Sholing Philippines Project 2010 – 2016

First of all, let me thank the students, their parents, and the staff for letting me be a part of your experience. I have wanted to be a part of this for a number of years, and I am glad that it happened with this group of people.

I teach high school in America, and while I work with a fine group of young people, I have been incredibly impressed with this group of British students. They are young adults who do not shirk from hard work, and in fact, do it with a smile because they know the work they do is making someone else’s life better. These young adults prove every day that we can confidently rely on them to do right in the future.

Second, I, like a lot of the others, have been humbled by this experience. The young students at the PCF school teach us each day that we need to enjoy life for what it is. Too often we overlook the little pleasures in life and get caught up in situations that really should not matter. Today I saw that at the Science Center as the British students took the hands of the young PCF kids and guided them through the activities. Then at Nomads, everyone, PCF youngsters and British students and the staff were laughing while playing games or swimming. For an afternoon, the personal cares of all of them were forgotten and they lived in the moment, and the British students and the staff gave of themselves to make the PCF students happy. Just watching this taught me that I too need to, at times, let things go and enjoy life as well as do what I can to make someone else’s life better.

I’ve always believed that no one is too old to learn. And for three days that maxim has been reinforced by the thoughts and actions of the Filipino people I have met, and the students I have had the pleasure to work with.

Today we took the first section of children out on an away day(grades 1,2 and 3). Firstly we took them to a science museum which was very hands on and the kids got very involved with all the activities. A highlight was going in the planetarium and looking above at the dome ceiling where a video was projected about all the different planets and astronauts. The kids were amazed by this experience!

After going to the museum we took the children to nomads sports complex to do various activities such as swimming,rounders,mini games,parachute and playing in the playground. This is what the kids were especially looking forward to. Seeing the children’s faces as some of them played on grass or went swimming in clean water for the first time was such a shock as they thought it was amazing and this is something we take for granted. The children were literally clambering all over us especially in the swimming pool, they enjoyed going on our shoulders and being span round! Although some children had never swam before some were naturally just good at it whereas others needed assistance!

One child said to Harry “is this a dream” as he stared at the scenery in amazement, we both felt that this was such a memorable quote and stresses why we are actually here changing these children’s lives!

Love daisy n liv liv x

Two great days of work over this weekend. Saturday we unloaded the container. In Southampton we live surrounded by them but how many of us actually know how much you can get in 1 if you fill every inch. When we opened it we could not believe it full to the brim, no tail lift, no fork lift but a few old Grove Park tables to act as a landing deck. Well we estimated that we could unload it in about 3 hours, it actually took 1 hour 20 minutes from start to finish. We were then left with piles of gifts, emergency relief materials , 70 + prams, tools and tables, shoes and ring pulls to put away.

We had 1 group distributing the stuff while the other group carried on with the painting project. Later we set the whole group to move around 200 boxes of gifts to the top floor of the school. In very hot conditions this took a little under an hour. We had to remind the students constantly to slow down, take a rest have a drink, they are so determined to make things better.

We then finished the day with most hands painting the 3 partially completed corridors and the 4th as yet untouched top corridor.

Sunday we had a lie in. We set off at 9-00 and arrived at 9-20 at the school very little traffic on the road. By way of a morning briefing I said that I could not possibly leave on Friday if any of the ‘horrible orange’ remained on the walls. I suggested that despite being a grumpy old so and so Mrs Freeza was actually looking forward to my return so I needed their help.

They did not let me down. We completed the Green, Yellow and Mauve corridors and made great inroads into the top Blue corridor, surpassing everyone’s expectations by some way. We have an American friend of Bezza’s, Mike who joined us for the 2nd week yesterday. He could not believe the work rate of our students and commented that he as a high school teacher in the USA could not get his students to work like this.

In fairness I did point out that this rate of work was not the norm in the UK. I do not remember too many occasions in my 10 years at Weston Park when I had to have words with pupils for working too hard, producing far more than they should and thinking more of others than they do of themselves.

This is what this experience does. It brings out the very best of human characteristics, hard work not for personal gain but for someone else. When these ‘someone else’s’ are vulnerable children from the other side of the world who have nothing and your son’s and daughters are working so hard to improve their lot it really is something quite remarkable.

They have 4 working days to go. 3 field trips with approx. 150 children per day going off the dumpsite area for many for the first time. Tomorrow 150 of the youngest children will swim in a swimming pool and play games on grass mostly for the first time in their lives. They will never forget the experience, sadly some of them may never repeat the experience. Your son’s and daughters made this possible, (with your help) sponsored walking, Bag packing, selling raffle tickets, selling mugs, selling more raffle tickets and of course buying lots of raffle tickets.

I have no doubt that all the students believe that it is all worth while and I know that they will come back to you changed by their experience, but undoubtedly in a nice way.

Maganda Harpon (Good afternoon!)

Much easier day today, after working like Trojans yesterday (I think that’s a real similie and not one I made up…) we were afforded a lie in, this time leaving the Shalom at 9am. We split off into teams with ‘The Green WilkWal Team’ (Fran, Portia, Chloe, Helena S, George, Josh) finishing up the ground floor; ‘Kennards Sunshine Crew’ (Olivia and Daisey) doing the little bits and bobs needed for the yellow second floor; ‘Rumsey’s Pink Ladies and Lads’ (Amber, Danielle, Connor, Ryan, Michiela, Michelle, Millie, Matt) completing the third floor; ‘Daleo’s blue and cream Army’ (Jacob, Joe, Caitlin, Georgia, Amy, Helena M, and Holly) started the top floor and ‘Tom’s Titans (Jenson, Harry, Shakila, Will and Keia) made the mural boards. Mick the Machine was painting the railings and Freeza the Finisher was going round edging and putting the finishing touches to things. Mrs Ratcliffe will be pleased to learn that Connor and Holly were doing some history revision while we were all painting (ably assisted by Amy, who it seems is far better at History than I am). We managed to finish the pink and yellow floors, and green is all but done. The blue will require another coat tomorrow, as the orange is so garish and bright it shines through the paint we put on today. I had a chat with some of the ladies who work in the livelihood area making the bags and jewellery as well as Asi the security guard, and they taught me my daily dose of Filipino, ‘Bang Alan ko Chris’-My name is Chris (I presume not spelt like that). Seeing as how rubbish I always was at languages at school, I’m pretty pleased with the few words I’ve picked up.

We took a trip to paradise heights just after lunch, the area where the team put up a playground 2 years ago (that Mr Berry wrongly told us had been dismantled, it would seem he was looking in the wrong street!) Paradise heights is a series of sky high tower blocks that are in very poor condition, that reminded me of the high rise buildings in the TV Show ‘the Wire’, only in even worse condition. The playground is made in the alley way between 2 of the blocks of flats, and it was lovely to see the children playing on the equipment that had been installed 2 years ago. One thing that I have truly loved about being here is the way that everyone you pass says hello and gives you a smile. We had a man ride past us today shouting ‘Hello my friends, thank you for coming to us’. It makes you realise how appreciated our efforts are, not just by the school but by the wider community.

We had a good singsong and dance in the afternoon, with a bit of Macarina, Saturday Night and year 3000 thrown in. Then back for another evening of mall/poons, highlighted by Jacob, Jenson and Harry recreating the assassination of JFK using condiments at the dinner table. First lot of school trips tomorrow, so we are down to half numbers for the day. #gohardorgohome (I’m getting almost as good at these as I am Filipino!)

Baalahm

Mr D

We’ve been here for over a week now and it has gone so quick! Being at the school and seeing the children really makes you realise how ungrateful and rude people in England are. The children are the most happy and loving children i’ve ever met. Every time you walk through a corridor a child will say hello with a big smile on their face and give you a high five, you cant help but smile when you’re there.

Going to the dumpsite was the biggest eyeopener, I’ve never seen happier people! As soon as we drove in children started climbing on the back of the jeepneys keen to say hello. Walking round and seeing the conditions they live in was so hard, but then you look at the smiles on their faces and you know their happy because they don’t know any different. One moment that sticks out to me when we were at the dumpstie was meeting a girl called Anna who was holding my hand whilst i was walking round. She was only about 6 and couldnt speak much English but she asked me to pick her up and she gave me a big hug. It was so emotional seeing how loving they all are.

Tomorrow is the first of 3 field trips, i’m really looking forward to spending more time with the children and being able to take them somewhere they’ll never forget.

Michiela:))

After months of hard work and waiting the day came around so quick, it was madness. It was hard to say goodbye to family, but we knew it was worth it! The plane journey took forever and was full of turbulence. But the flight allowed for the excitement to build. As we got off in the Philippines we were hit by the heat that we would spend the next two weeks in. To beginning with the heat was unbearable.

On our second day here we went to the school and dump site. It was great to see all the children’s happy smiley faces. They all welcomed us with huge warmth and love. We could not quite get our heads around the fact that they all were so happy and had the biggest smiles we had ever seen despite the fact they live in unimaginable conditions. Going out onto to the dump site was an experience we will never forget. nothing could have prepared us for what we saw as pictures never do it justice. The children on the dump site were all so happy, we enjoyed playing and having fun with them. you could never imagine that the children in the school lived on the dump sites.
They all looked immaculate!

For the past few days we have all worked hard around the school decorating the music room, painting the corridors in different colours and helping in classes. It is lovely to see and speak to the children who tell you about there lives, interests and dreams. It is lovely to see that they all have such big dreams despite living in a dump site.

Now for a little amusement….
Thursday 13th: we had a little disaster with our toilet. In the morning it had been blocked by a certain female in our room. Then it was used at 10pm when Mrs Wallis woke us up. Then…
It over flowed and went everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

getting up the volcano was a great achievement. it was very hot so the climb was very difficult. However getting to the top to see the views were amazing!!! the boat rides were really fun despite getting wet and being a little rough!!! we enjoyed a lovely pizza hut that evening.

We hope to blog again soon!
Helena and Fran

A wise man said earlier this week ” you can’t change the world but you can change somebodies world“. This statement could not be more true!

Visiting the dump site on Monday was an eye opener for everyone. All the pictures that we have seen at school only gives a small impression of the severely poor conditions that these families have to endure every single day. Regardless of this, all the children that we met had smiles on their faces, laughed with us, played with us and thoroughly enjoyed all the attention they received. The whole day really highlighted how lucky we all are just to have a comfortable home, clean water and good food every day.

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday we all spent in school on our group projects. The Filipino students are so excited to see all the transformations that are happening around them. I have mainly been concentrating painting one floor (I have named it the sunshine floor). Hopefully once we have finished the school it will be a brighter and more cheerful looking place that matches the atmosphere that the children bring to it.

Not only am I proud to be here to see all the changes we can make for these students I am proud of our TSTC team. Our girls & boys have challenged themselves on a daily basis. All students have pushed themselves physically and mentally. They have supported each other like a family. They laugh together, sing together and are all enjoying each others company. It is a pleasure to work with such motivated, enthusiastic young people and I could not have wished for a nicer team to work with.

Well done team, lets see how much we can do in the next week to make a long term difference for as many Filipino children as we can.

KK x

Were only one week into the trip but it feels like we arrived only yesterday. The first week has flew by and we have visited the PCF school, the dumpsite and the English school for swimming.

We have spent 4 days of the first week at the school building their playground, painting the school and playing games/getting closer with the children. Everyone out here are all soo friendly and welcome you at every chance. When were walking round the school, we constantly get stopped by the kids to have a little chat or to give them a high-5.

So far we have managed to paint the first floor cream and green, the second floor cream and yellow and the third floor cream and pink, along with painting the music room and various other small tasks. We have also sanded and stained the playground as well as replacing a few of the pieces of wood.

On the second day, we visited the dumpsite which is home to over 1000 families! When we walked through the dunpsite, the sites and smells really hit us all hard and at that point you really appreciate how easy our life is. Although each family has a “house” at the size of about 7ftx6ft and that they have nothing, they were still willing to offer their food to me and Joe when we walked past because we said “Hello.” This was one of the hardest experiences of my life!

Yesterday we had a “rest day” as they call it, although it was probably more tiring than any other day so far. We climbed up the Taal Volcano. It was around 3 miles to the top followed by another 3 miles to return to the botham. A few people struggled but in the end we finished as a team. It was an amaqzing experience to climb the smallest volcano in the world and the view from the top was magnificent!

Today we unpacked a container which we had recently packed when we were in the UK. It was quite mad to see items which we had previously packed in a country which is half way around the world from us now. The container contained; disaster aid (chairs, roll mats and kitchen accessories) as well as shoe boxes and ring-pulls. Throughout today, we managed to unpack all the items, and put everything away, after sorting the shoe boxes into gender and age.

Tomorrow we will be painting the school again while the kids aren’t there so that we can hopefully get it done with out full concentration so that we will be able to enjoy the field trips next week.

Roll on next week…

George..

#tired (I think I ‘hash tagged’ correctly guys?’

A very long and tiring day today, after our relaxing day out yesterday we needed to make up for lost time. Following on from ‘fishgate’ which you can read about in other blogs here, we set off for another 8am start and off to PCF, where we unloaded the massive 40foot container that we had loaded a few months ago back in the UK. While this was very tiring, and took well over an hour, I loved watching the team spirit and determination that our students, staff and helpers showed. Everyone pitched in, from PCF bossman Philip, to caretaker Kony, to the security guard Asi (in shirt and tie), to the container driver, it really was a whole team effort. Nadadabraho! Once we had got all of the boxes into the school, we split into 2 groups, with half continuing with the painting, while the other half had to take all of the disaster relief stuff, and the school related bits and bobs up to the 4th floor. After rigging up 2 pulley systems, we got what should have been about and hour and a half job done in 45 minutes.

We then spent about an hour ordering the 300 or so remaining boxes which contained the Christmas shoe boxes, which are going to be given to every child in the school. It was then all hands on deck to get these upto the 4th floor (we will no doubt end up bringing them back down again later in the week) and the group worked like an ant colony, one after the other up one set of stairs with a box, down the other set to collect another. This was no mean feat, as the boxes weighed up to about 15kg in some cases. Everyone worked to maximum capacity, but I particularly want to single out Danielle, who despite being the smallest member of the group, was throwing boxes up onto her shoulder and carting them up 4 flights of stairs, when their weight couldn’t be far short of her own. A superhuman feat of strength.

Once all the boxes had been moved in the blistering heat we set about doing a bit more painting until the end of the day. The day was far more productive, thanks in no small part, to DJ Ainsley and his ‘mega choons’ which we all enjoyed singing along to. A very good working day, where we got a lot more done than expected.

Baalahm

Mr D

Indescribable
It doesn’t matter how many pictures you look at or how many people’s blog’s you read, the real thing is nothing in comparison.
Just walking through the corridor and people saying hi is enough to put a smile on your face even when you have a really bad day! They are all so happy and it’s such an amazing experience to be apart of.
We have all gone through blood, sweat and tears (especially today) but we all know that it is worth it to know that they children get something out of it in the end.
To say it hasn’t been hard would be lying… and it has only been a week but at the end of it we will all feel so much better and really appreciate what we have in comparison to all the families that live on the streets and the dump sites.

Really looking forward to the field trips away with all the children and making even more close friends within the final week.