Funny Story - Karaoke

Okay
My friend and former Housemate, Senga in an e-mail reminded me of something....called Karaoke.....well to anyone who has had the pleasure of living with me....or even residing within an one mile radius...will know that well my singing is not the kind that will light up your day....

So actually a few weeks ago when we took one of the Touristy trips through Metro Manila....we went with this vehicle that had a Karaoke machine in there...and so yeah as the day was winding down we ended up singing some Karaoke. Well here in the Philippines they seem to have a saying or custom that when someone sings out of tune it will end up raining....

So after having taking my time to decide on a song i went for "I just called to Say I love you" by Stevie Wonder....tribute to you Dave....well my score on the machine was pretty darn low...but thats alright....I can deal with that

However, hardly an hour later it starts raining and then pouring and then Thunder and Lightning and then even more rain.....leading certain areas to even flood.....

May we all thank God that I stopped at one song...for who knows what would have happened if I kept singing....but yeah this was the last bit of confirmation that i might have needed ...It is now clear...I think ill leave my career as a singer to be for now...and will pursue other endavours....

Bikol

An update on the past week in Bikol....


Ate Joy, Kelvene, Andrew and me went there for a two day participatory training/workshop with pastors and others involved in the church or the community. The first day the focus was on the millenium development goals and Micah Challenge. While the focus of the second day was on anti-corruption.

I have to say that for me this was a very encouraging experience. First because it really gave me a sense of some of the work that I will be involved with. I had been writing a bit already, doing some research, helping with events, even doing the devotions and the breaking of the bread at an event called prayer for the nation...in the presence of multiple pastors. EHm yeah not too sure if they were all too impressed with my biblical accuracy..but i guess it was heartfelt right...

Yellow Spot - Manila Red
Thin Circle - Albay, Bikol Region (P.S. Same Island all the way South East of Manila)

But, i disgress Bikol, or rather in Ligao city in Albay province in the Bikol region was the first time that I trully really got the feel for what I will be doing. Both because I did my first presentation, but more because I just got a sense of the topics, the regions, the future work that we will be working on. So yeah that was great.

Secondly, it was great to also see the enthusiasm and encouragement of people here and how pastors and other members are commited to help meet the goals of universal primary education or to go against corruption.

I do have to say that the corruption remains a funny thing. It seems like it is the universally excepted thing. A thing that everyone recognizes, but feels semi powerless to do anything against. But it is this corruption that also plays a vital role in a country's developement. If you add the money taken from the people by corruption to the Billions of pesos of debt payments (from loans often taken out by corrupt officials) and the amount of money lost from the budget that should be going to social services and for the general benefit of the Filipino people becomes staggering. But, it is not just among the common folk that there is a sense of apathy of what they can do against corruption many pastors are also clueless on what to do. Corruption doesnt rank high on the list of things to address, they have to worry about what their congregation might think, there can be real dangers that are associated with addressing corruption, it mightalso take a long time before change (isn't that right Barack) is visible and so even the ones that start with the fight often get tired along the way. It was funny....we were talking about funding etc. and the more charitable causes get easy funding as does disaster response and rightfully so, but some of the more structural programs that might actually change some of the problems so we dont have to continously give handouts find harder support. In fact, we brought it down to the two things that are fighting for last place on the funding list from religious organizations ....were.........."excitement building"........."and even more"...."okay maybe not"......Corruption and HIV/AIDS...


well ill leave it there for now....but yeah it was very good to see the excitement of such a group of leaders who wanted to do something about both the issues of poverty and government.

For evidence i wanted to post a video of watch pastor Choi taking care of the Millenium Development Goals. But two hours later and it is still not uploaded...so you will have to do with some pictures.

We also got to see some more of God's beauty in the form of Mount Mayon Vulcano...and some more of God's grace in the joy and kindness of the participants and of our driver and Aisha who organized things on the ground.


Well from back in Quezon City...ill leave you with this thought....from GK Chesterton.

"The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people."

1st Month

It has been a month now since I left Calgary and travelled through Vancouver and Hong Kong to reach Manila and I have to say that it has been a very blessed first month. So I have decided to give some form of update (ps. I will try to do it way more regularly from now on) without going into every single detail, but still giving some kind of view on what has been good, bad and beautiful.

First of all I will have to say that the way I have been received here has been a gift of God. People of both CRWRC, CCGG (the specific org that I work with) and people in general have all been so kind, helpful, and hospitable that I can not do anything, but say thank you at every corner....

I feel like I have acclimatized rather quickly....well weatherwise ...it took me like not even a second....as this is the kind of weather I think I was made for...but regarding all other things...I feel very at home already...I know there will be times when I will hit my feet against some stones and times when I will struggle in the upcoming months....but in general I can say that the adjusting has gone very smooth....

The first month has been very busy....and sometimes i am pretty tired...but it has been a good kind of busy...as I am learning a whole lot about the country, the langauge, the specific job etc.. but yeah like many of you know that learning new things and especially langauge and culture can be pretty draining at times....I have had a number of langauge classes already, but have a long way to go.....Cultural training has been very good....especially since I feel like i still have so much to learn about the country, its history, its people etc.

now let me get to the Good, the bad and the beautiful....

the Good:
1. I feel like i already know Quezon City quite well...yeah even here i try to walk as much as possible...and that helps a lot in knowing the place...because yeah with my size in the jeepneys....i dont really get to see much of the road...:)
2. It was very good meeting up with Pow and meeting Joanna

The Bad:
1. ehmm well...this is pretty easy as well...the air...
2. another easy one is the impossibility of going for a run in Metro Manila...because of air and traffic....
3. Ehmm the lack of Indian...food although I think I might have found some places...both at IRRI and in metro Manila

The Beautiful:
1. The Palawan trip...man got to say that God did a pretty darn good job in creating this planet...when you get to see some of its nature still relatively pristine....it becomes all the more evident.. in adition the fresh fish and other food for such a good price...yeah pretty sweet....Thanks to ACDA for taking me along on their trip :)

















2. Los Banos Only an hour and half from Metro Manila..I can see this become one of my more
favourite places in the Philippines and a place to take a break whenever I feel like getting away for a weekend. I already know quite a number of people living within the town.
The campus is absolutely beautiful....you can run and excercise all over the place.






Some added pointers:
1) I am still pretty white and hence stand out pretty much everywhere....but you become more immune to the attention after a little while
2) Apparently Prince Harry is my twin brother.
3) Like i wrote in an e-mail to some you ...yeah the sad day has come that I got a cellphone...and yeah i actually text...although I have to say that I am pretty sucky at it.
4) I hope to introduce some of the people that I work with and that I have met so far in upcoming posts
5) I will be heading to Bikol for the upcoming 5 days starting this upcoming wednesday.

Much Love to all of you...Ps. As was the case in the past so is the case now...mi casa su casa...okay maybe more my apartment or my room your apartment or your room....but you get the point if ever in the area...or if ever you think i need a break where can i go....and you wanna go a little further than the corner store down the road...then you are all more than welcome....no need to make reservations...just knock on the door and it shall be opened.