Well my 5 days in Mindanao were interesting. When the family in Ozamiz knew that I was visiting Mindanao they asked me to visit them again as they wanted me to meet more of their family and they wanted me to go with them on a family outing to the beach.
It was a nice couple of days, I have included some pics of the outing and their homes. Well I hope to add them to this site asap anyway.
I then took the bus again to Cagayan de oro, on the way we were stopped at an army check point, some people got off the bus but most just stayed on, I just thought that the ones that got off did so for a smoke or stretch their legs. 3 soldiers got on the bus, one came up to me and said "off" and pointed his rifle to the door, I didn't need to be told twice, he wasn't being aggressive, I just think his English was limited.
It turned out that all men have to get off to be inspected and soldiers also check the baggage on the bus, women are allowed to stay on the bus....... now is that sexist or what !!!! Of course if I was a terrorist it wouldn't take rocket science to understand that if you have any weapons just make sure that your girlfriend is carrying them !!!!
Strangely it only took us 4 hours to Cagayan this time, last time it was 5 hours, both drivers drove fast and only stopped at official stopping points so I simply don't understand the difference !!
Got to Cagayan and met the couple that manage the children’s home in McDonalds as agreed. It was a 45 minutes drive south to the home, we arrived there about 4pm, they showed me to the "guesthouse" where I was stay for my 2 nights there.
I was introduced to the nurse "Rachael" and she showed me around, there are 24 kids in this home and they live in little houses with 2 "parents", this helps them to live as a normal family.
I just found out that day that this is actually an orphanage, all the children have been given up for adoption.
I met 4 siblings in one house, they were all between 3-6 years old, James, Eduardo, Mercy and Joy-Joy, they were all so cute and Joy-Joy the youngest wouldn't leave my side, she was holding my hands and jumping up and down and always stayed with me. Amazingly all 4 are in the process of being adopted by a family in the U.S... so sometimes there is a happy ending.
James, Mercy and Eduardo
Joy-Joy... so good they named her twice !!
I also met another child that is a "special" child, he has a house to himself and 1 to 1 care because of his problems.
I met Benedict, a 10 year old boy that has been adopted, his new parents are picking him up today, he was a very happy boy when I spoke to him.
In one of the other houses there was 9 children, 6 siblings from one family that can't be adopted, they are aged 12-20, their mother has signed the release papers but the father wants money to sign, he says that he can get money for them if he lets them go to Japan..... he means the girls could work there as "hostesses"...... what a wonderful father to have !!!!
This is the family that I will be helping, I am sponsoring one girl to go to high school, she is starting there this June and I am also helping the 2 oldest to go to college which I believe starts very soon, they had no sponsors so thought that they would be unable to attend their college courses so I guess they will be happy when they find out that they will be going after all, all 3 will be for the next 4 years.
The eldest is a boy (Alfredo 20) he is attending a college but he is a bit.... how do you say.... "slow" minded.
After meeting them I was then served dinner in my guesthouse and left alone. it was then about 6pm, it was very dark and supposed to be very quiet as we are on a mountain in the countryside. The building that I was in was very old and a bit dilapidated, the first thing that I had to do as I entered my bedroom was to kill this huge cockroach, only then did I feel like leaving my bag there... closed !!
There was no TV or radio, I hadn't brought my laptop as there is no internet either, luckily I had brought a book with me which helped. The first night there was very creepy, I now know for sure that I am definitely a city boy. I tried to read but it was difficult as it was my first night, I had centipedes, cockroaches on the floor, Geckos on the walls and ceilings and this cacophony of sounds from outside.
The countryside is supposed to be quiet and peaceful, I can assure you Makati is quieter in the rush hour traffic !!! I could hear a thousand crickets....cricketing or whatever you call the sound that they make. I could hear sounds right by my window ( which were all open and I couldn't close them but there was screens on all windows) sounds that I have never heard before, at one point I could hear the sound of a rattlesnake, now of course I thought to myself I doubt very much if there are rattlesnakes in the Phils, they are mostly in the U.S but that was definitely the sound that I heard, I guess there must be insects that make a similar sound.
The next morning I mentioned this to Rachael when she brought me breakfast..... no she said we don't have rattlesnakes here... I breathed a sigh of relief.... but she said we do have pythons........... WHAT !! thanks a lot that really makes me feel safer !!!!!
Saturday morning I said that I would take a walk into town, I was getting bored as Saturday is their day off and I wasn't going to be involved with anything until that evening. They said (as all Filipinos do) you can't walk that far, we have to make sure that you are safe etc. Anyway all changed because an American visited me, he lives there and has an organisation called H.E.L.P. he has a great program for helping people there, he raises goats and gives them to people, they have to give him the first born to keep his herd up and lets them bring their goats to his place to be serviced so that the breeding continues.
He also has a rubber tree plantation which he took me to see, he has 35 hectares with each hectare producing about $2000 per year which he uses to support needy children. I also visited his home which was very nice, his wife’s sisters live there and he tried to pair us off.... !!! peleassee !!
I then went into town.... town in the loosest sense of the word, it was just lots of shacks side by side selling coke and a lot of tat but probably necessary tat for there. Now remember this place is a long way from a real town so they seldom see a white face, I'm used to people staring as it happens everywhere that I go outside of Makati but this was on a different level..... people just stopped what they were doing to look at me... groups would just stand still staring as I browsed their wares, children were pointing, guys shouting the usual "hi Joe", 3 girl assistants in 1 store ran into the back of the shop when I walked in, the owner said that they are shy of Americans..... I'm not an American.. that's what I was thinking but was pointless in saying. I then walked the couple of miles back to the orphanage, it was really VERY hot, luckily I had borrowed an umbrella to use as a parasol which really helped.
I forgot to mention that when I was on the beach in Ozamiz, about 8/10 of the children always followed me everywhere, as I was walking along the beach I decided to take off my shoes and socks so that I could walk along with the water hitting my feet, as I took my socks off everything went quiet, I looked up and all the kids were staring at me.... !!! I asked the one adult there what are they doing... he said that they are just amazed by your feet, your feet are so very white and they think they are beautiful !!! well that's a first.... my feet... beautiful... I don't think so but I do know how much they are mesmerised by whiteness...... they LOVE white !!
I will end here or this post will be too long, I could write so much more about Mindanao but maybe another time.
I hope you all had a great week end and are refreshed for this new week
2 comments:
Glad to hear from you again, sound very interesting the childrens home, they are such lovely looking kids. The three siblings going to an American family is really nice for them, keeping them all together. Did you hear about the earthquake over here the main centre was in Market Rason very near us. Paul had to hold onto his bed it was so strong, worse one in twenty five years, I actually slept through it. Best wishes Jan x
Hi Jan, it's 4 siblings that are going to the american family, james, eduardo, Mercy and joy-joy... they are very lucky that they will be staying together.
No I never heard about the earthquake. what what was it on the richter scale... and you slept through it... not surprising !!
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