Day 16 (9/2/10)

Last night was crazy. We did “appreciation” for both Diana and Francis, who were leaving a day early from the project. We made Diana, our “mommy” cry (we kinda saw it coming). After appreciation we practiced our group song for the little presentation we’ll do at the farewell dinner for Friday. Anyway, I got the feeling that no one really wanted to leave the room, because we’d have to keep going without two of our key members.

In any case, on to the actual day! At 11 AM, we got to Cebu City National Science High School. The kids from both UP Cebu and Sci-High worked on their afternoon presentations for the students at Barangay Pasil Elementary. The presentation groups were led by students from the education committee (a bit of background: the kids were separated into Education, NGO/LGU, Outreach and Finance committees to give them a choice of experiences for on-ground work). The students were very creative—they even came up with a jingle in Cebuano/English to teach sanitation and hygiene to the elementary school students.

At 1 PM, we were all off to our respective assignments for the day. The NGO/LGU group went to the hotel in one of the team members’ rooms, to do some internet research and make materials for Friday’s information drive that will target about 150 parents of the Barangay Pasil Elementary kids. Education/Finance and Outreach Team were off to Barangay Pasil. The Education team went to various classrooms of 1st through 3rd graders to do the presentations and distribute activity books to the children.

And I guess now I could talk about what the Outreach Team did, which I’m most familiar with since I was on it. We aimed to finish the mural today. This thing has turned out to be one of the biggest projects of our team. At first we expected to get maybe a 5’ x 5’ wall area in a random part of the school for the mural, but the principal gave to us instead a HUMONGOUS wall at a central location (that is, the STAGE) in the elementary school. After a lot of sweating while painting, being surrounded by 234,123 elementary school kids curious as to what we were doing to their school stage (don’t ever do this again around lunch time), and getting on sketchy, rickety ladders to paint the top area of the wall, here is the latest on the mural:

The finishing touches will be put on tomorrow. :) :(

Day 9 (8/26/10) Woohoo!

Day 9 (8/26/10)

Today was the very first day that we took the kiddies to work with more little kids. We were hoping to see some results of our workshops in the students today in the field. Hence, a lot of our deadlines were today. The Outreach Team had to finish their design for the mural that was to be painted on the walls of the elementary school. The Leadership Team had to come up with the Leadership Handbook so it could be sent out for printing. Last but not least, we were finally going to see the Waste Implementation Team in action on the field with their 5 committees. So, as you could tell, it was Dday for everyone.

Because of the deadlines, almost everyone slept in the early hours of the morning so we decided not to have wake-up call. Yes! After an awesome lunch at Maxim’s, off we go again to fetch the kiddies but this time towards a new destination, Barangay Pasil!

We picked up all the kids from their schools and got to Barangay Pasil a little past 1:30. The moment we got there, we all got to work immediately. The Education Team (which I was a part of) went straight to the 6th grade science class, NGO/LGU Team went to meet with the Barangay Council and the Outreach Team got working on their mural which is on the center wall of the stage. The Education Team did a fantastic job teaching the 6th, 5th and 4th grade kids about the importance of sanitation, health and hygiene. They performed a skit, made a slogan about the message, SHH! (Sanitation, Health, Hygiene) and even had an awesome jingle which had everything we discussed the day before on it. It was just fantastic. Then we headed over to the mural area and it was looking awesome :) It was really nice to see the kids on the field working and laughing together and just having fun working for their cause. The elementary kids of Pasil were also kind enough to give us a glimpse of the dance that they were preparing for a district competition. If I can I’ll post part of the video here :)

At 4 we headed out to the corner of Barangay Pasil to wait for the bus to pick us all up. To pass the time, we all played a bunch of games in that one area in the corner. We played 7Up, Ruray Panori and just had a blast playing together and just relaxing after a hard day at work. The bus ride home was filled with chatter as we all updated each other on what we did for the day and how we felt about it. But as with all days, it must come to an end and we took all the kids back to their respective schools.

The entire team then had dinner together as always and had our fill of the awesome Filipino food in Cebu. We then shared all our experiences with each other during debrief and planned for the day after which was… FUN DAY! More to come on that.. :)

-Malilay :)

Day 10: Fun Day! (27/08/2010)

All Right, Guys!!

This is me attempting to blog! (10 days late, good thing I took some notes on the actual day!)

So.. I get the pleasure of blogging about PP10 Fun Day! Yey! <:0)

I (and I think the rest of the team) woke up to the sound of the telephone ringing, courtesy of Malilay's wake-up call at 7.15am! (Mali, I just realised I never thanked you for all your wake-up calls! So here is a massive Thank You for being our human alarm for 2.5 weeks!) We were all meant to be ready and waiting by 7.45am in the lobby so we could leave early but true to PP10 style, we left at 8.15am instead (I think we were waiting for a certain Robi B and his uke!) I remember being on the bus for some time, I think our destination was quite some ways from the hotel, it was definitely further than the airport! Bus ride was quite uneventful, really. After being on the bus for what must've been at least 30 minutes, Darwin stopped for people to get some lunch for consumption later in the day. Whilst waiting, there was a round of Spotlight On v.2.0 : Relationship Status (don't know whose idea that was but I thoroughly enjoyed it!) :0) Then the lunch-getters returned and we resumed our journey! When we got there and saw the sea, we were all so excited! Hells yeah!! SEEAAA!!! <:0) People started slappin' on the sunscreen and everyone was in good spirits, it was lovely to see everyone so happy! After some "mad" manoeuvering skillz by Darwin the bus driver, we exited the bus and headed to our boat! The boat ride to the island was amazing, I don't know about everyone else but I absolutely loved the feeling of the wind in my face and being out in the sea and not having to think of icebreakers/activities for the next Leadership Workshop, hee hee :0)

Then we arrived at the island! Whoopeee! We were all kinda surprised when we saw how deserted it was, but who cares, we dumped our stuff on the ground and proceeded to have lunch. We sat on grass that was quite prickly, I remember. Lol, good times. Then Robi whipped his ukulele out and some singing/a music sesh followed whilst no one noticed Ryan climbing up a tree. Until he got to the top and someone finally saw and I distinctly remember Diana telling him to come down :0)

The island is privately owned so there was a fee of PHP800 to be paid. After walking around for a bit, we left to head somewhere else for some swimmng/playing about in the sea. Davina had to wait ages for PHP200 worth of change from the woman but when she finally got it, we set off to another place! This "other place" was literally a random spot in the middle of the sea. When the boat stopped, we were all kinda like "HUH?" Confused.com. But the blue/green-ness of the sea looked sooo beautiful that I was so ready to jump in!!! The water looked so inviting! Unfortunately though, we were then told that the water there was about 8 feet deep, and then someone went "SOME OF US CAN'T SWIM!!" (can't remember who, I think it was Nguyet!) GG. So after some discussion, the boatmen started up the boat again and we left that random spot in the middle of the sea and headed back to the previous island we were on but we moved to a separate spot where there was actually lots of sand and it looked more like a beach :0) The previous spot where we had lunch didn't look too much like a beach cos there wasn't much sand.

We dumped our stuff in a hut and then some of us went into the sea for some fun :0) Not everyone loves the water though! Davina, Nguyet and Chan didn't get into the sea much, I remember only myself, Kenneth, Elle, Diana, Robi, Thomas, Kelly, Malilay, Ryan, Francis and Vic out in the sea! Nicole and Angela stayed near the sandy part and didn't come further out. It was so lovely to be in the seaaaaa! It was quite a hot day so the sea was nice and refreshing! The water was "hella" salty. Also, there were some rather exciting seaweed textures that we were stepping on, kinda felt like I was stepping on turd some times. Eep. Anyway, we had a bit of fun splashing about in the sea, it was nice to just float and chillax for a bit after a week of hard work! One by one, we left and went back to the hut where we dumped our stuff earlier, some beer was consumed, lots of junk food also consumed. We also had 2 rounds of Spotlight Ons and Ryan and Tom shared a special and intimate moment when Ryan helped put sunscreen on Tom and explored Tom's "mannary glands" (...). I'm sure both Ryan and Tom enjoyed that spot of Sexploration. Yeah. . . . . awk-ward. . . Nah, it wasn't really, it was a lot of fun just sitting and chilling in that hut by the sea :0)

Then we left that island and headed to another place called Lapu-lapu where we all walked around and had a mini-tour of the island, courtesy of Francis. We had some coconut. The sun was scorching! After a short walk round the island, we decided to head back to the boat and then go back to the hotel, as most of us were getting tired by that point, and it was nearly 5pm. We went back in cool trishaws! It was well funny, as the trishaw is really quite tiny but can carry about 7 people! "In-tents!"

I don't really remember much from this point onwards, gotta be honest lol, I was was absolutely knackered from being out the entire day! I remember we got on the bus and headed back, but I don't even remember what we had for dins and if we got takeaway or ate someplace. Oops.

In spite of this day being Fun Day, we still had a short meeting that night where we talked about the sustainability of SEALNet and we also discussed Sci High's interest in forming a SEALNet Club at their school (or something to that extent). The Leadership Team also had a brief discussion about the next Leadership Workshop on What Others Can Do.

OK, so thats the end of my post. I hope I got everything right, I'm relying purely on my memory of the day and very little else!

Some photos to follow, hopefully!

xxx

Off to Barangay Luz!

Today was righteous.

I apologize for my poor transitions and the like; the internet is so unpredictable (except during internet parties) and seeing as it's so late at night/early in the morning and I'm next to a sleeping Chan, I have to keep it short.

After a speed-eating session, we picked up the students for an informative trip to Barangay Luz, a model Barangay that has partnered with Ayala (essentially a big company that owns a lot of land...again, I apologize for my brief explanations). While there, the students learned a lot, listened a lot, and most importantly...held worms! Mmmm sarap! :-)

The man who spoke to us was, I believe, the secretary of Barangay Luz. He was so passionate and proud of his community, and seemed really eager to inform the students. The students also got to see the products made by the people of Barangay Luz, and receive a more in-depth education of vermiculture. Vermiculture is a process by which worms and compost are used for the purpose of recycling. The worms get to eat, the products get to be recycled, and the people of Barangay Luz have a cleaner community and economic success with the program. What's not to love?

As a side note, the recycled products from Barangay Luz are of incredible style and quality. I personally wanted to buy them all. But I'd have to ask mommy Diana for money first!

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We left in the bus from Barangay Luz to drop off the U.P. students at rehearsal. Riding the bus is always a top opportunity to grow closer to one's mentees, as well as the students in general. They're intellectuals, they're captivating, and they're wise beyond their years.

And, they really are teenagers.


They giggle and tease, sing, TEXT, and sometimes forget to live in the moment because they're looking ahead into their futures. Looking around at them, I just have to take a step back and, cheesy as it sounds, smile. They possess a certain glow of freedom, endless potential, and innocence that is unique to people of their age group.

---

As we sadly let the U.P. students go off to rehearse, we happily took the Sci High students to the next activity of the day.



The Waste Management team did a great job (thumbs-up, team!) leading the groups of Sci High students, challenging them to apply the 5-step process to what they had learned earlier today. The students also did a great job of responding for their first year of SEALNet. I have no doubt that next year, or even now, they'll be just as strong as the U.P. students at the workshops.



Today was also exciting at the hotel, for multiple reasons. The kidnapping situation in Manila occurred today, and we're all hoping that Domily gets to stay with us. Luckily, we were able to take our minds off of the news during debrief when, thanks to the feedback our PL's asked for today (and Darwin), we were all focused on improving on what we're already doing with the students. But of course, another way to take your mind of bad news is laughter, and we were provided that during 'spotlight on', when Kenneth was, for lack of a better word, Kenneth.

---

Debrief was brief today, and we all went to our group headquarters (why yes, it does sound more intense than it actually is) to work on our plans. Outreach never ceases to amaze me. Staying up until around 3 AM for almost three nights is crazy! Although we may scare some people a bit with our ravenous appetite for exceptional activity books, I think we can handle our timeline and still have quality time with our mentees. The other groups are also well organized. The Leadership group is really spirited, and their workshops are going to be loads of fun. Waste Management is doing a fair job getting acclimated, as they are a new group.



All in all, today has been just another day in SEALNet: Challenging in a good way, and irreplaceable. As I told Diana and Kelly, I didn't know exactly what to expect when I came to the Philippines for this trip. But I think I can safely say that all of us got, if not what we expected, something better. SEALNet isn't just another thing to say you did, or put on an application. It's a life-long, valuable experience for mentee and mentor alike.

Day 3 (8/21/10)

We started the day by summarizing the agreements we'd reached the previous day on our direction for the rest of the trip.

After the summary, we discussed a change in the group subteams; instead of having the originally-planned Sanitation Group, we would have a Waste Implementation Group. This change was a result of the clarification of the direction of our project last night. The Outreach and Leadership Teams remained. However, we were given the option to switch groups, which Robi took. After some serious angst, Angela and Elle accepted this fact. We also discussed the project budget.

We had 3 hours of FREE TIME, which involved trips to the Laundromat, Magellan's ("underwhelming" but still fun) cross, and the supermarket.

Once we regrouped, we began intensive preparation in our subgroups. After dinner (PIG'S BLOOD!), the groups debriefed one another on their progress. The Outreach Group presented a draft of an activity booklet for the elementary students on waste and sanitation education, including connect-the-dots and a comic strip. They set a timeline for the production of posters and calendars that the high school students would help design and translate into Cebuano. The Leadership Group presented an outline of the leadership workshop we'd do tomorrow. This included a dry-run of our lecture on the 5-step process of service leadership (1.Identify a Problem, 2.Identify Causes, 3.What You Can Do, 4.What Others Can Do the Help You, 5.Implementation). We had some very interesting role-playing students, including one who was quite concerned about shark finning. The Waste Implementation Group outlined the discussion we would have after the leadership workshop tomorrow, which would involve applying the 5-step service leadership process to the specific case of Barangay Pasil.

And then we had our OMG A.PLAN IS LEAVING TOMORROW time. Commence (sorry, I meant adjourn) with the love fest. We each made a string bracelet for Andrew (which he is never allowed to take off) and then said something we were thankful to Andrew for. Bromance was uber thick in the air. The tension reached a tipping point when Tom asked Andrew for some alone time after the meeting and Andrew responded with a passionate love song.

The rest of the night was spent wrapping up tasks in the subgroups.

-Nicole

Day 2 (8/20/10)

In the morning, after some shoe-changing and bug-spraying, we visited Barangay Pasil. Secretary Jaeana gave us a tour of the Barangay, including the "wet" (fish) market and one of the 7 working communal restrooms. We were surrounded by those bicycle taxi things and...crowdedness. A random middle-aged man ran up to Ryan to get a high-five (anyone want to guess why? :P). We then met with both the head of Pasil's sanitation and head of Pasil's waste management at the Health Center. They gave us some background information on Pasil in general and their departments, and then there was a really interesting Q&A.

We learned that the Pasil community as a large transient population. The local government is very supportive of waste segregation, but is constrained in its ability to implement a program due to lack of space. In-home vermicomposting (as in using worms to compost) may be the solution. Vermicomposting could be especially effective because of Pasil's large fishing industry, which means that a large portion of Pasil's waste is biodegradable. Most importantly, we learned that Mike Rama =/= My Grandma.

We were running late, so we rushed over to UP Cebu High School to get lunch at their cafeteria. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough "lunch" food left, so we bought cakes and chips for fuel. Then we met the UP Cebu high school students! We talked about the definition of service leadership--repeating our workshop with the Cebu National Science High school students from the previous day. And we got paired with our mentees! Talking one (or two)-on-one about absolutely anything was a ton of fun, and definitely the highlight for me.

After some delish take-out, we had a group meeting concerning the direction of our project. This included the "stake" of our project--the underlying motivation for our work--which we phrased as "Education, Inspiration, and Waste Management Implementation." We also determined our "outcome," or concrete goals, which included creating a leadership handbook and forming a partnership between Feed the Children Philippines and the high school students. We finished with a brainstorm of the topics we want to address in the leadership workshops.

-Nicole/Kenneth

Day 1: PP10 Begins!

“Humility starts with a smile.” -student of Cebu National Science High School

(my apologies for the belated start to the blog -- the internet has been a bit fuzzy these past few days)

Hello all, and welcome to the Project Philippines 2010 blog! For those of you who don’t know, Project Philippines 2010 is run by members of SEALNet, the Southeast Asian Service Leadership Network, which promotes service leadership and youth empowerment across Southeast Asia through international service projects.

I can’t believe Day 1 of the project has finally come. As a SEALNet co-president, I’ve been checking in with the project leaders ever since they decided to step up, so seeing this project unfold before my eyes is really fulfilling.

We began the day with a quick breakfast and headed over to the office of one of our local partners, Feed the Children-Philippines (FTCP). FTCP is an NGO that focuses on meeting the fundamental needs of children as laid out in the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child program – food, shelter, etc. Our team got to meet the gracious staff and our contact, Ms. Esperanza, who really did a lot to inspire the team through her excitement for SEALNet’s efforts and her openness to a long-term partnership.

After departing from the FTCP office, we headed over to UC-Banilad, where we worked on coming up with ‘ground agreements,’ which are a set of agreements that everyone comes up with together to define the manner in which all the team members interact with each other.

Then…Jollibee!!

Jollibee is like McDonalds, except uber-awesome sauce. So yeah, that was lunch :)

After lunch, we headed over to meet the students of Cebu National Science High School, one of the two groups of high students we’ll be working with this year. As a team, we were a little anxious about the students being shy around us, but that fear was quickly dispelled as we got to interact with the students. Although this is the first year Project Philippines gets to work with Cebu National, you’d hardly be able to tell – the students were compassionate, charismatic and gifted with impeccable comic timing. We did a workshop with them where they worked together to visually present their interpretation of service leadership; I think all the team members were pretty blown away by how insightful (and funny!) the students were in their presentations.

While the rest of the team wrapped up the workshop, some of us accompanied the project leaders to UP-Cebu, our other partner high school, to negotiate the project schedule, as the principal had concerns about the number of school days missed by the students. The principal was very accommodating with us, and we settled on a revised schedule pretty quickly.

In the evening we had dinner at Golden Courie in the SM Mall, where I also managed to snag a guitar in a nearby store for some impromptu singalongs. When we got back to the hotel, it was time to debrief about the day’s happenings and set the project objectives as a team, which will be finalized today (Day 2).

Day 1 really inspired me and filled me with hope – hope for the project, hope for the future of SEALNet, hope for Southeast Asia in general. Everyone involved with this project have their hearts in the right place, and I truly believe this project has a great chance of doing something really special in the long-term for the communities of Cebu City.

Well that’s all for me. Till tomorrow…

-APlan