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.