A Huge Parting Gift to the Children from Mearns Kirk

 

Bill outside my apartment with a huge pile of boxes of school supplies about to be delivered to Pinagalaan school

Just a couple of weeks before I left Mindanao we revcieved a huge final donation from the people of Mearns Kirk who had raised money from a coffee morning which was donated to the work here with the schools up in the mountains.

As I had very little time left before I was due to leave Mindanao for the final time, we immediately sprang into action.  We contacted the school to see what supplies were most needed by the teachers and pupils, and got to work to source all the items requested.  The list of things each teacher and pupil needed was quite long, and we could never have done it if the donation from Mearns Kirk had not been such a generous one !

Bill handing out school supplies to the children .

I give a pack of jotters, pens, pencils etc to a young pupil as others que up to recieve a pack.  There was so much to give out that the pupils had to go along a line of 3 or 4 “hander-outers” to get it all !

The final list of what each pupil recieved was based on what the teachers told us they needed and was a mighty impressive donation ! Here is the list !

Supplied to each pupil:

Grades 1 & 2

1 plastic envelope

2 Grade pads (writing)

1 writing pad

1 spiral book (grade 2 only)

2 pencils

Various assorted other items (sharpener, ruler etc.)

1 pack of crayons

Pencil case

Eraser

Grades 3 – 6

1 plastic envelope

2 grade pads

7 spiral note books (one per subject)

1 Maths spiral book (graph paper)

1 Formal theme (essay) book (English language)

1 Formal theme book (Visayan language)

1 pack of crayons

2 ball point pens

1 pencil case

1 expanding cardboard folder

For General Use

94 sets of watercolour paints

50 metres cellophane for covering wall posters made by the teachers

Ball point pens

Supplied to each teacher:

2 boxes of Venus chalk

1 box coloured chalk

1 stapler and staples

1 pot glue

5 Marker pens

3 bottles ink

40 sheets graph paper

60 large sheets coloured paper

Crepe paper (assorted colours)

2 reams (1000 sheets) of ‘bond’ paper

Assorted cartolina (large poster-sized sheets of coloured card for making classroom wall posters)

Pencil sharpeners (grades 1 & 2)

Correction fluid

We also left a budget of 2,000 pesos (just over £20) for each teacher to draw down for future needs.

The expressions on the children’s faces said better than any words what it meant to them to get these school supplies !

Teachers and pupils hold a sing-song in our honour  as a thank-you……and …

…….a display of traditional tribal dancing balanced on top of two bamboo poles ! 

At the end of it all we had to get up on a stage in the playground for a formal thank-you speech and to be presented with flowers grown – which are grown locally by the childrens families.

Bill on the stage with some of the children.

The children were soon all sitting everywhere across the playground excitedly examining the contents of their packs. 

 

However, you can be sure the teachers and the pupils knew that the Mearns Kirk had donated the money that made it all possible, and they had prepared a banner to show their appreciation !

The banner the teachers had prepared thanking the Mearns Kirk for their help in making it all possible.

A New Classroom for Valley View School, Berseba

A teacher shows Bill the new classroom built with money raised by our family and supporters in Scotland

Well, a lot of time has passed since my last update of the Blog, and in the meantime a lot has happened.  The main reason for the delay in updating the blog was that my time in Mindanao was coming to an end and there was a lot to do before I left. However, I still have a few items to post to finalise the information about my time there and update you on the last things we did before I left.

Probably the largest single thing we have done is to raise funding to provide a new classroom for a small school in Berseba, high up in the mountains of the Andanan watershed.  The purpose of the school was to provide facilities to enable two additional years of secondary education at the school, which is used by the communities from Mount Ararat and Berseba.  Previously the school had only provided two years of secondary education and wanted to increase this to four years, as the nearest alternative secondary school is a long way away.

Pupils, teachers, us (and the dog!) gather for a programme of singing and speeches to mark the official opening of the new classroom. 

 The whole project took a couple of months to complete, and cost approximately £500. The whole school were delighted with the result and we were treated to songs, and a speech of thanks for our help in enabling them to do this ! They even wove our names into the “thank you” songs !

A pupil reads a speech of thanks for our help in enabling them to build the classroom.

Of course, Bill and I had to respond to the thank-you speeches and I happened to mention it was my ambition to ride a Carabao (a water buffalo) before I left the Philippines.  Carabao are commonly used as “work horses” by Philippine farmers.  To our surprise a Carabao was immediately “requisitioned” from its work where it had been busily ploughing a nearby field and pressed into service to give us a shot riding it !   

The farmer was very concerned that it was muddy and started trying to “polish” it with a sack, but we reassured him that we didn’t mind a bit of mud, and leapt on its back !

 It was a very memorable way to end another enjoyable and rewarding day with the local people in the mountains of Andanan.

Berseba Elementary School Enters the Computer Age

When we arrived at Berseba Elementary School the children were playing with the badminton sets we gave them on an earlier visit

Good news from Berseba Elementary School in the mountains of Bayugan in Mindanao.

On a recent visit to the school the head teacher had appealed to us to help them get a computer, as they had no IT equipment at all for the children despite having over 200 children enrolled there. Well, we were recently able to return to Berseba Elementary School to deliver the computer which we had bought with donations from people back in Britain.

 

Whose idea was it to tell the shop we would take the computer table flatpacked ?  Bill, the teachers and I puzzle over the assembly instructions. 

There was tremendous excitement at the school when we arrived as they were not expecting us.  Communications in the mountain areas are very poor and we had been unable to get word to them that we were coming as there are no landlines and very few mobile phones in the area. When they realised we had brought them a computer they were just astounded and very excited.  

We had received the money for the base unit, monitor, surge protector and computer desk from a kind friend of my mother’s in Newton Mearns near Glasgow. When we told the teachers that all those items were the gift of just one man back in Scotland they were amazed. 

“Just one man ?” they asked, surprised.  “Not a Foundation ?” ”Is he a very rich man ?”

“No” I said, ”Just a very kind man” 

  

Children begin crowd into the room to watch Bill and the teachers assembling the computer table.

We had bought a high quality reconditioned computer which was of a very good specification, with Windows NT, Powerpoint, Excel, a CD drive,  and a Pentium 4 processor, 17 inch monitor - basically it has the works.  It will do everything the school could require and probably a lot more besides. 

Eventually after a lot of humming and hawing, checking of instructions, and sending for tools the computer table was assembled and ready for its precious load.  Two teachers start to put the computer together.

In addition to the computer itself, we were able to buy a printer using donations from my cousin John, Mearns Kirk, and a lady in Kilcreggan.   That was a more complicated procedure than you might think.  We could not buy them the same kind of computer as I have for myself since the ink cartridges for my printer cost about £10 each. The school would never be able to afford to buy an ink cartridges at that kind of cost.  We therefore had to buy a different type of  printer which - although it is much more expensive to buy – uses a typewriter ribbon type cartridge similar to those used on electric typewriter.  The repalcement cartridge for this type of printer is only £1 (a tenth of the price).  Even better – you can just buy the ribbon iteslf and replace it within the old cartridge case for only 35 pence per ribbon.  Much more affordable, and within the reach of the schools limited financial resources to replace the ribbon.  

Now let me see…..where does this bit go ? 

Before long the village officals, parents and just about the entire village were tying to see this great event take place.

By the time we were ready to finally switch on the computer for the first time you could hardly move in the room, as it was packed with the entire community as well as loads of the children.  It was obvioulsy seen as a major event for the village and nobody wanted to miss seeing it happen.

Success ! All connected up, working perfectly and ready to roll !

I am sure the computer will be very well used and will be a great help to the teachers in educating the children.  In the modern age learning to use computers is a great advantage for children.  Also, in the Philippines many families have relatives or family members working overseas to try and help support the family, and if they can use computers it is much easier for families to keep in touch with each other.   

Mission accomplished!

 Meanwhile, a couple of the parents had also found some books, a pop-up play tent, and some crayons which were also brought out from Scotland on Bill’s most recent trip.  They seemed very facinated and pleased with these as well, and promptly took them for the teachers of the pre-school group to use. 

 

Bill and a couple of Mums check out the playtent, books and crayons for the pre-school group.

All in all, another happy and satisfying day. 

A big thank-you to all those back home who made it possible with their donations. 

A Not-So-White Christmas…..Sunshine and Santas

Travelling into Agusan marsh to deliver Christmas goodies !

Christmas time has arrived !

Time to spread a little Christmas cheer as we go along our way!

So, in that spirit this week began with a group of my VSO colleagues, the Save Mindanao Volunteers and me travelling into the Agusan marsh to deliver Christmas gifts to the people there.  

 

We are greeted by the children all singing welcome songs to us at the new Literacy Centre built by the Save Mindanao Volunteers. 

Our destination was a Sitio (small settlement) called Kilobeaden where the Save Mindanao Volunteers (SMV) have been doing a lot f work to help the community. 

Kilobeaden.  The house in the foreground is typical of the houses there, each of which can be home to ten or more people. 

Amongst the things that SMV have been doing is constructing a Literacy Centre for the teaching of children and adults alike.  

We arrived late afternoon, since it is a long journey to get there, first by car, then by big boat, then by little canoe !  As a result by the time we laid out our sleeping mats etc. it was dark.  Nevertheless, we were given a tour of the village and told who lived in each house (and how many !). 

 

A Kilobeaden household at dusk. 

There were seventeen houses in all.  Amongst the occupants was a 42 year old woman who had a 5-day old baby – her tenth child.  She wasn’t the only one with a big family either. 

We planned to stay overnight, so in some ways it would have made sense to distribute the gifts in the morning once we had daylight again, but the intended recipients were too excited to wait that long.  Consequently we battered on by the light of a single gas-lamp and the odd improvised kerosene lamp made from an old bottle and a rag (there is no electricity here !).

 

Families wait barefoot in the mud for the distribution of gifts to begin.

So in spite of the darkness and some very heavy rain showers I donned my Santa Hat and we got on with it !

It was all very organised as the Save Mindanao Volunteers produced a list of all the households, along with details of how many children each family had and any other special circumstances (such as “this lady is a widow with six children”).  We were therefore able to adjust the size of the pack each family got to the number in the household etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A happy lady receives a bag of children’s clothes and toys

The gifts included a load of soft toys donated by folk in Newton Mearns, and transported out from Glasgow on Bill’s last trip out here.  As the bags were carried away into the darkness we all retired to bed – sleeping on the floor of the Literacy Centre.  The following morning we woke to find the various new toys being played with and the new clothes being worn aleady by some of the children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amongst the toys were little “tooting party horns”, so that following morning we woke to the sound not of birdsong but of children running around going “toot toot”.  I could just hear my sister’s voice from back in Scotland saying “that’s the kind of thing Aunties give, not parents !” 

Ah well. 

I have done my bit for the peace and tranquility of the marsh !

 

 

 

 

 

 

Left : Nice new t-shirt, nice new kite… but something missing.

Above : The boy in the centre is wearing his new t-shirt and shorts.

The final items distributed the following morning were some chinese kites.  I had been unsure if these would work as there is limited space to run about to get the kite launched, but they seemed to manage and had a really good time with them. As did the adults !

 

Even during Christmas celebrations normal life goes on, and a little person still needs to wash behind their ears ! I hope they don’t wring her out like the laundry !

The following day at dawn we went for a trip round a nearby lake, and got some fresh fish straight from the fisherman’s net, which was then cooked for our breakast.  Delicious !

It was then time to be on our way, so we took to the canoes once again, and headed out of the marsh. 

However, a Santa’s work is never done, so more tasks lay ahead.  On returning to San Franz (where I live) I had to immediately head out to the shops to finish shopping for the Pinagalaan School Party the following day.

Pinagala-an Elementary School Christmas Party ! 

Pinagala-an School’s Christmas programme started at 10 am with all of the classes taking it in turns to give a little performance ( a song, dance, or both !).  I arrived just in time for the start of this, and was treated like a guest of honour !  I also had to join in the dancing to Christmas songs, much to the amusement of the kids who were in fits of laughter at this funny white woman doing all the actions to the songs !

At lunchtime we had a mass feeding again, with a few extras like cakes and sweeties since it was the Christmas party ! I then started distibuting gifts to the schoolchildren with the help of the teachers.

 

Toy cars are handed out to the Grade 1 and Grade 2 boys. 

The toys handed out included soft toys collected by the people of Newton Mearns. In all, over 60 soft toys from Glasgow were distibuted at the school, and that was not counting the ones distributed in the marsh the day before.  There were also a load of balloons which came out from Scotland, too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two young girs display their new soft toys.  In the background of the left hand picture, bags of donated clothing from Newton Mearns await distribution.

I had also bought a load more toys out here including lots of toy cars, word games, puzzles, spiderman toys, power rangers, yoyos, water pistols and ….you guessed it… .. more tooting horns and kites ! 

Happy faces as the children of Pinagala-an Elementary School receive their gifts !

Once again the process was very orderly thanks to the help of the teachers who called the pupils up one class at a time. 

Having handed out a Christmas present to every child in the school, we then turned our attention to handing out the donated clothes which had been brought from Scotland.  There weren’t quite enough to kit out all 209 pupils in the school, so the teachers decided the indigenous students (those from the Manobo tribe) should have priority as these families tend to be the poorest and most disadvantaged.  

 

A Manobo boy gets fitted out with a new ‘St Cadoc’s’ polo shirt and a pair of shorts by the teachers.

Once again the teachers set to, checking all the clothes against the pupils to make sure they fitted okay.  They really worked hard.  However I had bought a great big gooey chocolate cake for the teachers to share as a thanks for all their hard work over the previous year !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Left : A Manobo boy gets fitted with a Mearns Primary School polo shirt.  Right : A boy in desparate need of a new t-shirt (wearing a t-shirt full of holes) clutches his new Mearns Primary polo shirt.

Having completed our task it was time to return to the Barangay (village) Hall for the  afternoon part of the programme. 

However, I may have contributed to things degenerating into chaos, as the floor of the hall was by this time covered with kids playing with their new toy cars and there were balloons bouncing about everywhere !

 

Playing with the new toy cars !

Nonetheless, the programme eventually got under way again with community singing and dancing.  I was dragged up to sit on the stage, but had a constant stream of children bringing me the baloons out their gift packs for me to blow up for them. 

All in alll, a good time as had by all, and all the goodies and presents really seemed to make the day for the children. Indeed one or two of them couldn’t wait to put on their new clothes and appeared at the afternoon session sporting new t-shirts !

A Manobo boy sports his new St Cadoc’s polo shirt 

A final thought at Christmas time ……

It occurred to me that the money I spent on cakes sweets and toys for the whole school was similar to what could be easily spent on one festive meal back in the UK over this Christmas period. 

And for that you can make a whole school happy !

No contest really, is it ?

So thanks again to all those who donated money, toys and clothes.  You all helped make it a very special day for the children.

May your own Christmas be as happy as you made the children and their families that day.  

Santa Arrives Early at Pinagalaan School

 

School supplies being prepared for distribution today 

Christmas arrived early at Pinagala-an Elementary School today when a fresh batch of school supplies was distributed to all the pupils at the school.  We had been getting close to using up all the money we have so far raised when we got a very generous donation of 250 pounds from a kind hearted individual in Newton Mearns.  This meant we have been able to do another distribution of school supplies to all the teachers and the pupils. Thanks a lot “Mr A” – the pupils really appreciate your gift.

Last week we therefore went up to the school and asked the teachers to give us a list of which school supplies they needed most.  This worked well as we were able to make sure everything they got was what they really needed.  We even got details like what brand of chalk etc. was their favourite – not something I would have thought of if they hadn’t told us (it is a brand called ‘Venus’ in case you want to know !).   

We also took them some pop-up books Bill brought out from Scotland with him, which my sister Karen had bought at a school sale in Newton Mearns.  They were all about grammar, science and maths but in a pop-up book form.  All I can say is that if the pupils get as much fun out of them as the teachers did they will be a huge success as an addition to the new school library !  

 Bill and I hand out the schools packs to the pupils.

Bill and I have spent the past 4 or 5 days buying in the supplies to make up the packs for the children, and putting the packs together in the evening.  Packs included jotters, pencils and pencil sharpeners in a plastic or cardboard wallet.   

 The Grade 1 class with their packs, and a ‘thank-you’ poster they had made for us.  Each of the classes has made us a ‘thank-you’ poster, which was very touching and greatly appreciated. 

All in all, the cost of the school supplies was around 100 pounds, so we still have some money left for other things, like the mass feeding  and child health programme. 

  Today’s meal for the children – a fish, rice and noodles and juice.

 

The feeding programme is continuing, with the children being fed in school twice a week to encourage them to attend classes instead of trying to earn money to feed themselves. 

Last Friday all the children were also all wormed, and I am assured that the worming has been effective with worms being ‘expelled’ as planned (strangely enough, I don’t have a photo of that!) so that in itself should improve the nutritional status of the children! It must feel better not to have a gut full of worms stealing your food !! 

 Children queue up to file through the shelter where Bill is handing out bags of food during the mass feeding today. 

We have been providing the funding for the ingredients for the feeding programme from your donations, but the labour to prepare and cook it all is provided free by the staff of the water district who go to work early (at about 4am!) to make all the food for the children.  They are real heroes for taking on all that work.  

 

Every teacher also recieved a pack of supplies including a ream of plain paper, graph paper, crayons, glue, scissors, neon colored paper and card for making displays, manila paper, marker pens, pencils,  chalk (Venus brand!), and a blackboard eraser.  The headteacher also got a globe, a compass (or science lessons) and we have promised him a microscope and magnets for the science class too ! 

Finally, with our new donation we have also been buying some additional clothes for distribution at Christmas.  These will be handed out the week before Christmas in Pinagalaan and in the Agusan Marsh, along with the clothes and toys donated in Scotland which Bill brought out when he arrived this time. We bought 50 pairs of new shorts for 20 pisos each, 20 t-shirts for 25 pisos each and 20 pairs of pants at 15 pisos each.  Not bad, since there are about 90 pisos to the pound, so we got all those clothes for about 20 pounds !  

All in all, the kids and teachers at the school are very grateful for the help and donations they have received.  Thanks to all of you who have made it possible. 

A Letter from the Teachers and Pupils of Pinagalaan

 

Some of the IP children we are helping with their school fees and study materials (IPs = Indigenous Peoples).  In the Pinagalaan area they are from the Manobo Tribe.

The children and teachers at Pinagalaan Elementary School say a big thank-you to all those who have been helping them !!  On my return home for a holiday this week I will be bringing with me thank-you letters to Newton Mearns Primary School, Rosneath and Craigrownie Churches, and to Mearns Parish Kirk.

On recent fund-raising, a particularly big thank-you to the children of Newton Mearns Primary School, who raised just over £366.00 for Pinagalaan School during a recent “dress-as-you-please” day. Well done to all the children and staff, and to my niece Holly-Beth for suggesting the idea and, with the help of her friends, doing a great deal to publicise and promote it.  In addition, people linked to Rosneath St Modans and Craingrownie Churches have contributed a generous £300.  Mearns Parish Kirk contributed £170 plus loads and loads of school supplies and clothes which were also worth a great deal of money (and they also gave money and clothes for children at a little coastal village near Barobo). I will be bringing home receipts for all the money spent so far, which everyone is welcome to look at to see how the money is being spent.  I will also summarise the accounts on this blog in the near future so everything is very transparent and accountable.  I know you trust me but I its your money so I want you to know where every penny (or piso!) goes !

Anyway, the following thank you letters are for all of you kind-hearted children and adults, and for everyone else who has helped.

Here is a transcript of one of the letters from the pupils of Pinagalaan :

“May the power of the Lord be with us always !

As a pupil of Pinagalaan Elementary School me and my schoolmates were very much grateful for having a kind persons and friends like you.  The shool supplies that we received a month ago were very much useful since most of our parents cannot afford to buy all the needed equipments in school.

We hope and pray that your valuable and unending support will help us achieve a brighter future. 

Thank you very much.

Very truly yours

Ronald J. Limayag (pupil), Rasgie C. Bayo (pupil), Ernie P. Sadiagon (pupil)”

 

As you can see in this photo, many of the IP children do not wear shoes.    

And from the teachers came the following letter  :

 “May the Holy Spirit be with you always.

Our school is looking forward to have a fruitful and productive pupils.  As teachers, we develop pupils not only in academic but also we enculcate moral and spiritual values that somehow we could contribute to their growth as Christians. 

In spite of things we did, we found that there are factors that hinders our goals.  One of these is malnutrition due to the low incomed parents. Another factor is the lack of school materials such as books, workbooks, and other school supplies which is needed by the pupils to enhance learning.

Thus the children as well as their parents were very glad and thankful that they received some school supplies from your kind hearted support.  These little things will be great things if there are people behind us that has a heart of gold to the poor people like us.

Thank you very much and more power !

Your sisters in Christ, Annaliza C Campos (teacher), Arlene M. Gonzaga, (teacher) and Levie R. Pasecio (teacher)

The house of an IP family whose children go to Pinagalaan Elementary School 

One of the things that has been happening since my last update is that today I used 2,000 pisos of the money from your donations to pay the school fees of the 20 poorest IP children for the academic year.  The names of the children whose school fees you have paid are :

Jessabelle Guyo (Grade 2),  Renante Lahat (Grade 1), Johnrey Peling (Grade 1),  Sunnyboy Lahat (Grade 4), Jevear Guyo (Grade 2),  Jushua Guyo (Grade 2),  Angelica Lahat (Grade 2), Jerom Guyo (Grade 3), Mee Ann Peling (Grade 3), Jessica Peling (Grade 3), Gilbert Cahoy (Grade 3), Jennyrose Cahoy (Grade 1), Jerry Guyo (Grade 4),  Jeson Guyo (Grade 3),  Jessica Talingting (Grade 4), Reneboy Talingting (Grade 1), Renato Talingting (Grade 1), Jerwin Lahat (Grade 4), Jouram Guyo (Grade 4), Jotham Guyo (Grade 4),

Before you ask, despite the limited number of surnames they are not just from one or two very prolific families.  In fact, the Guyo children in the list are from 3 families : their mothers are Mrs Jimmy Guyo, Mrs Melicio Guyo and Mrs Johny Guyo.  However, because of the tribal nature of Manobo society the Manobo families in the area tend to be related, leading to a few surnames dominating the list of pupils.  However, because we are targeting help the poorest families, in some cases more than one child from that family may be getting their fees paid by your generosity. 

These children come from the poorest IP families in the area, and have very basic living conditions.

 The house of one of the IP families whose children are at Pinagalaan School

We are also planning the feeding programme for the malnourished children in the school.  Local advice is that the time when food is in shortest supply amongst the subsistence farming families is from October to March, so for those months we will feed the children in school on thursdays and fridays.  The reason for choosing thursdays and fridays is that the teachers have told us that by that point in the week the children’s families have run out of food for the week, leading to the children being absent to try and help their parents get money to feed them.  By feeding the children in school those days we hope to encourage them to come to school for the full week and also help them eat on days when they might otherwise have little or no food available to them.

I have now managed to establish the costs of feeding the children in school.  It will cost about 20 pisos (£0.18) per child per day or 1,040 pisos (£9.67) per child per for six months (based on 2 days a week for 26 weeks) to give them a good nutritious meal.

So anyone who gives ten pounds to the project will know that they have contributed enough to provide in-school feeding to a malnourished child for a whole six months !

But we have around 220 children in the school, and we would like to be able to help them all, so we still need lots of support !

Off to Church

On Saturday afternoon we arrived at Sitio Pongpong (yes that really is its name) so that my mum could visit the small church there on Sunday morning. Although the church is tiny and has only rough log benches to sit on, it is filled on a Sunday, and the volume of the singing would raise the roof if there weren't so many holes in it. Braving the prospect of splinters in our rear ends, we took our place on a log which had been left vacant for us, and which formed part of the the the front row (that log there on the right in the picture !).

 

Dogs, and the odd chicken, wander freely through the church during the service.  In fact one of the people gathering the collection accidentally stood on a sleeping dog, leading to a riot of yelps and confusion.  

The fact that the church is so basic somehow makes the effect of the service and the enthusiasm of the people is all the more moving, and the place has a great feeling to it.  Once again we were made very welcome. In fact, we were received as honoured guests.  We passed on a donation of the equivalent of £10 to the members of the church, which they decided would be spent on white curtain material for dressing the church and tables at the forthcoming fiesta, and on buying flower vases for the church to replace the cut-off water bottles currently serving that purpose.

After the main part of the service was over the congregation continued busily planning their annual fiesta for the 28th May. However they were worried that they had no volleyball available to allow the proposed young people's volleyball tournament to take place.  Since two young members of Mearns Parish Kirk had donated a pound pocket money each to the benefit of the young people here, we decided this money should be used to buy the youngsters of Sitio Pongpong a basketball.  This meant they could go ahead and have their tournament. Since the people here are fanatical about basketball, you can be sure the basket ball will be very well used even after the tournament ! 

After church had finished, we gave out some of the donated pencil cases, pens pencils, and balloons to the children in the congregation.  They were all delighted with these, and very soon children were appearing from all around to join in and receive a balloon and a pencil case. The people were all very interested in seeing a picture of all the children of Mearns Parish Kirk, and sent a big "thank you" to the children and adults who had sent these gifts to their village.  

Before we left they made me promise to go back there on the 28th May to join in their Fiesta, which should be great fun !

From Scotland with Love

My parents arrival failed to get off to a flying start - they missed their flight to Mindanao and ended up stranded in Manila ! As there wasn't another flight for two days I got on the return leg of the flight they should have been on, and joined them in Manila.

However, the time was not wasted as we ended up seeing some fabulous Good Friday celebrations at Quiapo Church (The Church of the Black Nazarene).  All the statues from the church are paraded through the street on top of trucks, tricycles and just shoulders, with people trying to touch them or throwing up cloths to be rubbed on the statues for a blessing.  Quite a sight, with thousands of people crowding the streets !

My parents brought loads of goodies which were donated by members of their church - Mearns Kirk – for giving to the most under-priviledged children here – clothes, pencils, pens, pencil cases, balloons and stickers. 

As there are a lot of street children in Manila, we gave out a few of these items during our brief stay.

These went to families who live on the street and keep their few posessions in plastic bags hung on the trees and railings where they sleep. 

However, the first large-scale distribution of these gifts took place near the coast in Mindanao, at Barobo.  Our 'test run' was in a village I had visited a few times before, and where I had  been struck by the obvious poverty and dishevelled clothing of the children.  It is also a place where the children had always been very friendly and welcoming, and flock onto the streets whenever something novel or interesting occurs – like foreigners appearing.

 

We took a tricycle there, then sat down at the village well and began blowing up baloons.  Pretty soon curious children (and adults) were appearing from nowhere.  I started distributing pencil cases containing an assortment of pens, pencils, a rubber, sharpener, stickers and a couple of balloons (uniflated ones!).

My mother had previously sorted the clothes into bags according to age it was for and if it was boys' or girls' stuff, so she got out her bags and started matching up clothing to kids, and handing it out, making sure each child got at least one item.  Those children who looked in greatest need got an extra item or two – including a very small boy in a falling apart t-shirt, which completely failed to conceal his modesty ! A poor wee soul indeed ! 

All the kids were incredibly polite, patiently (but eagerly) waiting their turn rather than grasping or pushing to get things. Parents and older kids had also gathered round, and helped ensure the process was really very orderly. 

A group of teenage boys also got stuck into helping to blow up balloons, though they did ask if they could keep one each !  One woman asked "When are you coming back ?" and joked "Can you bring some clothes to fit me next time ?"  and an elderly gentleman asked if he too could have a baloon please (we gave him one!). 

All the stuff was obviously greatly appreciated, and the parents and kids were clearly delighted to receive the goodies.  As we left the street looked like a carnival with lots of balloons around and all the children and parents waving us off and urging us to come back soon !

So thanks to all those at Mearns Kirk for all the stuff they sent – you certainly made those kids' day that day !