What am I up to in Manila

I am in Manila and have been here for about three weeks now. I have been a little sick for about a week, so unfortunately (or fortunately) I have been resting and trying to get better. I wanted to give you a little update about some of the things I have been assigned to do here.

First, a little about Manila. It is a huge city with lots of traffic which mostly is jeepneys, i.e. public transportation. It is one of the biggest cities in the world. I am staying in the area Santa Mesa, which is one of the good parts of town. When I travel to teach the street children, I go to the poorer areas, which is mainly made up of squatters, people who set up houses made of plywood and other materials on other people's private property. They are illegally living there and using other people's electricity. They came to the city from the outer provinces because of the hope that the big city is supposed to provide. There is also more access to hospitals and schools as well.

After going to mass at 6am, then meeting with the children at the Don Bosco school where I am staying and working in the office in the mornings on the project proposal for VIDES Philppines, I go out to one of the six areas (see picture) that VIDES drives the Mobile Library to. There are about 250,000 street children in the Philippines, and 60,000 in the Metro Manila area. Along with three other volunteers, I teach and talk with about 10-30, 11-16 year olds. There is even more little kids as young as 5 years old there as well. In one of the areas, Pasay, we go on Saturdays, there can be up to 300 kids coming for education and food. We sing, dance, talk about God, teach a lesson every week for a little over an hour. After that, the children all receive a drink and some bread. The children are precious and beautiful.

Of course, the kids are very intrigued by me. They are especially fascinated by my white skin and blue eyes. Sometimes I feel the little boy or girl rub their hand on my arm to feel if my skin feels different than theirs. They are so innocent, and rarely see foreigners. They are good at speaking english for the most part, although it is their second language, but some are very shy to use it. They have been teaching me some of their language, Tagalog. It is most similar to Spanish because the Ferdinand Magellan and his conquistadors came to the Philippines. One of my favorite boys told me that I have a lot of "polka dots" on my skin. I laughed and told him, "they are called freckles." Haha, cute!

I was also able to meet some of the mothers who are attending the Alternative Learning System that provides a free education through government-provided lessons. A VIDES teacher goes to Pasay each week to teach them. I was able to talk with them about why they want to finish school. Some are young mothers, one is 25 with three children already, and others are grandmothers. Their main reason is because it has been a dream of their to finish high school, and they are so grateful to VIDES for giving them this chance. Another reason was to help their children with studies so they would be able to graduate also. Some said they hoped to graduate in order to get a job as a cashier and earn more money. How different our goals can be if we are not exposed to what opportunities are out there. It also makes you appreciate how important an education is and what possiblities it opens.