30 – Highs and Lows

Within the space of a week I’ve had my highest and my lowest points of my time in the Philippines.

I was so happy when I received some really positive feedback on the work I’d been doing. Our In-Country Manager, Jonas, came for his final monitoring visit which was an opportunity for me to present to him and the rest of the GK team my design for the eco-house prototype and also the “Roadmap” booklet which I’ve now finished, and is currently being translated into the local dialect. Everyone seemed really impressed and loved my design.

The eco-house design will be implemented on a new site in Victorias which will be the first GK eco-village of the Province. It’s a beautiful site - a natural amphitheatre around a series of rice fields leading down to a river. The owner of the site is a successful business man in Manila who originates from this province. He is in the process of retiring and winding up his business activities in Manila. He is donating part of his property for the purpose of building the GK eco-village and funding the construction. The village will be his lasting legacy for his farm workers and poor families of the area. He is also a champion of eco design and the native Filipino style. The guest house on his property is a light weight structure constructed of bamboo with a large verandah and elevated off the ground to allow the air flow underneath. So when he saw my design for the GK eco-house, which is also based on these principles, he loved it! He loved it so much he invited us for lunch in his guest house and gave us the money to proceed with the first 30 houses!

Giving feedback, whether positive or negative, is not a very common thing in Filipino culture. To give negative feedback is confrontational so it is more often disguised in a joke. And people are often too embarrassed to give positive feedback when someone has done a good job. So, I was very touched when an anonymous note appeared on my desk. It read:

Hi Jen. I went over your work a few times and I think you did a wonderful effort to improve and define what we have in GK. This will surely come in more handy and helpful to all workers.
Although we may not have had the time to know more of each other, the moment you came to our province, I knew in my heart that God was answering a “need” in our present set up, and He was using you.
Thank you so much for putting so much time, effort and talent into this work, the essence of GK.

When I asked if anyone knew who it was from or recognised the handwriting, mysteriously nobody knew but were soon joking that I had a secret admirer! So Filipino!

The day after Jonas’ visit, the 23rd of April, 3 days before my Mum’s birthday, she called me to tell me that my Grandma had died suddenly in her sleep. She lived in the U.K. and I had planned to visit her later this year after my AYAD assignment. It was quite a blow. My Mum and Aunt were making preparations to go to England to arrange the funeral and I had to decide whether to go also. Mum assured me that they would be fine. I decided to stay and see through my AYAD assignment but write a poem to be read out at the funeral. But perhaps I would have decided otherwise if I had known what was about to happen in the coming days, but it is easy to say this with the benefit of hindsight.

A few days later I made the mistake of taking sides in office politics which made it a very difficult and emotional day for a co-worker and I.

That evening, a bit shaken from the experience, we decided to try and relax by going out for a beer and a bite to eat. I suggested an authentic Filipino restaurant rather than the mainstream westernised places on the main road that we’d tended to stick to. I wanted to get my fill of Filipino food in my remaining weeks! The restaurant was set back a bit off the main road. The road was a bit dark but we could see the place up ahead. Perhaps, if we’d had our wits about us, we’d have had second thoughts about walking there but our minds were still preoccupied with our bad experience that afternoon. All of a sudden a man appeared out of nowhere, brandishing a machete - the type they use to harvest the sugar cane. He thrust the massive blade in my direction and grabbed my handbag and that of my friends. Remembering our Pre-Departure training in Canberra, I let go straight away and stepped back. He grabbed both bags and jumped onto his friends waiting motorbike and they took off. It all happened so quickly.

In a nearby café we called the police who came shortly afterwards and took us back to the station to make a report. We were ushered in to the station. They invited us to sit on the bench which was positioned in front of the TV where a horror movie was showing and asked us to wait as it was currently the police officers’ dinner break! After about an hour and a half at the police station, the officer had finally typed out the report on an ancient type writer. I don’t hold out much hope of them catching the perpetrators, but at least we did the right thing and made a report.

We found out later that many of the sugar cane cutters had been in town for the Labour Day protests. Apparently, as the harvest ended in March, they haven’t been paid for 2 months. So not only would these men have been fired up from the protest march, but they are also desperate for cash to feed their families. I hope what they got from us helped. That’s the problem with a mono-crop economy! Sugar cane has been both a blessing and a curse for this island.

Luckily, I was only carrying the minimal amount of items in my bag – my wallet, key and phone. I wasn’t worried about loosing these items – sure, it’s an inconvenience, but they are all replaceable. I was just thankful we hadn’t been harmed. But we were quite traumatised by the experience of having a massive blade thrust at us.

When it rains it pours as they say. But they also say things come in three’s so I hope that’s it for now!

Speaking of rain, it seems the wet season has come earlier than usual. It’s not due to start until the end of May but already in April we were having regular downpours. Everyone says this is unusual - climate change in action. This has been my first experience of living in the tropics. Basically it’s hot all year round but from May to October its hot and wet (on average it rains heavily for a few hours every other day, sometimes accompanied by thunder). Around Christmas it is quite pleasant – warm and dry. It then gradually gets hotter and more humid as it builds up to April/May which they call summer. The intense heat and humidity of the summer is finally broken by the rains in May (or in the case this year, April).

Each time I hear the heavy rain beat down on our roof as I lay in bed I think of all those poor people living in their shanties, crowded on the edge of pavements or along river banks. The rain would be turning their floor into a river of mud and streaming in through the holes in their makeshift roofs.

In countries that experience severe winters I’ve heard of SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder. In the tropics, people seem to get slightly crazy with the intense build up of heat and humidity at this time of year. Crime goes up and tensions are high. I seem to be permanently wet with perspiration. I can understand why everyone carries little sweat towels with them everywhere - sometimes tucked in the back of the neck, sometimes on top of the head and tucked behind the ears.

The early rains also affected the Bayani Challenge, held the week after Holy Week. The Bayani Challenge is an annual GK event where GK volunteer from all over the Philippines and the world converge in one place to build a whole village in 5 days. This year it was held in Mindanao so unfortunately I couldn’t participate because we are not allowed to go to Mindanao for safety reasons. This is the domain of The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an armed group formed in the 60’s who are fighting against the government for the oppression and suppression the Muslim population has suffered since the Philippines gained independence from the USA in 1946. They often target foreigners, kidnapping them and demanding large ransoms. Three volunteers from the Red Cross were abducted in January (2 Europeans and a Filipina) in Sulu, the same place the Bayani Challenge was held.

For the week of the Bayani Challenge, Christians and Muslims set aside their differences and were building alongside one another living out the theme: “the more we sweat for peace, the less we bleed in war”.

Interestingly, since the Bayani Challenge, CFC and GK have decided to split their governance structures as the work of GK is getting bigger and is poised to expand into non-Christian countries.

Next year the Bayani Challenge will be held in Palawan, my favorite place in the Philippines! No MILF danger there, just maybe malaria! Perhaps I’ll have to come back for it next year – and perhaps you’d like to come too!?

Dear Grandma

I was coming to visit you in August,
But hadn’t told you yet,
To introduce you to Jordi,
You’d spoken but never met.

We were coming to visit you in August,
Summer in your place,
We’d sit in the conservatory,
Sip tea and eat cakes.

We were coming to visit you in Summer,
When birds in your garden would sing,
But little did we know,
That you wouldn’t make it through Spring.

I grew up in a distant land,
But many letters we’d send,
Developing my love of words,
You were my longest pen-friend.

Friends you had many,
Both near and far,
“Cherish your friends” you’d tell me,
And your No. 1 was Grandpa.

During your courtship you endured separation,
Married at the end of the war,
Sixty two years happily married,
Now you’ve joined Grandpa once more.

I was going to visit you in August,
But instead you came to me,
In my dream as I slept,
On the night you were set free.

Goodbye, Dear Grandma,
May you rest in peace,
I’ll sign off as you always did,
SWALK (Sealed With A Loving Kiss).


Today, Tuesday 5th May, is my Grandma's funeral. She passed away suddenly in her sleep on 23rd April.