a sign that it was 39 degrees Celsius...which didn't sound that hot until I looked up the conversion and realized it meant 102 degrees Fahrenheit.  Ridiculous.  I was grateful to have seen that part of Manila, and to have remembered to bring my obnoxious fan that I have learned to carry around with me.   

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

IJM celebrated another bar closure today.  I tried to go with the team to witness the fantastic sign being posted, however I had to leave halfway through to attend a meeting at Samaritana.  Fortunately, I was promised at least 2 more closures before the year was over (that's IJM's goal at least...) so I can attend those. 

The meeting with Samaritana was very encouraging.  We are working with them on implementing livelihood projects for our clients in order to prevent retrafficking, and to get more clients involved in their very holistic program. Their clients are currently working on cards soon to be sold online at http://www.sanctuaryspring.com/.  It's this awesome fair trade project where the women make cards and when they are finished, they sign a pseudonym on the back that the buyer of the card can then look up online to learn about their story.  The cards are very cute, and Jimmy...the founder of Good Paper is an incredible guy really hoping to help people around the world.

On my adventure back to the office, I had to ride in a trike....in a business skirt....from Samaritana back out to the main highway where I could catch a cab. Cute, huh? ...yeah not much.

Ziwei (my friend and contact over at Samaritana) helped me to catch a cab.  She spoke to the driver in Tagalog to try to make sure he wouldn't rip me off and get me back to the office safely.  As soon as he pulled away and Ziwei left, he turned the meter off, turned around, and asked me how much I would pay him since the meter was broken.  I, at first calmly, told him that his meter was not broken and that I would pay the meter price to get back to the office.  He kept pressing all the buttons on his meter, except the one to reset, to try and prove the meter was broken, but I leaned over and pressed the reset button to show him that his meter was in fact, not broken by any means.  Now sometimes I can deal with these things, and just brush it off, but today was one of those days it just really irritated me.  I think it was mostly because once I got out of the cab and he drove off, I realized I was standing in front of some sort of jeepney stop/squatter community/possible slum type area....dressed in business attire.  Fortunately I was able to get another cab to take me back....and tipped him a lot for being an honest man.  But ugh....it just made me so mad.

I was encouraged back at the office because I was able to help one of our clients with her resume, and give her some helpful tips in getting a job.  Josie, my supervisor, loved the idea of me holding a training for several of our clients one day in the office, and helping them in their career path.  All you CED people...get ready for me to harass you again for more resources. 

I would like to give a huge shout out to Megan Smell and Amanda Giordano for blessing me with the gift of my first Reese's cup extravaganza since I left.  I had not had one in 3 months....and have eaten way more than I care to admit over this past week.  I must say it was a glorious day to receive a package (full of many other wonderful things).  It's seriously like Christmas.  Thanks so much. I know it's insanely expensive to do that.....and totally unnecessary.  But I really appreciate it.

Friday, May 14, 2010 IJM Family Day

IJM organized a family day today; an outing where many of our coworkers invited their husbands or wives and children to join in on the Zoobic Safari and trip to Ocean Adventure in Subic.  I didn't see as many wild monkeys as I would have liked, and Corey had to make sure I knew I wasn't allowed to pet these animals either.  The air was so fresh, and there was a breeze I realized I hadn't felt in a while.  It was so peaceful. 

We started out at Zoobic Safari.  There is a place to take a picture with a tiger, so Leah kindly paid so all the the little kids could have a chance to do it.  Ryan is the IT guy at work, and he is holding his son in the yellow shirt.  Our driver's girls were also in the picture.  I was asking him (our driver, Jun) if his kids were excited, and his response was "yes, but I think Ryan is the most excited." 

They had a variety of animals at this zoo that were incredibly interesting, although it was soooo hot outside, it made me wonder if the animals were miserable too.  Part of the tour of Zoobic Safari includes an actual safari where you can purchase a raw chicken, and a worker entices the tiger up to the caged jeepney you are riding in to eat it.  After a few minutes of playing with the tiger from the inside, the worker will then throw the chicken onto the roof of the jeepney, and the tiger will jump on top as you ride along through the "desert."  It was really cool...and pretty dangerous.  On numerous occasions I felt concerned for the guys hand as he was feeding the chicken to the tiger.

In other areas of the park, you walked around to see tigers, crocodiles, ostriches, birds, monkeys....you know what's usually in a zoo I guess.  In this section we were looking at tigers, and the zoo wanted to share a fun fact with it's tourists...

Are they trying to say that it glows in the dark?

The second half of the day was spent at Ocean Adventure, where we saw a sea lion show, a high diving show, and a dolphin show.  There really isn't much in this park if you don't go to the shows, but I was really impressed with how they seemed to be treating the animals.  Instead of having man made tanks for the dolphins, they used the shoreline of the bay and just fenced it in.  None of the dolphins had a fin folded over (like the one in Free Willy...because he was being held in captivity...tell me you know what I'm talking about).  The high dive show was really cool too.  It's only offered in the summer, but at one point a diver jumped off an 85 foot ladder into their 9 feet deep pool.  I don't even know how that's possible. 

So we ended up staying in Subic for the weekend at a friends house.  We ate amazing food...which my stomach didn't handle too well.  Basically all I eat here in Manila is pesto pasta with tofu because it's easy to make, is cheap, and I know won't make me sick.  I ate a heavy Italian meal on Friday that made my stomach very angry, although it was delicious....and on Saturday we ate at an Indian restaurant.  We were convinced to order Vindaloo...known for being spicy.  So on a level 1-10...we got a 3 thinking we would be safe.  Once they served the food...it's like my mind went in a haze...all I remember is my first bite of vindaloo...then constantly stuffing things into my mouth to try to get rid of how spicy it was.  Once my mouth would calm down, my face would return to it's normal color, and my eyes would stop tearing up....I would remember how I kind of liked the taste, so I would try it again...then stuff my face with bread water and rice to not be on fire anymore.  Leah had to tell me to stop torturing myself.  We asked the owner if anyone had ever been able to eat a level 10 and he said one customer had demanded a level 10.  He had said to make it as hot as possible, because he is unaffected by chilies.  The owner described how everyone else had to leave the kitchen when he was cooking the dish because they couldn't handle the intensity of the chilis...and that as he was cooking, he was crying and sweating.  Then when the guy ate the vindaloo, he apparently fainted at the end.  As we finished up our meal...a couple walked by and told us we should have gotten level 2.  Clearly they had seen us struggling.

We also got to go to a beach: one surrounded by gorgeous mountain scenery.  It felt awesome to swim in salty water and walk with sand in my toes.  It did not feel good to not be able to walk around in the water because of rocks and coral, but made me wish I had some snorkeling gear.  This weekend was exactly what I needed as a refresher.  We contacted a cab to take us to the bus station on Sunday to find out he was driving to Manila, so we each paid him what we would have paid for us bus ticket...$6....to get a ride back to Manila.  It's amazing how cheap things are here sometimes.

I'm just not good at the spicy thing. 

hmmmm

I was looking at a friend's pictures on facebook today, and was amazed at how clean the streets were, how fresh the air looked, and how underpopulated it seemed back home.  Once I started seeing the Washington Monument in the pictures, I realized they were in DC...a place not necessarily known for being super clean and underpopulated (although areas around the monument are gorgeous).  I wonder how difficult the transition will be coming back home...

We leave for Subic tomorrow at 6:00am to have a family day with IJM staff.  Subic is where the US military base used to be, and it is supposed to be really peaceful compared to manila.  Like the US..but with monkeys hanging out on the side of the road. One of our friends lives in an apartment there,  so we will be staying for the weekend.  As I was packing tonight, I noticed my credit card was missing.  I last remembered using it at the grocery store a few hours ago, and looked up at the clock to see it was 10:05....5 minutes past closing time.  aaaand the grocery store is in a mall. I just started running...it was hard being calm waiting for the elevator that stops at every floor... I had to convince the security guard at the front of the mall to let me in and that I could not come back at 10am the following morning...and when he finally let me in I just booked it through the dark mall....images of the kinds of things my card could be used for were flashing through my mind and I saw a lot more rats than I wanted to know about...but I made it. I think the grocery staff were really disturbed by what they saw when I came in because they kept asking me if I was OK and brought me a chair, forcing me to sit in it while they looked for my card. They kept staring at me like they were really concerned...I'm assuming it was probably my red face.  It made me remember the time I first started at the gym and had a free workout session with a trainer....my face started getting red as I was running and he asked me if I had been to the beach the weekend before.  At first I didn't know what he was talking about, but then I realized I had to teach him that sometimes pale people get red (mainly me) when working out...

...i got my card.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Thursday was my 3 month anniversary here...and it was a good day.  The
bar where we did the raid a few months ago when I first arrived was
officially closed.  It was incredible that so many of
local police came out to celebrate
the occasion.  It really showed how IJM is partnering with local law
enforcement to help with the issue of human trafficking. 

I woke up early today to attend the trial for a particular

case.  It was a held in a room smaller

than most of your living rooms, and since around 15 floor managers are

being accused (sorry if my legal lingo is wrong), the client who is

testifying is only several feet away from her perpetrators.  They all

wore yellow shirts and black pants, the clothing worn when you're in

jail here.  I found it difficult to look these people in the eye, or even

be in the same room as them.  I saw some of the women crying while the

judge and defense attorney would joke about issues related to he case.

 It was weird to see so many women who were accused, however I

wondered what their story was, and if they been GROs (guest relations

officers) when they were younger, since it is common to move up in

rank over time or as you get older and are no longer considered

"wanted" as a GRO.

I felt so protective of our client when she was having to testify,

especially when she would start to cry talking about the specifics of

sexual acts she has had to do over the past.  I learned many details

that were pretty horrifying and I can't really get out of my head. She

had to show so much

courage, because the court required her to stand up and point to each

one of the perpetrators saying their name.  I kept thinking that if I

had trouble looking these people in the eye, how much more difficult

it had to be for her.  None of the other girls have yet been able to

identify by name who the floor managers were, so this was significant

for the case.  After the trial one of the social workers said

to me that she thinks my presence there made the judge and defense

attorney behave much better than they had in the past.  When I asked

why, she simply said there is a reverance here for westerners.  At

first I felt good that I could do something to help without really

doing anything, but then I realized how insanely unfair that is...when

I (or any other westerner) is not there.  

Later on tonight when I got on the elevator, a young girl was riding a

Dora the Explorer bike (yes on the elevator) while singing twinkle

twinkle litle star.  She was so innocent, and I kept thinking about

the client today.  How she looked so young, and was so young, and had

already experienced so much in her lifetime.  I started to tear up

thinking about how many children don't have the opportunity to act as

kids, and have to grow up so fast here.

I'm definitely still processing all I have experienced, but that's

what I've come to so far.

Can you believe it's already been 3 months?

________________________________________________________

There is a night market in Ortigas, beginning at 12:00am and lasting until around 12:00pm on Friday nights...well I guess that means Saturday.  There are several tents offering a variety of foods.  Hope, Edgar and I went with some new friends, who convinced us to try isaw - .....chicken intestines.  It didn't taste all that bad, but Hope said while she was eating it she wanted it to be more crispy tasting.  We laughed it off saying her southern taste for barbecue is typically for meat that is burnt.  The next day we found out that isaw actually is supposed to taste a little crispy and that what we ate my have been undercooked and not as well cleaned as it should have been.  We weren't throwing up yet, so I think we're fine. 

Monday, May 10

The election was being held today.  The good news is that we get a
holiday from work, the bad news is I am a little concerned about what to expect. I learned that once people vote, instead of getting a lovely "I voted" sticker, ink is placed on their right index finger.  One of the social workers here was asking how much people are paid in the States to work at the polls, and she was shocked to find out it's mostly volunteers and senior citizens, as here working at the polls can be very dangerous.  People that are armed are known to come and take boxes of ballots and replace them with favorably filled out boxes of ballots. Vote-buying is a tactic used by some politicians, as well.  In order to receive votes they pass out money to voters on their way to the polls.  One of my coworkers was telling me how she was offered the chance to do some freelance work to help with the election, Some areas in the province were offering her 100,000 pesos a day ($2817)...and a bullet proof vest.  I know I'm safe where I live, but I think is concern about what may happen outside of Manila.

We heard on the radio this morning that they are banning liquor sales for the next few days, except to foreigners, which made me feel a little better about what people might do.  While I was at TGI Friday's exercising my ability to drink a mango margarita on election day, the waiter stated that this has been the bloodiest election so far.  It felt weird to know how quiet our area has been throughout the day and how much fun we were having, while people were dying down in Mindanoa and we were watching it on TV.  But these kind of feelings are becoming more normal to me.  I don't know if that is a good thing.

If you are willing to pray for peace, protection from forms of
violence that may occur, and that the Philippines would elect leaders
who are free from corruption, that would be wonderful.  Thanks so
much! 

Saturday, May 8

Tonight we attended a foundation celebration for an incredible NGO here called Samaritana.  They are an outreach team that visits women in bars offering counseling, medical, and legal assistance to those who decide to leave the lifestyle of prostitution and pursue other forms of livelihood.  Samaritana provides several opportunities for livelihood, such as card making, jewlery making, etc., and helps to empower them as they begin to be able to offer outreach, leadership and mentoring to other women dealing with issues of prostitution. The name Samaritana comes from the story in the Bible where Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well, and treats her with dignity, not an adultress.  I was able to meet several of the clients who had clearly been transformed through this organization.  It was such an honor.  I loved witnessing them feel beautiful (as they obviously did all dressed up in their gowns) and reveal their inner beauty to us as they shared their story.  Hopefully IJM will have some opportunities to partner with them over the next few months, as they will be an incredible resource. 


I was already on a little bit of emotional overload this week, though.  I think sometimes when your brain is continually fed with anything (for me currently...issues of sex trafficking) sometimes it just gets too overwhelming to handle and I found myself having to "check out" sometimes, otherwise I knew I would awkwardly start uncontrollably sobbing which I'm sure this foundation dinner wasn't the time or the place. The women were so bright and just seemed to shine as they spoke of how badly they wanted to help others from not making the mistakes they had made and of the hope they had found through their new spiritual journey. 

Manila Moment:  So our fabulous IJM driver was late picking us up from the event because he had been in a minor accident.  We were asking what people usually do when there is an accident here, as it does not seem like people typically call the police to come over, write a ticket, then call their insurance agency to deal with the finances.  Mike told us that the other day his taxi driver was talking about a time a jeepney had run into the taxi causing some damage.  The jeepney driver got out and said that he could either give the taxi driver some pesos, or the taxi driver could punch him in face as hard as he could....and the taxi driver chose to punch the jeepney driver in the face as hard as he could.  Aparently the taxi driver punched him so hard, he went flying onto the ground, and that was it.  That settled it. They called it even.

Pictures you may find interesting...

 

This man seemed to be sleeping very soundly considering he was on EDSA, the busiest highway/road in Manila.  One of the examples of how people in Manila take safety very seriously when it comes to driving/riding.

 

This sign is displayed in the bathroom of our "world class" fitness center (as defined by the manager I talked to when trying to get a cheaper price for my membership).  Do people really try to go to the bathroom this way?

 

A few weeks ago, I walked in the heat to get one of the nicer malls in my area for some groceries, only to see it surrounded by caution tape.  It had caught on fire.  Fire.  Something I feel like I should have been more prepared for before moving here.  Anyways - when we went back to the mall today and it seems as though they have some merchandise to get rid of.  

 

Yes, those are people on the top of the bus...covered by a tarp because it is raining.  

My Nila.

Monday, May 3, 2010

So, I am a huge dork and was able to (very cheaply) see Kelly Clarkson and Tears for Fears in concert this weekend.  Honestly, I thought the Kelly concert would be packed since Filipinos are very musically inclined and love to sing....and a Kelly Clarkson concert would be the best place to do that, right?  It turns out Kelly isn't as popular as we originally thought (I don't know why...), and unfortunately for the people that sat around us, Mike, Hope and I were the ones passionately singing and dancing (and sweating) while everyone else around us sat quietly listening.  

Fast forward to Sunday night when Mike and I went to see Tears for Fears - his birthday present which I conveniently got to benefit from since he couldn't go by himself.  The masses had arrived.  The entire coliseum was packed, people were standing the whole time, passionately singing every word to most songs, and when lights would come up on the crowd, a majority of them would be fist pumping in the air.   So were we...obviously. I think the band was shocked that everyone seemed to know their songs so well...and would loudly sing whether or not the band was actually singing.  They...shouted out loud (I had to say it).  So there you have it.  Manila loves Tears for Fears.  Not so much a fan of Kelly.

Saturday, April 1

Honestly, I've been in a bit of a funk this week.  Just feeling kind of low, missing home...that's normal, right?  I know it's good to miss people/things because it makes you appreciate them, but it can still be difficult. So I've needed to spend a few days just kind of being quiet, and being by myself.  Thursday and Friday night were rainy, so it was a good time to feel melancholy and just chill out in my apartment.  I knew the Kelly Clarkson and Tears for Fears concert would be coming up (that's right), so that was something to look forward to over the weekend.  I got up early on Saturday to go to the gym, which has been really good for me in releasing a lot of the stress from the day.  On my way home, in broad day light (maybe around noon?) I was walking behind a woman...who looked pretty normal...and was carrying some shopping bags.  She all of a sudden just moved to the side of the sidewalk...undid her pants, and just started peeing...like she wasn't... peeing right in front of me.  She never like...looked around to check and see if it was all clear to pee or anything...just pulled her pants down and went at it.  I started walking a bit more briskly as I was not ready to deal with this for what I would consider to still be morning.  I saw some police officers about to ride by and I wondered what they would do or how they would react.  They saw her and just continued to drive by.  Again...these things happen....just more often in Manila.

Friday, April 30th

I was offered the opportunity to go see a hearing this morning, however it required I get up at 530am to get to the office so we could go pick up the client (30 minutes away) and head over to the courthouse an hour away.  I arrived a few minutes late, knowing things are never on time here, only to wait an additional hour or 2.  The social worker I was riding with notified me that the driver who was originally supposed to meet us, texted her at 530 saying he had another appointment and would be sending someone else.  So our replacement driver did not end up picking us up until around 8.  Throughout the entire ride, traffic was just terrible.  I thought it was normal, but one of my coworkers commented that it was more terrible than usual.  I thought maybe it was holiday traffic since on Wednesday, Monday was declared a non-working holiday for labor day.  Yes....this happened Wednesday.  We ended up skipping the trip to get the client and went straight to the courthouse since we were so late.  We did not arrive there until 11, to have the hearing canceled and rescheduled for the following week.  The judge was understanding since he had heard there was a major accident earlier that morning with a chemical spill (thankfully I have yet to hear that anyone was hurt)....oh well.  These things happen.  More so in Manila....but these things happen.  We ended up driving home and didn't get back until closer to 3.  Thankfully I had bridal magazines that Leah's mom brought me from Canada (she's visiting) to keep me entertained during our 6 hour drive in a circle around Manila.  Fortunately leaving Ortigas is still fascinating to me.