Sholing Philippines Project 2010 – 2016

Wednesday evening 11-00 ish the day started at 6-00 and it seems a long time ago. Another great day. Pupils all up on time keen to get back to work. Arrived at the new school by 9-00 loads of happy little faces to greet us. The painting and decorating progressing at speed. Absolutely fabulous to see our students working in the classrooms with the pupils. It is so encouraging to see how the pupils are getting an education when before they had none. When you peer out of the school windows and look at the slums in which they live and then contrast that with the happy smiling children enjoying their learning it lifts the spirit.

I have acquired the role of getting equipment for our projects and it has enabled me to go out into the locality with PCF staff to buy paint, sand, screws, even 2 wheel barrows. The slums around the school open your eyes, thousands of people all trying to scrape a living any way they can. Bicycles that carry 4-5 people or little shops on a side trailer, motor bikes that look older than Bezza with whole families on, jeepneys packed together so close that they almost touch, beeping incessantly at each other. Houses made of any old scrap wood available sometimes 5-6 floors high. Little roadside shops selling anything and everything.

The people are so friendly, in what could be a most intimidating environment and everyone you speak to offers friendliness and interest in what you are doing here. The new playground started today and is being built right in the heart of this melting pot of all human emotions. Naturally it is attracting massive attention, they are not used to westerners carrying out manual labour up to their necks in muck and sweat, but they express nothing but gratitude. At the moment children play in the dirt and litter with anything they find. By the end of next week we will leave one little district with a lovely play facility, I can’t wait to see it take shape over the next few days and when we hand it over to the local people next week it will be a moment to treasure.

By the end of the day we had made real progress on the painting projects thanks to the students being flexible, creative and determined. We had got the new playground marked out and the foundation holes dug. The library was being used as a library with our students reading with the 6 year olds and a whole series of amazing ICT lessons taken place. Each day we leave worn out sweaty and today particularly mucky but keen eager and determined to come back tomorrow.

A shower, an hour in the mall to chill a Mr Poons banquet organised by Matt and Sam a meeting to discuss today and plan for tomorrow and now time for bed.

Hi everyone,

Go to the photos section of this website to see more more pics of what we have been up to.

Hi first post here! Today was another good day for the project. I was painting the Hairdressing room. (sponsered by Wella) It was the second day at the school working and the room is starting to vtake shape. However our work was made harder today as yesterday we had about 8 people wheras today we started with 4. In the end we almost completed the painting after repainting the room and filling in some patches, (not mentioning any names) with a nice black and white theme the room is starting to look good! After this Nick (Wilko) made us wipe the floor until every scrape of paint was off. After 5-6 hours of hard but enjoyable work we got to see the kids as we said goodbye, Which I must say made my day. The kids are awesome and fun to be around with. We got back from our room showered and ready and some people went to the mall, wheras I went to the Launderette to get some clothes nice and clean. Lastly we are about to go to the “legendary” – Dave Berrys words Mr Poons for a meal chosen by Sam and Matt.

FEEL FREE TO COMMENT!!!

Today we went to the PCF school, and met all the children again. They were very friendly as usual. we split into 5 groups to do different things like, painting 3 different rooms, building a playground by Paradise Heights and being classroom assistants. We made a very quick start to the playground and had all the holes, sanded all the poles and had the foundations done by lunchtime. For lunch we had fish curry and rice which was very tasty. We then carried on with our duties, after we played with the children who were all fascinated by our cameras and sunglasses. Also the people building the playground managed to bolt the poles together hoping that they will still be there tomorrow, however we have caught a few children jumping in the holes. We came home and some people went to the mall while other stayed at the Shalom Centre which was good. Tonight, Matt and Sam are choosing the meals which they have kept as a surprise. Tomorrow we are going to the British Ambassors in the evening to have a meal. -Matt, Jimmy=Amy, Ed Sheeran=Harry, Justin Bieber=Greg. ( Greg is now known by the kids as Justin Bieber)

day 3 was another early wake up! freezer knocking doors at 7!! oh well up and ready to work! went down to the school and for the first time this on this trip the transport was on time! said hello to the kids and it was time to work! after a 45 minute delay on paint not arriving and a very long basketball match with the kids mr freeman thought it was time to get some himself! the paint was here and it was time to start on the hair salon! the majority of the morning we spent on the floor cleaning the paint of it so it doesn’t stain, as a very heavy handed person i wasnt very good at painting, more of it was on my t-shirt and hands than the wall! by the afternoon we had completed the first cover of paint in the salon and tomorrow the second layer is to be completed and everything put together so the hair salon is complete, tomorrow i’m being a teacher assistant and guide the kids how to use a computer, so im highly looking forward to this!

sam kirkham

Day 3 was our first day of work in the PCF Container school, and we worked on a range of projects around the school building, one group worked in the library, another in the ICT classroom, some went into lessons as classroom assistants, and other groups focused on decorating and improving rooms such as the Wella room, the Rainbow Room and the future Home Economics room.

In the HE room, after earlier frustration at lack of resources, we managed to clean down and whitewash all the walls ready for a second coat tomorrow – the girls were excellent and worked almost non-stop! We were also able to have a look at the furniture for the mock up ‘flat’ and we have lots of ideas for the space that will provide an opportunity for the PCF children to learn some living skills in the future.

Updates on the HE room to follow!

hello , we are now on day 3, the weather is lush better than snow !!!

first day we arrived we went straight to bed as we were all extremely tired from traveling miles.To be honest we are still tired now, the first day we just relaxed, then went on a tour around the Philippines in these really cool jeepies, we gate crashed a big wedding, walk around some walls, then got back in the jeepies and headed back to the shelom center, on the way back our jeepie got lost, whilst the driver was finding his way again a Filipino jumped on the back.Miss Rumsey screamed NO!! at the top off her voice , scaring us even more, (she is now nick-named by me mummy-Rumsey) .

Second day (yesterday) we got up bright and early at 7 o clock to give us time to get ready as the transport was supposed to arrive at 8:30. well…… that didnt happen as at 9:15 we had a angry mr wilkinson on the phone having a rant to the coach company about it. when we finally got on the coach at 9:30 we headed of to the PCF school in tondo to see the new school. we were in the coach heading down the roads and could slowly start to get use to it. we then got to the bridge and everything changed as soon as we had crossed the water we could see/smell the difference , to be honest we cant really put to words what it was like apart from it was completely unexpected, the houses where falling down they also looked like really old garden sheds that are in allotments covered in tarpolin and tyres , one thing i found ironic was that there was a junk shop made of junk, at the school all we could do was smile, it made us feel so happy and overwhelmed that the kids where so happy and smiling, they also love the camera’s .

third day ( today )

we got up again at 7 so we could get ready as we were told the transport would be on time today after mr wilkinson’s mini tantrum. turns out it was on time but then got a parking ticket.(getting up a 7 every morning is torture, although during the day it isn’t so bad, because you realise what you are doing and why,) we actually started doing work today which felt amazing!! Me peyt,sam ,liam , greg,wilko, and adam we’re doing the wella room, we painted the room in white paint and got covered head to toe in paint ( literally ). when we were done we went downstairs with the kids for a while and watched the basketball game between the boys and the Filipino boys. the boys put us to shame.we are now at the hotel and are going to Mr poon’s for dinner. by the way Mr poon’s is lush!!!

Progress already!

We have all come back to the hotel after a really successful and positive day! Everyone was buzzing on the way back because we have all managed to make some visible progress in the different projects we decided to work on today. It feels great after today to think that even just two weeks here we can make a difference to the children and community who live on the dumpsite. After a slow start and delayed transport it was looking worrying that our progress may be slow but today proved otherwise! Fingers crossed this continues.

Our work for the two weeks is going to be based mainly around these projects at the PCF school:
– Painting and preparing the Home Economics area
– Cleaning, tidying and sorting the library (sadly this hasn’t been used in while even though it is full of books)
– Painting and preparing the Wella room (which is going to be a hairdressing training area so the young people can learn a trade and earn money)

– Tidying up the playground area (which was put in in 2010 during the last trip)
– Building a new playground in the housing area next to the school (the site for this was confirmed today – excellent news!)

– Painting and preparing ‘Rainbow room’ which is going to be a special needs/trauma room (for counselling of children who have been abused)
– Taking students out on field trip days

– Helping out as classroom assistants

I decided to work on the last one and helped this morning organise with the Headteacher, Miss Grace, which of our students were going to work in which class.
They went off with the teachers who teach English to them help out for the day. I then spent the morning with the two IT technicians (I was impressed that they even have these!) who were really helpful and we got the computer room ready for use in the afternoon. When we came to visit the school for the first time yesterday we found out that the library and the computer room (which has 12 fully functional computers with the latest version of Windows) are not being used! This seemed crazy and frustrating to believe because the school has been open for over a year. We hope to set this right while we are here and set things up so these rooms can be used as the students have so much to gain from them. The technicians and I turned all the computers on and sorted any problems with them then sorted out a schedule with the Headteacher to bring 3 different classes down for 40 minutes each in the afternoon. It worked and the kids really enjoyed going on the computers. This was the first time they had ever had a lesson on computers! Even though the children mostly live in shanty houses a few of them have computers or have been able to access them somewhere so they knew the basics of using a computer. Others, especially the little ones, seemed unfamiliar with it all. I showed them how to use the mouse with their tiny little fingers to make something happen on the screen which made them light up once they realised how to do it! The computer room was on the 2nd floor and from the windows you could see over to the dumpsite where the kids live. When we had the windows open to catch a breeze the smell of sewage and waste came right into the room. It doesn’t bother the kids so we won’t let it bother us.

It’s hard to put into words how the children seem to really appreciate us being here and doing things to help. They are unrelentingly smily and friendly and the little ones run up to you and hug you even if they have never spoken to you before! It is an incredible thing to see that they are like this despite the poverty they live in, they certainly do not feel sorry for themselves or show any sign of self pity. We should not show pity for them, instead we will do what we can to help improve the areas in which they learn and play.

What we are doing here could seem small but then we are each only one small part of this huge world!

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa

Before departure

I find its amazing how beautiful the Philippines is just amazing how the beautiful est place ever has also the worst living conditions, and i personally am so thrilled and grateful to have been given this opportunity and to help as i now can not stand waste, or ungrateful people as you should be happy with what you got as some people in the world do not have. The people here are extremely friendly and happy go lucky people and there should be more like this in the UK.

We’ve heard on BBC news that there was an earthquake on Negros Island in the southern Philippines. Just to reassure anyone who is worried, we did not feel a thing and everyone is okay.