Six Projects in Three Weeks

9/24/10

What a busy three weeks we have had. We been traveling and out of the office. We traveled north to the beautiful city of Baguio, then up into the Mountain Province. It was amazing to me to be in a tropical country then travel up into the mountains and be among pine trees. The air was fresh and relatively cool. They grow vegetables up there in the cooler weather and so we ate wonderful fresh salads. It was beautiful but very hard to get to. It took us 9 hours to travel 72 miles. The roads were terrible and very prone to landslides. We were stopped at one point so they could dynamite the debris off the road. Fortunately we had a heavy duty high clearance vehicle our regular car would never survived on the dirt roads. We met with leaders of the village of Sagada to start the process of bringing clean water to the community.

Next we drove out of the mountains to Tuguegarao where we delivered a specially designed three wheeled tricycle like vehicle that is powered by hand peddles to a woman who lost both of her legs in a terrible accident. She had a stand alongside the road where she sold food before a truck smashed into her, this new wheelchair (trike) will make it possible for her to continue selling from the container mounted on the back. While there we visited the farmers who participated in our organic gardening program. Their vegetables are growing great and some people have harvested already. Their yield has been so good they have been able to sell what they don't need. It was so satisfying to see the tangible evidence of the Lord blessing of these humble people.

We then flew south to Bacolod. We had a very interesting few days on the two islands. First we investigated a isolated village up a mountain and through a sugar cane plantation. I've never been on a rougher road, and I've sure been on plenty here in the Philippines. Lucky we were in a truck with high clearance. Then 2/3rds into our journey it started to rain, coming down in buckets like only it can in the Philippines. It was very exciting to say the least, I am so lucky, what other old lady gets to have such adventures. It was a good visit and it looks like the people have the makings of a good water project. An interesting thing I learned while driving through all that sugar cane is that it is home to big fighting spiders. At night I noticed men out in the cane with flashlights. They capture the biggest meanest spiders they can find and then match them against another person's spider, it is a fight to the finish. The looser get bound up in a web and eaten by the winner. People bet money on the spiders. I was told that some people actually sell fighting spiders in the street market.

The next day we took a fast ferry to Iloilo to meet with doctors in preparation for a vision project. Before setting sail a prayer was said; I didn't know if I should feel frightened or comforted.

We just got back from a celebration of the completion of the water system for about 2,000 people on east Samar island. They all now have water that is close to their houses. For a few who could afford to pay an extra $1.50 per month they have a facet actually installed in their house. It is hard for us who think nothing of having running water to comprehend what a luxury that is. It was fun with lots of speeches, singing, dancing and thank yous. After the program we had an interesting pot luck meal where many people brought their specialities. The party was just getting started, but it was getting late and we had a 4 hour very rough ride in front of us to our hotel. We said our good-byes. How blessed we are to be able to do this rewarding work.

Stuck in Manila

9/02/10

One of the definite perks of being country directors of humanitarian projects is the travel. Unfortunately we have been stuck in Manila for almost a month now. First we had the church auditors from Salt Lake. The church is very fussy about how the money is spent and rightly so. You can be assured that every penny donated to the Humanitarian fund goes to helping people. There is no overhead or administrative costs. August 26th was our 44th wedding anniversary, and this time we have had in the Philippines has been great and brought us closer together. We have been able to do so many good things. It is wonderful to have a united goal and common avocation that we both feel so strongly about. It sure doesn’t hurt to have the financial resources of the LDS church behind our efforts. Every day you can do little things that will brighten someone’s day, but we are so blessed to be able do big things. This last week we've been involved in a symposium with the World Health Organization (WHO). It was concerning controlling and eliminating measles, hepatitis B, and polio. Countries in the southeast Asia area had come together to discuss their inoculation campaigns. It was very technical and boring. The only reason LDS Charities was invited was because we donated a million dollars toward purchasing the measles vaccine for the Philippines. Also LDS Charities will be involved in the social mobilization effort as volunteers. It is amazing how donating a million dollars can make you so popular, we had no lack of people who wanted to sit with us at the lunch table. I actually began to wonder if boredom could have lasting physical or emotional side effects. The up side is we met many interesting people, and made some good contacts with people who can help with our other projects.

We love the Filipino people that we have been blessed to associate with. They are so generous with their time and talents, helpful, kind and accepting. An example of this is the sweet tolerant people in our branch; we are assigned to attend a branch 2 hours from our house in the provinces. There is a young man in our branch named Mike, he has no family with him and attends by himself. The members marvel that he finds his way by himself and knows when the church starts. He is severely handicapped, Down’s syndrome, blind in one eye, deformed face, unintelligible speech, and mentally retarded. He likes to stand at the door greeting people as they come in. After exchanging hugs with several people, he likes to stroke my hair (I guess because we are the only people that don’t have black hair) he makes his way to the stand. He prefers to sit with the Branch Presidency; one of them usually puts an arm around him affectionately. His attention span wavers, often after the sacrament and he gets up and wanders a little. One Sunday he discovered the numbers on the hymn board and rearranged them. When he was done he proudly gave the Branch President a big smile and a thumbs up. Once he discovered the remote for the air conditioning and walked around adjusting each blower, rather than taking it away from him the congregation just sat patiently through the varying blasts of air. He thinks he is helping, but the following Sunday the remote was kept out of sight. Last Sunday when we stood to sing the rest hymn Mike stood up straight and proud next to the branch presidency and sang at the top of his lungs; of course he didn’t sing words just sounds. As I looked at Mike and around at the accepting, sweet and gentle people in the congregation I couldn’t keep the tears from my eyes. I know Jesus is pleased to see his teaching of love practiced in the Baliwag Branch, Philippines.