Edward in the Philippines

More random pictures

2009-10-16T12:47:00.006+08:00

Esra visited me and now she is famous in Kidapawan...

On a visit to Prado, a antroposophic organisation in Luzon. Me, Raimon and Matthias.

Beach...

Water

One hundred Island park with its 123 islands

100 Island ParkJeepney

Ifugao

Flower

Batad waterfall

Batad with its famous rice terraces

A Fern

Rice terraces, UNESCO protected

Back in Mindanao

2009-10-09T13:42:00.000+08:00

Hello everybody,

its again been a while I posted something here...

I am back in Mindanao for a couple of weeks and back to work. I am finishing at the moment my anti-television campaign, which I will present to the staff, to teachers and parents. It is a seminar, aimed especially towards the negative effects of television for children. Did you know that the average hours spent daily in front of television in USA, Canada, Australia and EU are 4H a day... That means that, once you reached the age of 75, you will have spent more than 12 years of 24 hours non stop watching television... GRAVE!!!
Another of my new assignments is to investigate the possibilities to use ORMES in organic agriculture. ORMES is a very strange and interesting product, it has a lot to do with alchemy, the light of live, manna etc. I am just started to do research, I hope to be able to make it myself and to see the effects on plants...
And then also, I am busy with decorating our new house and making a herb garden in front of it and planting some ornamental plants to upgrade the place. Yes, we moved house... I live now in a house, specially for foreign volunteers. It has four rooms, but now only two are occupied. I live together with Felix, a new German volunteer. It is very nice in our house, we cook our meals now, and most important of all, I have my own room.

I still enjoy myself a lot here, there are so many things I learned here, and still so many things to learn. I am here already 7 months, over half of my period, that means that time will pass very quickly now, and before I realize it, I will be back in Belgium. What I am going to do once I am back is even for me a mystery... My plans change with the days, but I hope to find a payed job somewhere Africa... But that is only one of the many options.

Next time when I am somewhere with a fast internet connection, I will upload some more photos from my trip and the new volunteer house.

I wish everybody a wonderful and blessed day, hope to see you all soon again.

Ah, also, here in Mindanao we are fine, we are not affected by any heavy super typhoon, only maybe a bit more rain and daily brown outs...

Blessings and love!!

In Kaingan, Ifugao

2009-09-09T19:26:00.006+08:00

Hier in de bergen in Ifugao in het Noorden van de Filippijnen, tussen de wereldbroemde rijstterassen ben ik de kerk en de school van mijn over-over-over-groot nonkel (of zoeits) gaan bezoeken. Monseignieur Jerome Moerman was missionaris in de Kaingan, Ifugao van 1908 tot 1958. Hij bouwde er op een stuk land een kerk met school en boerderij.
De eerste dag dat we in Ifugao aankwamen, in Banaue, namen we een trycicle om enkele rijstterassen te gaan bezichtigen en onze driver wist al wie Moerman was. In ons hotel vertelde de bazin dat ze in de lagere school zat toen Padre Jeronimo actief was in Kaingan. Ze herinnnerde hem als een vrijgevige man die hen schrifen en schrijfgerief gaf als ze bij hem langkwamen. In het school-kerk complex heeft de directrice ons rondgeleid en uitleg gegeven. De origenele gebouwen die Moerman bouwde zijn in slechte staat en er is gevaar op instorten, daardoor zijn slechts twee van de vier klassen in gebruik. Er is enkel middelbaar onderwijs, maar ze zijn van plan om opnieuw een lagere school afdeleling te bouwen en de oude gebouwen te renoveren. Met de bouw van het nieuwe gebouw zijn ze al gestart maar dat hebben ze moeten stoppen omdat de kost voor bouwmaterieel te duur geworden zijn in de laatste tijden. Momenteel zijn er 500+ leerlingen. De directrice herrinnerde zich Moerman ook, hij plaagde haar wat toen ze klein was en gaf snoepjes en eten.
Onder de kerk ligt Moerman begraven en er is zelfs een Moerman museum met veel fotos, zijn schommelstoel, pijp, scheermesjes, zijn priester gewaden, een singer naaimachine, een broodsnijder en zijn schoenen en nog wat meer.
Het was goed om dat dorpje te gaan bezoeken, waar normaal niet veel toeristen komen en om vriendelijk ontvangen te worden door het personeel daar.
Blijkbaar zit er nog een missionaris, een familielid van Moerman ergens in de Filippijnen... Zijn naam ontglipt me nu.

Tot gauw...

Sun, sea and white beaches...

2009-08-20T11:25:00.005+08:00

Sunset in Bohol

What you see on a beach when you open your eyes...

Eddy Tarsier

Real Tarsier, not bigger than a hand

View in Camiguin

Cold spring in Camiguin

Palms

Volcano Hibok-Hibok

Tuasan Falls, Camiguin

On the boat to an Island in the sun...

My new assignment

2009-08-07T08:58:00.001+08:00

Dear brothers and sisters,

My next assignment here in my NGO is to go and travel around in the Philippines and look for indigenous rice seeds. It is a project they always wanted to do, but have no budget to do that. So my task, with the help of Broederlijk Delen, I will visit farmers in the mountains and collect teaspoons of non-hybrid rice varieties. At the moment I am busy making my business card and preparing for the task. It is also a nice opportunity for me to explore the country a bit more, an opportunity in a life-time.
So my next posts (as far as I manage to keep up this blog), will be from different regions in the Philippines.

On an island in the sun

2009-08-07T08:55:00.001+08:00

In July I visited the beautiful island Camiguin. It is a small island in the north of Mindanao, just beneath Cebu and Bohol. The coastline is 70km, with some white beaches, 3 volcanoes, hot springs and more. They have a very charming original style of architecture. Wooden houses with ornamental carvings are situated all over the Island. In the Island there are hot springs with water coming from mountain Hibok-Hibok, an active volcano, soda springs, cold springs, waterfalls and many quite good snorkeling and dive areas. There is one small island in the north of Camiguin, called the White Island, there is nothing more on that island than white sand and tropical blue water. On the other side is the island Mantike, where a walk around the island takes less then 15min. There are white beaches, trees in the middle, some houses in the north, and lots of corals and fishes just in front. I also visited a giant clam farm. There the protect and cultivate giant clams, most extraordinary sea creatures, who can grow up to 2m and become 100years old. The once we saw were around 50cm or more. Clams, are neither male nor female when born, but after a while they are 2years male, then 6years female and after that have both sexes. One of the best things to do there is to hire a bike and circle the Island, go as far up as you can on mount Hibok-Hibok (until the stony earth roads really become to rough). Also, I heard because it is more (but still acceptable) touristic than the South of Mindanao, they did not said “Hey Joe!” to me, but greeted me with “Hey friend!”, which I liked much more, because Joe really starts to become very boring...

enkele fotos van in juli...

2009-08-04T08:37:00.003+08:00

coming out of the sand

Jasmine by the Sea

Long busride...

Sunset in Camiguin

In the tricycle

Paradise Island, Samal

Hot Springs in Batasan, Makilala

Mantike Island, Camiguin

Frithjof and accupuncture

Scuba diving!

Tour in Mindanao

2009-08-04T08:34:00.001+08:00

Kumusta sa tanan??

Weer een tijdje geleden en ik vond dat het eens tijd was voor een Nederlandse post...

Ik ga in juli een maand rondreizen in Mindanao en wat eilandhopping doen, dus gaan jullie een maand lang niets van me horen, lezen of zien...

Ik had ook even de tijd willen nemen om uit te leggen wat ik hier nu precies allemaal doe. Ik had gehoord van ma dat mensen haar vroegen wat ik daar nu precies allemaal uitspook...?
Wel het oorspronkelijk idee was dat ik me eerst eigen maak met de filosofie achter de ganse bio-dynamische landbouw, m.a.w. kreeg ik de tijd om organische en bio-dynamische boeken te lezen en om op het veld en in de groenten tuin mee te helpen met de practische kant. Dat lezen houdt ook in dat ik antroposofie aan het studeren ben. Naast die studie werk ik dus in de groententuin en help ik mee met het research team.
Die groententuin is eigenlijk meer dan gewoon een groententuin. Het is een tuin vol bloemen en planten die we gekocht hebben en vergaard hebben vanuit het regenwoud en aan de andere kant planter we er groenten, niet in saaie rechthoekige plots maar in dynamische en organische vormen planten we bloemen en verschillende groentjes die bij elkaar passen dooreen. In onze tuin staan ook fruitbomen, met vruchten die jullie jammer genoeg niet kennen, maar overheerlijk smaken (rambutan, durian, marang, jakfruit). We hebben in onze tuin ook een vijver (of mss beter een viver) gefabriceerd, met waterval compleet. Stilletjes aan begint de tuin op volle productie te graken en het is leuk om te kunnen eten van eigen (bio) oogst.
Mijn andere dagen ga ik mee met het research team van Don Bosco. Momenteel lopen er twee onderzoeken, eentje naar de beste manier van behandeling van koffie bomen tegen vraatzucht van de 'scaring weavel' (allemaal biologische toepassingen uiteraard) en een onderzoek naar de geschikte verhouding van applicatie van FAA voor pechay, toepassen van Fisch Amino Acids (als bemesting) voor een soort chinese kool zeg maar.
Enkele weken terug heb ik ook meegeholpen in het planten van rijst en met de lay-out voor een natuurlijk filtratiesysteem voor de rijstvelden.
Naast mijn studies hier 'thuis' ben ik ook bezig met een lezing voor te bereiden over de negatieve invloeden van televisie (tell-lie-vision) vooral dan voor kinderen en tieners.

Eerst was het plan ook dat ik in alle projecten van Don Bosco zou meedraaien, maar daar is verandering in gekomen. Omdat mijn veiligheid primeert, is het niet meer haalbaar om mij te laten werken in andere dorpen door verhoogt kidnapgevaar door de extrimistische moslims hier. Twee weken terug hebben ze in 5 aangrenzende dorpen hier de gevangenissen bestormd en hun maten vrijgelaten en is er ook een Koreaans meisje gegeijzeld. Terwijl moslim kampen hier in de laaglanden naast ons zijn, zitten boven ons de bergen communistische rebellen, maar die gaan ons geen kwaad doen, hoogstens ons uitnodigen om hun mee te doen met hun stijd tegen het kapitalisme en de regering.

Maar zoals ik al zei, in Juli trek ik er op uit om wat van Mindanao te ontdekken.

Dikke kussen en tropische groetjes vanuit de Filippijnen!!

some random pictures... I will write something soon... :D

2009-06-19T15:45:00.004+08:00

Blessing the compost

Some waterfall in Samal Island

Rice

;Matthias and me, reading Steiner in the Venus hut

Betsy, me, Hans, Lani, Inke, Matthias in Punta del Sol, Samal Island

Matthias and me, in uniform ... ;-)

In the rice breeding centre

After planting the different varieties

Me, still gwapo...

Me and my dog Barnie

from Batasan with love...

2009-05-15T15:12:00.001+08:00

Hello friends,

I know it has been a while since I posted something on my blog, the reason is simple, there is no internet here in the mountains, or maybe there is, but it is very very slow. And although I could go to Kidapawan or so, there is no reason for me to leave Batasan, because it is so beautiful and nice here. But at last I took some time for brining you up to date...

I arrived in Don Bosco, Batasan in the beginning of May. And after a orientation conversation with Betsy, we decided that it is in the first place necessary for me to study antroposophy and bio-dynamics principles since everything they do here is based on that and since I know almost nothing about it. So during May I am studying, getting some lectures from Betsy and helping Mat (the German volunteer) in his vegetable garden, both the studying and the work in the garden I like a lot. For the next months I already found some assignments for me. One of them is that I will make a outdoor playground for the pigs, who live at the moment only in a stable which is not so bio-dynamic, neither organic... and the same playground I will make for the rabbits, because they also live just in cages. During the planting season I will be assigned (June-August) in the seed-bank where they breed rice. I will have the opportunity to plough the field with a karabaw (a water buffalo) and help in the breeding process. In the end I would like to participate in all the project that Don Bosco is offering, more or less a program from seed to shelf.

Since one week, Hans Molders (the most important representative for anthroposophy/bio-dynamics in Asia) is here as a guest. It is a guy from Holland who lives in New-Zeeland. He gave some lectures about the agricultural courses of Steiner with examples and explanation. We also made a compost pile and a cowpatpit together with him. It is very nice to have him here so that I can ask some practical questions about bio-dynamics. After his advice Mat and me also made a “good” compost pile in our vegetable garden. Next week we all go to Samal Island where we will do some astrology on the beach and off course enjoy the sand and the sea. On Saturday, Mat and me will get a lecture about astrology from Mario, a staff member of Don Bosco. Then at the end of next week we will go diving...

I also got a dog here, Barny. It is a 4 month old Dalmatian dog who lived in a small cage. Last week Padre Mario came here and donated him to us, for the sake of Barny. He is very “enthusiastic” and hot so he needs a boss that cares for him and teaches him some manners, that will be me from now on...

Ok I try to upload some pictures but I am afraid it will take long time, if not now, I will upload them next time.

Lots of tropical greetings and love from the Philippines!!

Bananaflowers, a "bibssprinkhaan", bats and Edward

2009-04-28T16:27:00.003+08:00

Last Weekend Davao

2009-04-28T16:12:00.004+08:00

After my graduation in the Maryknoll Language School, my family in Doña Asuncion made something extra for dinner. They prepared loempias, cheese rolls and roasted tuna, delivious! After that, together with the people from the boarding house of Pieter, with Frithtjof, and the son and daughter of Arnold (from Broederlijk Delen, my “boss”), we went partying in Rizal promenade. In a club called 183... The music in the clubs are the same music I heard in clubs in China, or even worse. One commercial song after the other, making it impossible for me to dance. But still I had some fun sitting outside, drinking some beers and listening to a live (cover) band. My friends from the Alternative Center will give a Reagge festival on the Island of Samal, but that will only be in June or so... Being in Asia again did me realize again how good we have it in Belgium for partys, concerts and festivals!

The next day I went ziplining with my family close to Digos (an hour and a half or so from Davao) in mount Apo park. Ziplining is going with a cable from a higher point in the mountain to another point while you hang in superman position. A nice thrill and a nice view.

Later we visited the “Agong house” by ???, a famous artist from Mindanao. It was a nice, small house, based on the original builing style of Mindanao indigenous tribes, with a very nice garden around it with lots of flowers and statues in the mountains.

So my stay in Davao is almost at his end, and on Wednesday, Arnold will take me to Don Bosco in Makilala where I can start my real work... Although I still do not know what I want and can do there, I look forward on being there again, amongst those nice people in mountains.

My speech at the graduation ceremony

2009-04-28T16:01:00.003+08:00

For the people interested in how Cebuano/Visaya looks like, I wrote down my speech that I made for my graduation on Friday 24^th April. I am officially graduated form my language school, but that does not really mean that I speak fluently Cebuano now. I have a base and I know how to construct sentences, now I need to practice and learn more vocabulary so I will be able to communicate better.

Maayong buntag sa tanan,

Kini ang adlaw sa akong graduation. Kinahanglang kong ihatag ang pakigpulong, ug gusto kong mogamit niining higayona sa pagsulti sa akong pasalamat, una sa akong mga magtotudlo ug mga estudyante sa MILC. Bisan gitudloan nila ako sa basic Cebuano, malisud gihapon kaayo ang pagsabut sa mga maguuma sa bukid sa Makilala para kanako, sige lang kay makasulti man ako sa basic feelings. Pananglitan, makasulti ako sa pulong nga “Gigutom ako”, “Gisip-on ako, hatagi ra ako ug habol”, ug, mas importante, nga “Walay problema kon Moro ka o Kristiano alang kanako, silang tanan ang akong mga higala”. Nakatonan ko sab ang basic understanding sa Pilipinong cultura. Nakatonan ko sab nga ang mga Bul-anon ignorantihon, apan but-an gyud. Nakatonan ko sab nga walay pulong sa Cebuano para sa “sweet” para sa mga lalaki kay dili sila magtext sa ilang trato nga “Gimingaw kaayo ako nimo” ug dili sila kanunay maghatag ug bulak sa ilang mga trato. Ug nakatonan ko sab nga mas importante sa mga Pilipino ang S.I.R.

Ikaduha, gusto kong magpasalamat sa akong pamilya sa ilang pagatiman kanako. Bisan nga gikambiohan nila ang ilang pagdiet ug pagkaon tungud kanako kay vegetarian ako. Ug bisan sab nga usaka adlaw niana nga gimingaw gyud ako sa akong nanay, giatiwan gyud ako nila pag-ayo. Sa Doña Asunsion sab, nakakaton ko ug daghan.Una, ang secreto sa taas ng buhok nga “It's all in the ends”. Ikaduha ang pagmabinantayon sa iho tunud sa ilang pagpadako sa ilang utok. Ikatulo, wala mamakak kanako ang travel guide sa Pilipinas nga “Prepare yourself to be interrogated by everyone you meet (...). Filipinos will want to know where you are from, why you are in the Philipines, how old are you, wheter you are married, if not why not, and so on and so forth”. Pero wala magbakak ang guide sab ang “They pride themselves on their hospitality and are always ready to share a meal or a few drinks”.

Sa katapusan, gusto kong magpasalamat sa akong kauban sa Broederlijk Delen, nga akong NGO sa Belgium, para sa paggiya kanako sa mga bulohaton bahin sa mga routa sa jeepny dinhi sa Davao ug sa pagatiman kanako.

Sa tanan nga nia dinhi, daghan kaayong salamat.

Daghan na kaayo ang akong gisulti, busa tana magmeryenda nata.

My visitors!

Classmates, teachers and Pieter.

Getting my certificate!!

My house in Davao, for one more night...

2009-04-28T15:54:00.001+08:00

Lake Ako

2009-04-20T17:55:00.002+08:00

My Holy Week

2009-04-20T16:06:00.003+08:00

Two weeks ago, during Holy week I took a break from school (I only skipped two days) and went to the Don Bosco farm in Makilala where I will be working the next ten months. It was really great to be away from the city for a while and be in nature. I was invited by my “boss”, Betsy, to join a seminar about anthroposophic healing and alternative harmonization techniques. To be honest, I really did not know what that was going to be all about. The seminar was given by two anthroposophic doctors and a nurse. Antroposophy is basically the teachings of Rudolf Steiner during the first half of the 20^th century. It is, as far as I know now, the scientific teachings of the spirit and spiritual world, that is based on our current modern world. It compromises philosophy/theosophy, health care, education and agriculture (bio-dynamics). This anthroposophy is about initiation in the higher worlds, thinking-willing-feeling, our physical body, astral body, spiritual body and the I. During those three day seminar we learned about healthy lifestyle, meditation, we gave foot baths to each other, we made a healthy salad with wild plants, fruits and flowers, we did art therapy (making paintings with self made paint out of earth and flowers), I was been harmonized etc.. All these things are quite new to me and at first I felt a bit uncomfortable about this subjects, but Betsy promised me that I will be given time to study anthroposophe/esoteric/occult teachings so I can understand what it is all about. Currently I have no judgements about all these “higher” subjects/truth because understanding have to come before judgement.

There was another guest at Don Bosco, Troy, from Manilla. Togheter with him we did yoga every morning for one hour. In the end, I will have to learn more or less how to teach yoga, because I will give some initiation classes to the local farmers. Exciting!! Troy also introduced me to inner dance, a kind of traditional shamanistic “dance” which allows you to ground with yourself and, after practice, can be able to express blocs/traumas stored inside of you. It was a strange experience, Troy, who is able to connect consciously with the cosmos/chi/prana/life-force starts to press some points on your body and, if you think about nothing, your arms and legs, head start to move spontaneously, expressing emotions deep inside us. They told me that in this way it is possible for us to find out how we were connected in with each other in our past lives. I did not reach any catharsis or past life experiences, but I was surprised how spontaneously I started to move. I am, again, very excited to learn more about these practices, because I think it could be of good use in our materialistic western world to bring in a bit more spirituality.

Aside from all these “weird” practices we also did some sightseeing. We went to Lake Ako, which is a, rather big, boiling lake. Really quite bizarre to see a lake that is literally filled with boiling water coming from a hot spring. Next to is they installed a natural sauna and a hot pool. We also went up the mountain, through the rainforest to see two waterfalls, one of them a sacred place according to one of the indigenous tribes living up the mountain. Close to the Don Bosco farm there is also a hot spring with a pool installed where you can bath in the natural hot water, how nice!

For the rest of my time I helped a bit with Mattias, a german volunteer, in his garden, next to the river, in front of Don Bosco. And Betsy gave me a short orientation into the different projects in Don Bosco so I can figure out in which of them I would like to cooperate. Right now I still do not know exactly what I want to do, I think I would like to work in all of them so I can learn a bit about all their different projects. The have a seed program, a extension service for farmers, the do laboratory work, they help woman to develop off-farm employment, they have a micro-credit service, they have give seminars to farmers how to convert to bio-dynamics and also seminars for other ngo's who like to know more, they have a dairy farm where the make mile and yoghurt, they have, i believe, 4 shops spread over the island Mindanao so marketing is also one of their occupations... Lot's of things to learn, many of them I used to know some things about in theory form during university.

I went there on Sunday and the next Sunday I left again to go to Davao, because my language school is not over.

some pictures of the rainforest mountain, story later...

2009-04-13T18:36:00.001+08:00

Razor attack

2009-04-02T08:52:00.005+08:00

Last night, on Aprils fool day, I was brutaly attacked by razorblades...

They said I did not look like that 'florissant' anymore.. I said I did not understand, they said I looked like a flower before...

Greetings and love!

Food not Bombs

2009-03-31T16:17:00.004+08:00

On Sunday Frithjof and I helped the activistas from Davao in organizing their Food not Bombs – Free Food Made with Love – Pagkaon Katungud. It is a kind of people's kitchen that they organize already for one year, once or twice a month. On Saturday the people from KINAIYAHAN UNAHON, the alternative resource and learning centre in Davao (the local AC), went to the market to ask the vendors for free food that they were planning to cook for the next day. So on Sunday I joined them at 10H cutting the vegetables, cooking the food and preparing to take to the city centre. We made a soup, loempias and noodles. Then, around 16H, we brought it to Rizal Park, where a lot of people gather, especially on Sunday for mass, the big second hand market (for sure clothes and shoes from charity organisation from the EU or the USA were sold there) or just to suroysuroy. There we installed us in front of the town hall and started to give away the food to street children and street vendors (most of them kids around 8 years old). It was a big success because in a short time we gave away all the food we cooked earlier. I think it is a very nice action they do, because there are a lot of very young children begging for money or trying to sell small snacks or other things to the people walking their or coming out of the mass. Also in general, here in the Philippines, the difference between the (filthy) rich and the poor is huge!

The AC

Cutting the food

Cooking

Giving food, not bombs...

I also met the youngest punks I ever saw in my life. While the people from the AC are around my age or older, later in the city we cached up with the other activistas which were mostly kids from around 15 years old and, in contrast to my friends from the AC, they were dressed very explicitly. They are called children of dew, because the dwell the streets until dawn...

Mga bata ng tun-ug

I forgot about this one

2009-03-31T16:15:00.001+08:00

Special program for prisoners in Cebu, Philippines.

tRAKTOR

2009-03-31T16:07:00.000+08:00

Hello again my borthers and sisters!

2009-03-21T14:48:00.002+08:00

I have been one month in the Philippines, but it looks like I just arrived...

I have to admit that I am really longing to go the Don Bosco farm and start my work. One of the reasons that I went abroad was to escape the concrete jungle of Babylon. But for the moment I went from our fast city life to an even worse environment! Really, Davoa is a very big city, with too much stinking cars... Also going to school is really hard for me in this hot weather, plus the fact that languages is really not my strength. But it is the last time I have mentioned this, I know it will be good if I can at least speak some words Cebuano/Visaya. I have to hang on one more month and then I will be surrounded with nature for the rest of my stay! I heard from my Belgian colleague Pieter and from another volunteer that Don Bosco is really like paradise; it is located at the foot of Mount Apple, the biggest mountain in the Philippines (about 3000 m), with hot spring sources where the installed natural sauna, waterfalls, scooba-diving possibilities etc.

Last Friday, the Japanese sister and the French priest graduated from the language school. It is a custom here, that when you do, you invite your friends who bring some food. You also prepare a speech in Visaya and then you get your diploma! This Friday I also skipped school for the first time. In my area, there was San Jose fiesta. When I arrived after school at home, the sisters of my tatay were there and they brought the karaoke machine!! The whole evening we were drinking beers, eating and – of course – singing karaoke. I have to admit, that after some beer, I more or less started to enjoy the karaoke, although I did not know many songs in the book, I think I did almost al the songs I knew more or less (at least I did al the Bob Marley songs ;p). So when I got up the next day at 6H45 to go to school, I was still drunk, so I got back to bed and decided not to go to school.

For my father; AXA is everywhere...

Yesterday night I went with Frithjof (my other Belgian colleague) to some Philippine activistas. The have an small Alternative Learning Centre, which means they have some 100 books (politics, nature, economy, anarchist literature etc.) and movies. It was nice to meet some people with more or less same interests, and together we watched a movie.

Another very concerning problem here in Davao, is the current mayor, Duterte. He rules with iron fist here and has his own – although he will deny the existence – death squad; the DDS (Davao Death Squad). It is a pretty scary organisation that is maintaining the peace in the city... Last year there were around 270 killings in Davao; no killings by criminals or so, but killings of drug users, pushers, dealers, and other – actually – small criminals by the DDS. The mayor is playing police, judge and executer all in one. The current rating for 2009 is more than one kills each day!! And there is nobody that dears to talk openly about the problem, only the church and some priest have the guts to openly condemn this regime. Because killing criminals is not solving ony problem, people become criminals because there is something wrong with the society. And also, with the Philippines now being the number one corrupt country in Asia, I think that the real criminals are those people in high places...

Greetings!

Halo! Unsa na?

2009-03-21T14:22:00.001+08:00

My first blog after being around two weeks aux îles Philippines...

After leaving my parents and my youngest sister, Marie (better known as Flarie), at the airport of Brussels, I realised to the fullness that I was leaving Belgium for one year on my own; a strange feeling, but definitely an exciting adventure is waiting for me!

After a long flight I arrived at Metro Manila; a city with 11 million inhabitants during the day (as my first taxi driver told me). As Minette (an ex-colleague of IMRD last year in Berlin and also a Pinay who lives in Manila) told me, I took a taxi at the second floor of the airport; those are supposed to be cheaper... I had to go to the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Agriculture, Quezon City – where Minette works – because she was so kind that she arranged a bed for me at the apartment of one of her friends. After almost 30 minutes we finally arrived, at Elliptical Road in Quezon City. I could not find Minettski immediately, but luckily a girl took me to her office, called Minette for me and invited me to join their lunch... Then Minette arrived, but she had to work until the evening so I was glad I could rest a bit in the shadow and try to get rid of my jet-lag... My Philippinian adventure had started for real now.

I do not want to offend any Pinoy or Pinay, but I really did not like Metro Manila. It exists almost completely out of skyscrapers and huge malls (they have the third biggest mall in Asia, which is bigger than Zaventem!!), and cars, cars, cars and cars... There is a strange thing about these malls, the people here like to go the mall just to walk around (suroy-suroy, which more or less means walking around without goal, looking at the different shops). The mall is a place to meet each other, to go for lunch and to shop. Probably the large amount of people there has something to do with the fact that those malls have air conditioning, which is most welcome for me here, because at the moment it is more than 35 degrees in the Philippines. Luckily the Philippines people are so warm and hospitable.

The second day we celebrated Minettes birthday at a restaurant, close to Manila Bay where you have to give your fish (that you bought earlier) to the cook, who prepares the food. Immediately I was also confronted with the open mind of Philippines towards ga

y people; lots of she-males tried to convince me to go and eat in the place where they worked... Funny! Philippines like music, and especially if the music is played loud and if there is possibility for karaoke. Like in our restaurant, there was a man and a girl singing famous English love songs. All these songs are remakes of the origins, with digital equipment and no text of course, there are enough people willing to sing. As so did Minette for her birthday.

Celebrating the birthday of Minette at Manila bay, with – of course – karaoke!

Another sad thing about Manila is that is was completely bombed by the Japanese during WW II, except for one church, so it had to be completely rebuild. There is the an 'old part' called intramuros, with new buildings, build according to the old style.

During my short three day visit in Manila, I stayed in two appartmets, with both different views as you can see on the pictures. The first one was located in a skyscraper district, where there are no shops or restaurants in the streets; the place to be is the mall. The second one was more charming, but also poorer. Low houses, small shops and eat stand in the streets.

Appartment view from where Eden lives and from where Cherry lives.

On Friday morning it was time for me to leave Metro Manila and take the plane direction Mindanao Island, Davao City! Early in the morning I said goodbye to Minette and Cherry, thanked them for their hospitality (and of course I am not forgetting Eden!) and took a cab to the airport.

Metro Manila from the airplane.

After one hour and a half I arrived in Davao City, where my brothers form Broederelijk Delen (BD – my Belgian ngo) Arnold, Frithjof and Pieter were waiting for me. After having lunch with them, they took me to my new Philippinian family. There is Rudi and Merlin, the father and mother, Tata, their daughter and Dong, the son. They live in the Pampanga, a cery charming neighbourhood close to the airport, with small houses and full of fruit trees (banana, coconut and papaya) and flowers. I had a very warm welcome and I knew immediate that I was in good hands! My nanay (mother) is an ex-cook from the school where I study Cebuano/Visaya. And although they probably never heard from somebody that does not eat meat/fish, they do their best to satisfy my needs, which they do with great success! Because it is quite difficult for a vegetarian here, I am eating some fish, to be sure to have all the necessary vitamins and proteins. After a quite weekend of acclimatisation, my language classes started on the first Monday of March.

The view from my room in barangay Pampanga.

This month there are not too much students in the language school, in fact I am the only beginner. That is good on the one hand side, because I have private lessons, and so I have the possibility to progress according my own effort (weather that is quickly or slowly, I still have to find out...). There are of course other students who are already following the classes for some months now. Originally the language school was designed for missionaries to learn the local language, and until now it is still runned by the Maryknoll Congregation. Likewise all my fellow students are sisters or priests. There are two woman, one from Korea and one from Japan and three priests coming from France, Poland and Indonesia.

Some views of my barangay, Doña Asuncion – Pampanga

Everyday on my to school and back, I have to walk for fifteen to twenty minutes through our neighbourhood. And every time I do that, I feel all eyes of the people in the streets fixed on me. Most of the time they shout to me “Hey Joe!”, “Where are you going?” and “Give money?”. The fact that they call me Joe is not so unusual here. It comes from the period when the Americans occupied the country, referring to G.I. Joe. All Philippes also think that every white man is an American, although I did not met one yet... When I say I come from Belgium, it is suddenly very quite, until one asks, where in America is Belgium... Apparently no one paid good attention during geography classes.

In the Maryknoll language school.

Another typical thing here in the Philippines is the public transport. It consist mostly out of tricycles (6 Philippine Pesos – Php) and Jeepnys (7 PhP for the first 4 km, 1 Php for each km more). Those Jeepnys used to be US military truck that were converted. Later they made them according this US military vehicle. There are very funny those Jeepnys; the owner decorates them a lot, even putting Mercedes of BMW signs on it (although they are not at all Mercedes or BMW), apparently those brands are considered high in social status.

With my first blog, I would also like to take the opportunity to thank everybody who was so kind to sponsor my voluntary work here in the Philippines! Dankuwel iedereen!

On Monday there is a festival in Davao City, I will be there and will write again on my blog after that.

Greetings!