Blogging the Philippines

I had our pictures running on slideshow at work today. Looking at thousands of pictures over the course of the day was like reliving our trip. So many memories made in one week. I remember chasing Brian down through Greenbelt to give him directions to the church; Bethany and I checking out the beach material after the first boat ride; the little girl crying at the Kalayaan school, and to Casey’s and my surprise that she had never seen a light skinned person. I remember the taxi driver, Ramon, who always solicited Brian and me for a ride when we went to the store. Their was the girl, who’s name escapes me, that we started to refer to as my stalker; she was always around. Joy and Bailinda were GK workers that we rode with; Joy is a beneficiary who went on to work with the organization, Bailinda is a Muslim from the south who was trained in combat before reaching puberty who now works with Christian beneficiaries. It was surprising to learn from her how much our political opinions mirrored each other. Our driver, whose name I have also forgot, was amazing. He could navigate the chaos of the Manila streets like no other. Our tour guide took us to an amazing restaurant not unlike a taqueria you may find in Houston, with the exception of the menu. Oh, the menu was something else; I can’t believe Casey ate the “mushrooms”, which were pretty good. Then there were the college employees. Eddie, our behind the scenes man, always talking about movies and taking pictures. He got some really good shots and I can’t wait to see his video production. Jimmi Rushing, one of our campus librarians, was good to have with us. She calmed my thoughts a couple of times and I am glad she was there. I remember leaving Wendy’s and running into Dr. Brian Shmaefsky, leader of the service learning aspect of the course, in the hotel lobby. Seeing his reaction to my telling him that we had just found a worm crawling out of my burger was, in itself, worth having the worm in the burger to begin with. Dr. Cherith Letargo has inspired me for about a year and a half now, and I am glad to have been able to visit her homeland with her. I will leave the district considering her not only an instructor, but also as a friend. I know that I cause her extra stress at times, and the fact that she still treats me with respect is a testament to her qualities. I had a wonderful time in the Philippines with you all and have learned about myself. I see that humanity is worth helping. The Filipinos don’t sit around, feeding off of some government check; they live in poverty and work to get out of it. They are representative of a better, deserving aspect of humanity that I will not forget. I will return to the Philippines, maybe as soon as December if possible, to help this fine representation of humanity.

While evaluating the living and environmental conditions utilizing both anecdotal and geologic evidence, and trying to apply my knowledge of geology, construction, and economics, I found that there are abundant water resources that could be harnessed with a minuscule amount of monetary investment, and that the largest portion of a beneficiary family’s income is spent on fuel, water, and electricity usage. I noted that the families were not drinking the running water, but instead used it for washing, irrigation, and waste disposal. I also noted that the water being provided was being pumped using electricity or fuel powered generators, a costly expense. This led me to the idea for a rainwater catchment and cistern system in order to provide the same quality grey water without the cost of it being provided by a utility company or the need to use additional electricity or fuel.

Upon returning to the US, I have found myself reflecting on the lives and conditions I encountered in the Philippines. I have found a new appreciation for the amenities I have that I had previously taken for granted, and I find myself looking for ways to preserve our resources and share them with others. I have taken to collecting my cans and not just recycling them, but giving them to an unfortunate elderly homeless woman that occasionally wanders through my neighborhood looking through trash. I don’t just want to get my degree to earn more money. I want to use it to make the world a better place for all if there is any way that I can using the skills I learn in college.

In urban areas, villages such as Baseco and Panagsama present a particularly harrowing account of how harsh life can be. Previous to the being relocated to the Gawad Kalinga village, many of the recipients had been living in shantys with their entire families, and there are countless shantys filled with less fortunate souls surrounding the small enclave. The beneficiaries have been provided a dramatically higher living standard, reaping the benefits of clean running water, proper sanitation (in Panagsama, and electricity. Each village has school and a clinic as well to provide education for the children and ensure the health of the families. While these seem like basic needs to us as US citizens, they are luxuries in the poverty stricken areas we visited. The people we met living in the villages were all very grateful for what they had been given, and more importantly hopeful that they could achieve more for the first time in most of their lives. They no longer felt the dehumanizing effect of having to beg for meals or sift through the trash of others in order to earn money, and they looked forward to taking advantage of the opportunity they had been given to provide a better future for their children.

In the rural areas of Reunion village and the Kingwood village, there is a somewhat different situation where water and food are plentiful, but only if you have land and infrastructure to utilize the natural resources. As these type of costs are prohibitive for the poor, the stark poverty was still persistent with many families going hungry and thirsty needlessly. With the needed resources provided including a means of income such as agriculture or tofu production, we found again that the families in the villages were hopeful that they now had the resources at their disposal to make a better life for themselves.

Brian J Glazier

http://www.gulfcoastgreen.org/content.asp?secnum=25

Saturday and Sunday, 4/5 and 4/6. Free admission, parking $8. Sustainable energy, etc… May help with some of our projects, and I plan on going Saturday. At the Reliant complex.

Lance

Here you see a view of Baseco as it is where GK has not built. You can see the scraps pulled together into a place to sleep for a family. This was an area that was entirely unsafe – even taxis would not enter the area. After the third time the place burned down, destroying thousands of homes – Gawad Kalinga got their opening to begin their work. What a change they made. Comparing the Baseco villages with the others is in some ways unfair because they were the beginning and they started with less than nothing. But the changes and the hope are impressive. What you hear in the people is plans and hopes – they look forward now, not at only the moment.

Preparing to leave for the Philippines on this Service Learning Study Abroad was challenging in that in many areas none of us knew what to expect. Having traveled rather a lot and having done service trips and activities through most of my life I was prepared for a lot of what we saw and dealt with. But every culture is different and every need is personal to them. I find it important that you understand that there is a worldwide need at this point and that every people have social problems. Choosing a place to work or even to start can often be challenging or overwhelming. As a returning student I have previously attended University and have a fairly broad background, allowing me some flexibility in my areas I can help and work.

However, I had no idea in reality what would be needed and if I could truly be of real help. Not knowing what expertise that they already had and what depth of research would be required I began on the premise of examining waste and waste water treatment and materials used in construction. These things develop with further study however and after meeting with the Green Gawad Kalinga my focus changed to actually utilizing my architecture training more completely.

Seeing the people and the needs you notice the trash and the homes made from scrap material and pieces left from the destruction you see. But more than that you see what they have done with that trash and the squatter rights of the land. Nations without squatter laws have a hidden poverty and homelessness most of the time. There it hovers on the edge of every building it can cling to, fills the wasted spaces and lines the streets. But in that the people live on and still are happy and pleasant, gracious and going on with life.

You come back feeling that you could never do enough to meet what you see need for and want to do. Instead you take what you saw, what you learned and you do what you can and you share it with others and maybe one of them will to.

The most amazing part of the trip is meeting a group that is changing things. These are people that are really working on making a difference and are effective at it. Whatever you do or do not agree with them is irrelevant when you see the effect that they have on their home, their people, their society and now the world.

I want to go back. I feel that I need to return to apply my knowledge and abilities to help humanity. I had a discussion about who needs assistance more, domestic or international indigents. I think that, with our country’s programs and organizations, which are not perfect but do exist, my best conscience and moral decisions tell me that the international indigents are in more desperate need of the help which I can provide. I can also gain in my experience and get practical experience in working with my fields of study. The water contamination tests I ran were very revealing; not only did the results reveal interesting facts about the conditions of the test sites to be followed up on, but the practical experience of testing something that was unknown to find the results that no one knew prior to the fact is exhilarating. No lab experiment with results known by an instructor can duplicate that feeling. This trip has opened up my mind to new horizons and I can not wait to work with GK again, as part of a project or independently.

Lance

A picture is worth a thousand words.

That may or may not be true but I’ll tell you one thing: no amount of words or pictures can describe the experiences we had during our trip to the Philippines.

You’ve probably seen images of extreme poverty on TV. Homes made out of whatever junk is laying around. Barely clothed children playing in the filthy streets. Rivers filled with trash and sewage. Rubble piled high on the sides of the roads. Yet nothing can prepare you for witnessing the real thing. The smells. The sounds. The feel. Only when you experience it firsthand can you finally see the complete picture.

I went on this trip to videotape the first international service learning project for the Lone Star College System. While I think I did the best job that I could, I have of the those gut feelings like it won’t be good enough. It can never be good enough. No amount of video, photos, or sounds can fully capture what life is like in the Philippines. I just hope that the final edit of my video will be enough to prove that these kinds of programs are indispensable. We went there to not only teach them concepts that we know but to also learn from them and apply some of their ideas here at home.

Now I’m back in the comfort of my own home, hoping and praying that I will never forget what I’ve experienced - may it inspire me to make this world a better place at home and abroad.

- Eddie

Upon first hearing about the trip to the Philippines, I found myself wondering if it was something that I could do. The farthest I had ever traveled was to Boston and Cozumel and Cozumel was the only time I had been out of the country. When I heard some of the details of the trip; I knew that it was something that I had to do. I love to help people and service to the needy has always been a calling for me. All I needed to know was did I have to get any shots to travel and was there somewhere there that I could eat! I did and there was. Our journey was long both ways, but longer getting there due to some plane complications. When we arrived it was amazing. The sights of the great extent of poverty in this country slaps you in the face. The air in many places is unpleasant due to large amounts of waste and numerous vehicles and the first thing that I noticed was the dwellings that these people had to call home. The homes were pieced together out of any type of scrap that could be found: tin, cardboard and other scrap items were used to hold these homes together. However, no matter how bad the situations for these people looked it seemed as though they were still happy. I saw children playing together - not a toy in sight, still managing to smile and play as if they knew no sorrows. When we arrived at the first village it was like walking into one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Houston and the villagers were rich in their attitudes as well. The homes were not very big. In fact, the homes were about the same size as an average medium sized kitchen. One family that we met had six children besides the mother and father living in the small home, but it was perfect in their eyes. I had planned  to evaluate the school houses and possibly help with curriculum tips; however, the school looked like any other pre-school/elementary classroom. The books and materials were wornout and they didn’t have many to work with, but they were current. So while I stood in one classroom observing the teaching materials I developed a new mission; I plan to contribute as much possible so that the children that I saw sitting in those classrooms can learn with good materials. The students were so sweet and happy to be there and they deserve a newer learning environment.

More on the excitment in the Philippines later..

Casey