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.
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