Unending Perspiration
Trip Start
Jul 27, 2011
1
13
73
Trip End
Dec 14, 2011
Where I stayed
Homestay
What I did
Site seeing, new center clean up, visit to Vincent, Fiesta
Tanauan, Eastern Visayas, Philippines
Sunday, August 14, 2011
As the title suggests the past two days have involved a LOT of sweating. Yesterday we went on our second excursion with VFV. The excursion was called a site seeing excursion, but it was quite a deceiving title. We began the day at the new VFV center in Palo that is almost completely constructed for the children of the dumpsite. What we thought was a simple unloading of supplies turned in to a morning of manual labor. We started in the supply room moving all the building supplies which had been thrown haphazardly into piles. It didn't take long to get everything out with so many people though. Then we moved all the bags of clothing we brought from the center in Bliss into the room, and thought this was the end....only to find out the hard stuff hasn't begun. We were then asked to assist other volunteers and some local help to move both medium sized pebbles and sand from the front of the center, where they had been dumped in piles, into large bags in the entry. This was harder work than I expected, especially since there are literally only 3 male volunteers currently. The male locals who were helping were shoveling, while all of us girls struggled to carry the 50 lb bags (I swear). We had to have two people on each bag because they were so awkward to carry. To make matters worse it was raining almost the entire time this was happening. When the bagging and carrying was finished we had to hoe the dirt around the entry and then smooth it so that the center would not flood through the front door. Finally we were instructed to help start the fire for the feeding that was set to occur in the afternoon. Usually they use charcoal to start the fire but had forgotten it on this particular day, lucky us that it has rained on all the wood. After lots of handy work from multiple people we were finally able to get it started and all piled back in the jeepney to go to lunch.
We had lunch at Rafeal's Farm, I have mentioned this before, where they grow all their own food and have a beautiful estate. After lunch we headed to a waterfall near by and were finally refreshed by the fresh cold water. There was a pool we were looking forward to, but upon our arrival we found it was green and none of us were interested in finding out why. Some young local boys showed us all up by climbing up the slippery rocks to the top of the waterfall and jumping off. None of us were able to get up more than 3 feet off the water, it was still a very nice end to the day however.
Today, Sunday, we started the day visiting my parent's sponsor child Vincent in Tanauan. He is the one I spent so much time with during my last stay going to doctors and trying to help his condition. He has Klippel Tranaunay Weber Syndrome, a mouthful I know. From what I have read it is a random genetic malformation of some sort which causes the blood vessels in one's extremities to not function properly. This causes Vincent to have an extremely enlarged leg, which sometimes cracks his skin and is therefore very prone to infection. He has gotten bigger since I saw him last, but was still just as sweet and shy, unfortunately his leg has also grown larger. I gave him some presents from the U.S. and some much needed medical supplies.
Our next endeavor was the Tanauan Fiesta. At the outdoor stage thousands gathered to watch a traditional Filipino dance competition. It was blazing hot and we stood in the direct sunlight for quite some time before we were able to squeeze under the over hang. All of us were dripping sweat and our shirts were soaked within about the first 30 minutes. We couldn't stay more than 2 hours before all of us felt like we were going to faint. We found shelter and AC in the mall for lunch and are now relaxing for the afternoon. i will upload pictures when I am able to charge my laptop some more.
Hope you are all enjoying weather in the 70's!
Elsa
Comments
You sound so busy!!! Rafael's Farm and the waterfall sound like a nice break from all the work you're doing. How does the mall compare to the ones we have here at home?
Wow what a crazy but fun experience. I can't imagine the heat. yikes. Keep drinking water dear! And keep being a blessing for Jonathon. Happy to know you are getting recognition for it from the staff. :)
The malls here are actually nicer than the malls in the U.S. and MUCH colder. haha
Did anyone complain when you were working? You have to imagine how much the appreciate your help... and I'm guessing it is hard to be negative when you know how they are so thankful and generous towards you.
Of course people complained!! haha But we got the work done, so that is all that matters.