Soccer Time

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to do one of the favorite things in the world...play soccer! Although I have to tell the children "no hands" or "walang mga kamay" almost every two minutes, they still enjoy being able to play. It is not such a popular sport in the Philippines, especially in the city where there is few places to play, but just to have a ball and someone the play with them is enjoyment enough. Many of the children are hesistant to play soccer because they would rather play basketball and volleyball, but after a while they decide to join and play with the "Americano". After getting to train with the girls team in Geneva and now with all the street children around Manila, I realize how great and blessed I am to have a chance to teach what I love. I believe education is one of the greatest gifts you can give a person, or child, but if I'm going to be honest, I would rather play games and soccer all day long than give tutorials. I feel a bit guilty for admitting that, but I cannot lie. I just hope that somehow, someway it is as much as a gift to them as teaching English grammar or spelling. Maybe it will give girls a chance to feel free to play with the boys or to open their minds to new things.

Some of the areas have a nice enclosed area to play which is perfect, but some of the sites are on busy streets and since it is still hard for them to control the ball, it is always rolling past the incoming traffic. Its a bit dangerous, but they are used to using the streets as their playground. In those places I have to just have them play simple games. In the enclosed courts we can have crazy, loud games and just hope no one gets hurt...too bad. I think after a month of practicing they will get better. I hope every kid gets the chance to try to play like an Azkal (the Philippines National Soccer Team). We will have our Sports Fest on May 2-3, so pray for safety and at least a little bit of order; I know I will not be able to totally prevent chaos during the matches.

Trip to Vigan

I was invited to go on an end-of-the-year trip with all the teachers, staff, and sisters from Don Bosco School. I had a great time getting to know the teachers more and traveling to the northern part of Luzon (island which Manila is located). It was a long ride on a freezing cold bus, but very enjoyable and nice to get out of the city for a few days. So here's where we went...

Our first night we stayed at this hotel/retreat center where we swam in the pool, relaxed, and during the night had a program with music, dancing, and acting performances by all the faculty and staff. I even sang some songs with the sisters for the teachers.

With some of the teachers and sister at the first stop in front our rooms.

Then we kept travelling north and stopped at Baluarte Zoo, which is owned by one of the richest men in the Philippines.

On a pony ride at the zoo.

I was a part of the animal show at the Zoo, and this is some kind of bear/marsupial on my back. He was quite heavy, but it was lots of fun.

We also made pit-stops at a garden and pottery-making business. Actually one of the most interesting stops was at the birthplace of a very famous painter, Juan Luna, who studied in Europe, and is a very well-known artist. He comes from a well off family and many of his siblings are also famous artists and writers. I don't have pictures of those on my camera because I had to be in so many of other people's pictures that I was too tired to take my own. Everywhere we went, the first thing I heard was "picture, picture!"

Next was a stop at a bell tower next to a church from the Spanish times. The Spanish were in control for about 300 years and many of the sites are still well preserved in the north and that is why is it such a tourist spot for many Filipinos.

With Sr. Rizma at the top of the tower.

We finally made it to Vigan City on the second day and here are pictures from the horse-drawn carriage ride with Sr. Carm, and on the European-style street in the center of town.

The Filipinos have a tradition of buying souvenirs, especially t-shirts with the city's name on it whenever they travel anywhere. They also buy one for each member of their family, so many bought 5 or 6 t-shirts that evening.

Last day we traveled up north even further to Illocos Norte, the province that Ferndinand Marcos, the ruler of the Philippines for 20 years after its independence, was born. We went to the Marcos museum, and the famous church Marcos was brought to before he died. It is called Paoay Church built in the 1704.

Please Pray for the Filipino Nation

I have been to two rallies that reject this new bill that is going through Congress now in the Philippines. Please pray that the effort will be focused towards the real reasons of poverty and how to improve the lives of all the Filipino people. Please read below some excerpts about the bill and insight.


CHOOSING LIFE, REJECTING THE RH BILL
(A Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines)

Background

We are at a crossroads as a nation. Before us are several versions of a proposed bill, the Reproductive Health bill or sanitized as a Responsible Parenthood bill. This proposed bill in all its versions calls us to make a moral choice: to choose life or to choose death.

Far from being simply a Catholic issue, the RH bill is a major attack on authentic human values and on Filipino cultural values regarding human life that all of us have cherished since time immemorial.

Our position stands firmly on the core principles commonly shared by all who believe in God:

(1) Human life is the most sacred physical gift with which God, the author of life, endows a human being. Placing artificial obstacles to prevent human life from being formed and being born most certainly contradicts this fundamental truth of human life. In the light of the widespread influence of the post-modern spirit in our world, we consider this position as nothing less than prophetic.

What We Specifically Object to in the RH Bill

Advocates assert that the RH Bill empowers women with ownership of their own bodies. This is in line with the post-modern spirit declaring that women have power over their own bodies without the dictation of any religion. How misguided this so-called “new truth” is! For, indeed, as created by God our bodies are given to us to keep and nourish. We are stewards of our own bodies and we must follow God’s will on this matter according to an informed and right conscience.

Advocates also say that the RH bill is necessary to stop overpopulation and to escape from poverty. Our own government statistical office has concluded that there is no overpopulation in the Philippines but only the over-concentration of population in a number of urban centers. In fact, many Filipino scholars have concluded that population is not the cause of our poverty. The causes of our poverty are: flawed philosophies of development, misguided economic policies, greed, corruption, social inequities, lack of access to education, poor economic and social services, poor infrastructures, etc. World organizations estimate that in our country more than P400 billion pesos are lost yearly to corruption. The conclusion is unavoidable: for our country to escape from poverty, we have to address the real causes of poverty and not population.


- We call for a fundamental transformation of our attitudes and behavior towards all human life especially the most defenseless, namely, human life being formed or being conceived. The cheapness with which many seem to consider human life is a great bane to our religious-oriented nation.

- We call upon our legislators to consider the RH bill in the light of the God-given dignity and worth of human life and, therefore, to shelve it completely as contrary to our ideals and aspirations as a people. We thank our legislators who have filed bills to defend human life from the moment of conception and call upon all other legislators to join their ranks.

- We call on our government to address effectively the real causes of poverty such as corruption, lack of social and economic services, lack of access to education and the benefits of development, social inequities.

- We call for the establishment of more hospitals and clinics in the rural areas, the deployment of more health personnel to provide more access to health services, the building of more schools, the provision of more aid to the poor for education, and the building of more and better infrastructures necessary for development.

- “…let us pray together, reason together, decide together, act together, always to the end that the truth prevail” over the many threats to human life and to our shared human and cultural values.

We commend our efforts against the RH bill (or the Responsible Parenthood bill – its new name) to the blessing of our almighty and loving God, from whom all life comes and for whom it is destined.

Teaching Them How to Love

One of the most impactful things I've experienced during my time in Manila is the ALS program. It is truly Bosconian, and all the sisters and teachers in the program are angels. ALS stands for Alternative Learning System, and it is a program that the government has set up and created modules for the different school subjects. It was created for those kids, and adults to receive their diploma after they have dropped out of school or had to stop going to school for a while and now are far behind. The participants in the program are the street children whose lives have been nothing but difficult all their life.

When Don Bosco School started this program last July I was not around the see the first batch of students when they first arrived but I was told of their experience having to reprimand the students for stealing each others' wallets and cellphones.

The first batch of kids are so grateful for this opportunity to receive an education that they have transformed their lives from hatred and anger to love and respect. The sister in charge, Sr. Ailyn read from the bible everyday and they visit the chapel before the lesson starts, and this has made them realize and experience God for themselves. Many of the kids don't know how to love because they have not been loved in their lives and have had a very difficult life, but through the teachers and sisters and many volunteers, there is such a great change in them. They are very respectful and kind, and even help sweep everyday after class.

Now we have enrolled the first students from VIDES into the program at DBS. We have a fight almost everyday between the two areas that are coming. There are about 35 kids who attend, and many of them do not know how to read or write. They are really in 1st grade, but most are around 11-13 years old. They have barely ever got a chance to study in school, but rather are on the street stealing and begging to get food for their families. So now, God is starting to transform these kids into better people with the help of VIDES and DBS.

The other day we had a bad incident when one boy was teasing a girl and the girl decided to throw a rock at him and it hit him in the head and he started bleeding all over. We have to teach them to apologize because they don't know how, and that their actions have consequences. All they know is violence and retaliation and it will be a challenge to change that mind set.

Please pray for these kids that God will transform their lives and for the patience of the sisters, teachers, and volunteers. It is truly the most impactful way of changing lives and it can only be done through the love that God has shown to us.

We Love You! XOXO Seniors

This past week I got the chance to go with the graduating class of Don Bosco School (by the way they are 16 years old instead of 18 when they graduate here in the Philippines). We went to the beach town of Batangas, well it was more of a cove next to the sea. It was nice to get away from the city for a few days, but it was no less busy and tiring than Manila. The best part of the week was of course being in the outdoors and getting to know the students better. I only talked to a few seniors in the mornings when I greet the students, but this gave me a chance to really get to know them more. Our retreat was called "Love Life Talk," and it was an opportunity to talk to them about growing up and the difficulties they will face especially when it comes to friends, relationships, and sexuality. I helped to facilitate along with Sr. Vena and her office employee, Lea. I had the chance to share a few stories and impart some things I have learned going through college.

Our trip included:
- 3 nights in a house by the water (I actually slept great, I had my own bed while the girls slept on the floor and the boys in tents outside)
- Swimming in the "ocean" (In the Philippines, they are very conservative and everyone wears shirts and shorts over their bathing suits)

- 5 Sessions for the kids on love and life. The sharing was just like a teenage relationship…the girls talked a lot and the boys were shy to share anything, but when they finally did all the girls responded "ahhh." One boy said "don't worry girls, we will always care about you and protect you." The rest of the trip the girls quoted him when one of the boys weren't gentleman-like. There are only 12 boys in the class with 70-some girls.

- "Buhay Ko' To" (This is my life!) game. The purpose of the game was to make them realize they must take a hold of their lives and cherish it. Also, that there will be some people who will guide and others who will lead you in the wrong direction, so they have to discern who to trust. So to play the game, they were blindfolded, then had to throw one of their flip-flops into a pile and the adults hid them in the sand around the "arena of life." The kids had to find their other pair while us counselors took their sandals from them, or on many occasions ripped it out of their tight grasp. It took more than an hour for everyone to finish, and I think it was very meaningful for them.
- Walk on the beach and hike up a hill. The kids were a bit complaining about how difficult the hike was, so fortunately I got a chance to go ahead of everyone and made it to the top about 10 minutes before the next person and enjoy the view from the top. I wish I was able to climb the hill every day; it was nice to do something outdoorsy. The hike was at 6 in the morning and I was craving coffee so much by the time we arrived back at the house.
- Chance to talk with the seniors about normal things like music, relationships, friends, and college. One of the seniors, Lorraine and I had many conversations about the bands we liked in common. She thought it was very cool I knew the bands she listened to.
- Attend mass at the Chapel on the Hill on our way back to Manila. Pray the rosary at sunset over the ocean.
- Got to know some of the teachers at Don Bosco School.

- Laugh and have fun with Sr. Vena and Lea, the facilitators who I mainly worked with, on organizing the sessions and creating visual aids.

Finally, to explain the title of the post, the senior class has a little routine they say to everyone to thank them or just because they feel like it, and it is "Thank you…We love you. XOXO Seniors" with hand motions included.