Sholing Philippines Project 2010 – 2016

Its our 5th day here in the Philippines and it’s our last day at the school tomorrow.
The kids here are so amazing and selfless and they all want to be friends with us all. Over the time we have been here we have all been getting to know the kids and it is going to be very difficult to say goodbye to them after the final assembly on Friday.

Over the past few days we have taken all the age groups of the kids out on various field trips which they have enjoyed. Especially when we took Grades 1-3 to Nomads sports center and they were able to swim in the pool with clean water. On the other trips the older grades were taken to the Mind science museum and the 3D Art museum which is good fun to take pictures in and the kids enjoyed seeing all the amazing 3D artwork. On the field trip some of the girls plaited my hair beautifully and walked around with me as we became close friends, they were ages 12 and 13.

Also, the groups that have stayed at the school have been painting a mural on the wall at the back of the school representing the diversity of the Philippines. The mural shows Islands, villages, rice fields and cities in bright colour. Also a small team including myself re-painted the music room white at the request of the PCF staff ready for further decoration.

The children are all so caring and thoughtful, they will always offer to share everything they have with you, they are all very talented and enjoy playing basketball against the boys from TSTC. They also love to dance ballet in the dance room and their favorite song to sing is Love Yourself by Justin Bieber.This song is now very important to me as it reminds me of how loving and beautiful they all are. They also think many of the boys on the trip look like Justin Bieber but the rest of us can’t see the resemblance.

All of the children love to come to school and see us here and they have already been making us cards and letters telling us how much they want us to stay and how much they love us. All the children are a pleasure to spend time with as they are so smiley and unforgettable. They always go about their day with a smile on their face. This makes me feel like I should be more grateful for what I have as I have so much compared to them and they are so much more giving.

I have loved all my time here so far and I don’t want to leave the PCF school, however I am looking forward to getting on with the further projects in Tacloban.

Thank you for reading,
By Molly Stocks

The two school trips I went on were amazing, going to the science museum I realized how much they valued science everything was interesting and amazing to them. I loved watching them play with all the technology.one of the best moments was watching the younger children play on the escalators and watching them laugh as they ran up them and were still in line with me. When we went to the 3D art gallery they all had their own little possess and were acting like little models. I have never had so much fun on an ‘educational’ trip and i think that this really made a difference to all the pupils, I was glad that i had a say in that and i got to experience the trip with them. Even though it meant 5 am starts and 2 hour coach journeys at a time it was worth it in every way. During these trips I was adopted by a group of girls where i was meant to be looking after them they looked after me and it was beautiful the way they embraced me in their group and they made a long lasting expression on me and i hope i did on them. The trips were absolutely amazing!!!

Hello!
We’ve had five days of working in Manila and it has been incredible.
On Sunday we painted the old mural from the 2014 trip white ready for the new mural. We also walked through Paradise Heights, which had rubbish everywhere. There were stray animals walking around and other animals in cages hanging out of windows.
On Monday half of us took the youngest students on a field trip while the other half stayed and started the mural which was very fun and we got a lot done. Each part of the mural shows different aspects of the Philippines, such as the mountains.
The next day, half of us took some students on a field trip to the science museum and ‘Art In Island’. The trip was so good that I was walking around just as excited as the students.
On Tuesday, we did the same but with the oldest students. Seeing how excited they were was amazing.
Today, we have been finishing the mural and helping in the classrooms. The ICT lesson that I was a part of was great because you could tell that the children were actually learning.

It’s been an brilliant week so far, but the best part is spending time with the students. Even if you can’t communicate well with them, you always laugh with them as they are so funny!
When they see you, they shout your name and wave with the biggest smile, which is so amazing when you know what they might have been through.
Their favourite thing to do is teach you words from their language, and they are very happy when you remember how to say it. They always laugh when you say it wrong: a girl was crying today and as soon as she started teaching me words, she was laughing so much. It’s a great game!
We have to say goodbye to the students tomorrow which won’t be fun. All of us don’t want to leave them, but next week should be great, too!

I can not explain what it feels like to be back in the Philippines, i am loving every minute. Walking through the school and hearing all the children shout my name brought back so many amazing memories. I have built friendships up and made many more little friends. The mural is well on its way now and looking great. It has been a lot of fun working on the forest as the kids all shout from their classroom windows saying how much they love it and showing their appreciation which is a real encouragement and gives me motivation. Today i continued painting my parrot on the wall and worked in a classroom teaching maths. My little friend Miko was so proud of himself when he managed to do his times tables after i taught him how to do it- brought a tear to my eye. Saying goodbye tomorrow is going to be an emotional one and i could stay here forever but i am looking forward to meeting new people who are in need of our help in Tacloban.

Thank you for everyones support throughout this project.

Michelle xx

One of the things that Hannah and I have found shocking is the fact that, when we were at the field trip, we were all sat down for lunch and that most of the kids had started eating, but a few just put their polystyrene boxes into their bags to either sell it to other families that have a job and an income, or to take it home to help feed their loved ones which can range to several large families in a small shanty. They also pinched the soap from the toilets to wash themselves at home even though the water they wash in is polluted and full of diseases. On our first day visiting the school and “Paradise” Heights, we saw people fishing in the river for what we thought was fish but it was actually rubbish which they could sell or use to fix their homes. We also saw several shanties built hanging from under the bridges one of which we were told was home to over 20 children. Despite this, All of the children are always happy and easily excitable. We’ve also experienced that they are incredibly selfless and fascinating to know about with several children telling us about their homes, their families and their living conditions. They all love coming to the school and when we had taken them on the trips the most common thing they would say to us was “I’m so happy about today!”. We’re very excited to be heading to Tacloban however, it’s going to be extremely hard to say goodbye to the children as they are remarkable and unforgettable individuals. We are already hoping for another chance to visit the Philippines in the future.

Monday 8th February 2016

Today, we took the youngest students of PCF on a field trip. First of all, we took them to a science museum, where they were able to see a short documentary in the planetarium. They were all so happy and excited at seeing the screen turn different colours. For most of them it was their first time watching a film/TV. It made me feel really guilty because I use my television all the time in England and expect everyone to have a TV. But these children enjoyed the simplicity of changing colours, they were screaming with excitement.

Then, we took them to Nomads sports center, where we spent the rest of the trip. We served them lunch and ate ourselves. We began to pack away the lunch rubbish when I saw some children only eating a few mouthfuls of food, then putting the rest into a bag to take home to their families. This was so enlightening. Even though these children have nothing, they are willing to give everything to make others happy.

Later, we spent the afternoon doing numerous activities. It was the first time that some had ever played on fresh grass. We played games like ‘Stuck in the Mud’, football and even did the ‘Hokey Kokey’. Then the groups took turns going in the swimming pool. They were so happy- having the opportunity to swim in clean water and not the infested river they live next to. Most couldn’t even swim, they jumped in the deep end, just wanting to be in the water. It was even harder trying to get them out. They jumped back in, right after we got them out.

So, after a very eventful day, we got to go to sleep, extremely tired but eager for the next day. The next group of children will be taken on a field trip whilst others work on the mural that had been started today. I’m so excited! It’s going to be so amazing!!!!

Ciara

Words cannot describe how it feels to be back, so many mixed emotions! It’s almost feel normal to be here, I know what’s on every street or round every corner. So to start the travelling wasn’t too bad and made better by a maccies stop for me and shakila in Abu Dhabi. Once back to shalom it was a trip to the mall then time to settle in into our new home for the next week.

So next was our first proper day which for me was normal almost as I knew what was happening where we were going concerning the school but this whole time I couldn’t stop thinking about how I felt my first time here and that this was how the younger students were feeling, so for me it was just allowing them time to realise where they were and how real it all really was. Once at the school it really did feel normal which is strange as I was last here 2 years ago. After a quick group chat on the roof it was time to get stuck straight in, for us 2nd timers that was. We split into two groups me and the boys started on taking the climbing equipment out at the back of the school which was much needed due to the fact we only had to snap the foundations out of the ground. While this was happening the girls started on painting over the old mural with white ready for the new one. Then it was time, time for our first jolliebees of the trip. Interesting to say the least. Then back to work. Once we were done for the day we headed home (shalom) and enduldged in our first poons. Then off to bed. The school was quite and bare, I couldn’t wait for the kids to be in and for the school to be buzzing. But I had anticipation of waiting to see what kids were still in school and worst off who weren’t in school anymore.

Monday was the fieldtrip day for the youngest students, grades 1-3. I couldn’t wait to see the new students and the ones I had previously seen in 2014 that were in grade 1 now 3. Once we got to school they were just finishing their breakfast and it was then time to collect them all up and get them on the coach. First stop was the science museum which is always interesting with children running obsolutly wild with excitement from here it was nomads sporting complex. Me, daleo, Lewis and Neil had swimming first with the kids from grade 1. I could feel the excitement in the air, once they were dressed into their swimmers they were straight into that pool. There was only about 3 kids that could swim properly and loads were scared to step off the final step into the pool many needed a little push but we managed to get most off the step. It was magical teaching these children how to be confident in water. And once it was time to get out well that was a huge task in itself. No one wanted to get out, I ended up picking children out of the pool and carrying them into the showers. From here we took the kids onto the playground then onto the field where they constantly ran around for hours as this was the first time these children had ever seen grass let alone played on it. Then it was home time. We went our own ways from our children and headed to the shalom where we then had to get ready for poons. Once poons was over and done with it was bedtime for me, the kids had completely drained me! But I’d had the most amazing magical day, one I will never forget.

Tuesday was for me yet another amazing day! We woke at 5 and guess what it was daisys 18th birthday so of course me and liv woke her with love, cards and a little present. We proceed to decorate our room with balloons and banners. We were awake and ready to go even though today was an early start. We got to the school were warmly welcomed again by the amazing children. But I wasnt on the fieldtrip today, I was to stay in school and paint on our mural. Once the fieldtrip had departed we got to work on our mural. Finishing blocking and adding detail all day. I enjoyed this soo much as it. Throughout the day we had the children sticking their heads out of their classroom windows and telling us how our work was meganda (beautiful) also singing to us or along with the music we had playing. We also had lunch at the school, once again it is still the best food you will ever have, ever! Due to the crazy early start we were able to finish early and got dropped home by one of pcfs vans off to the shalom and I must say I did feel like I was no where near as safe as I feel in our coach! Once home we chilled then headed off to the mall. Then poons then bed. This was a good day due to it being producitve fun and being with great company (freezer, geffer’s, daisy, Olivia, switz, Michelle, michiela, kiera, Neil and Lewis). We were a fab team and got loads done which is a great feeling after a days work.

Wednesday, today. Once again we had an early start. We got to school then sorted kids out and got them on the bus. Today we took grades 7-9 to the mind museum and the interactive art museum and all I can say is we need these in the UK, they are amazing!! We also had a jolliebees for lunch. After all of the museums we headed home on a 2 hour coach trip.Sorry it’s short but shattered isn’t the word!!

But I want to finish by telling about something amazing that happened to me today. So in 2010 chloe (my oldest sister) came on the 2nd trip Philippines trip ever and meet a young girl called jhinkie. They became best friends. Then chloe was accepted to go back out in 2012, she once again meet up with jhinkie always keeping in contact when chloe was home. Jhinkie became almost part of our family, in each of our hearts. Then it was time for me to apply, I got accepted (clearly) and I couldn’t wait for the whole experience but mostly to meet the girl that changed my sisters life. When I first met her it was so surreal and amazing, words cannot describe the feeling from there we become best friends for the next 2 weeks. Then I had to leave her heartbreaking for us both to say the least neither of us knowing if I will ever return. Once I was accepted again all I could think about was meeting jhinkie and her sister again Jackie (who I meet in 2014). Then I had bad news, jhinkie had feel pregnant, this isn’t good for a girl of 17 with the lifestyle that shes living. This made me anticipate whether she would even still be in school when I went back, after a few messages of her telling me how hard everything was the messages stopped and I hadn’t heard from her for a while a part from through my sister. Once I got to school I had my first run and jump hug from Jackie and from there was able to find out that jhinkie wasn’t in school that day. It then came to today, I had heard she may be in school but I was still unsure. Then in all the hussle and bussle of PCF I saw her through a group of people now it was my turn for a run and jump hug. Once I had hold of jhinkie she was not letting go!! We had a strong hug for a good few minutes well then came the tears, jhinkie first then me. For me this was such a magical, this girl has been a part of my life for so many years and to know that through all she’s been through and she’s still coming to school makes me soo proud it is unreal. This girl and her sister have completely changed my life and for some this is hard to believe but you have to see it all to believe it. And I cannot thank them enough for making me a better person and the person I am today. Mahl kita jhinkie and jackie.

Thank you for reading that’s if you’ve got to the end.

Missing you all! But so excited to start our new next adventure in tacloban.

Remember you can’t change the world but you can change someone’s world – freezer.

Peace out x
Fagan xox

Hi everyone!
So this is my first blog from the Philippines! I am having an AMAZING time! I’ve been part of planning this trip for so long that it still feels surreal that I’m actually here! We have been really busy and I’m certainly feeling tired, but it has been very productive so far. I spent today in school, which was great as I haven’t had the chance for a full day there yet. Freezer had us working hard and I’m pleased to say we got a lot done. The mural that our team has been working on over the last few days looks stunning. We spent most of the morning working on that before being treated to lunch at the school- it was really tasty and some of our students even commented on how it felt like being back at home with their mum’s cooking!
In the afternoon we split into two groups with some of the group working on the mural and others starting work on re-painting one of the classrooms.
It was also great today to get an insight into a normal school day at PCF and chat to lots of the children who have named me either ‘teacher Emma’or ‘Auntie Emma’ (this is once they realised that I’m not one of the students!) It was particularly great to see them at dance class, in which they practiced Irish dancing!

Overall I’ve had a great day and am looking forward to another day at PCF tomorrow!

Over and out,
Miss L 🙂

Na du du lowg today! (Very sleepy). Currently sat on the coach on the morning of day 5 killing time while we drive to the Science museum having been up since 5am for the second day in a row.

Yesterday, as Freeza said in his blog, we had the unenviable task for getting 24 teenagers (and ourselves) out of bed at 5.30, something which I am sure all of the parents reading will sympathise with as not an easy thing to do. Or at least, we were expecting it not to be easy. We hadn’t counted on how determined and passionate our kids are about the project, as every single one was up, eaten breakfast, and on the coach before 6am. Some of the advance party going to tacloban today even got up to wish us goodbye, despite their flight not being until mid day. They confirmed last night that they had all arrived safe and sound and have left us excited to see Tacloban (and the Alejandro hotel) based off their high praise. I have been told that they had fun and games getting the weight of the baggage down and all ended up wearing Matts clothes onto the plane so as to bring the luggage weight down.

We drove off to the school where we were greeted by Marylin, the senior teacher at the school, and 150 students in the middle years (4-6) all excited and ready to go. We didn’t end up leaving until about 8, rendering our extremely early morning start a tad unnecessary. We made decent time getting to the museum, traveling for a bit over an hour (which given the normal traffic in Manila is pretty good time). We had visited the museum twice on the last trip, but this time we got a bonus science show for an hour which was very cleverly put together, a lot of very simple but effective experiments to do with forces and air pressure. Although my Tagalog is improving, my handful of words was not enough to grasp much of what she was saying (salahmin/sunglasses didn’t come up), but as it was very visual, our students were still able to join in and understand.

We then had about an hour to go around the museum at which point I had a hilarious insight into the music tastes of Filipino students. In a conversation with one of the boys, I asked if he liked Justin Bieber (Yes) Taylor Swift (Yes-bonus funny anecdotes, Robyn has been told she looks like Taylor swift on a number of occasions) Ed Sheeran (yes) and One Direction. At which point the boy gave me a look as if I had just insulted his mother and said a disgusted no. When I asked why, he said simply “illuminati”. I do t claim to be an expert on Harry Styles and co, but I would be very surprised if that was the case, but I suppose you never know…..

Following on from the museum we had a jolibees lunch and made the short trip to Art in Island. We hadn’t visited this on the last trip, so I was interested to see what it was like, and it didn’t disappoint. It is essentially a large art gallery, but all the art is done in a way to make it great for taking interactive photos. It’s difficult to explain, but I’m sure it will probably be one of the most photographed bits of the trip so you will all be able to see once some pics are uploaded. Our kids were once again fantastic making friends with the PCF students, and every single TSTS student was surrounded by a gaggle of Filipinos. My favourite thing about the philippines trip is seeing the way our students act and react with such compassion and maturity, and it makes me very proud to teach them.

We headed back to drop the PCF kids back at school and discovered why we left so early in the morning. Rush hour traffic in Manilla is not fun, it took us about 2hr 30 to do what should have been about 50 mins. Once all the kids were dropped off, back to the Shalom to meet up with the other half of the group, before a quick trip to the mall (for a box of Krispy Cremes) and another Mr Poons. The school group were all very proud of their efforts, especially Michelle who had painted a whole Forrest on the mural, having started the day claiming she couldn’t paint at all.

Today was a very special Poons as it was also Daisy’s 18th birthday, so we had some lovely chocolate cake and singalongs to celebrate. What a way to spend it! Back to the hotel, where Mrs Jeffery had a near fatality, managing to get her finger caught between the do not disturb sign on the door and the handle, in what is one of the most Rock n Roll injuries I have ever heard of. I offered to amputate her finger, but ultimately decided upon cutting the sign off to free her. Early night again (after the usual group meeting) as the traffic coming back had made us weary of leaving much later today. Another 6.15 start it is!

We’ve been trying to get the TSTC students to blog but they are convinced that it’s ‘an old persons game’. So feel free to reply in the comments and encourage them to write their own!

Paalam

Mr D

Hi all

What a fantastic 2 further days we have had. Early start Monday morning all ready to go by 7-15. 25 students go off to the first field trip while the rest of us get going on creating a masterpiece of 120 sq metres of white wall. Before we started it was great to see the excitement of the toddlers going off on possibly their first ever trip away from the environment of Tondo. All keen to hold hands with our students as they march to the coaches. The task of creating the mural started with me delivering a quick art lesson and explanation of how to tackle working on this scale. Within no time at all they grew in confidence drawing out their allocated area of land scape. Self proclaimed ‘art muppets’ were quickly turning into confident ‘constables’ and very soon I was mixing paint quicker than I could cope with. By lunch, which for some reason I will not bother to explain was at 10-30, we were well on the way.

Some amazing cooperative work going on the team growing in confidence with each brush stroke. By the end of the day we had ‘coloured in’ about 60% of the whole wall. Back to the hotel by 4-00 shower and then our second MR Poon as good if not better than the first and the great man himself, Robert Poon, came in to welcome us back to the Philippines.

Now for the bad news, briefing last night clarified the frightening yet little considered to this point fact that we had to get up for a 6-00 departure today. So at 4-45 morning I got up had my breakfast and at 5-00 started to wake up the team. And guess what by 5-56 we were all showered, breakfasted, packed and on the coach…where do you find these students it must be something in the Sholing water.

The school was buzzing when we arrived at 6-30 with most of the pupils having breakfast or preparing to go on the field trip. A real emotional event to see students and staff, from previous visits and to see the new students so quickly interacting with the children and making new friends. Many tears at that time in the morning.

The mural team today were exceptional, Many of them were returning students who had spent many hours painting with me before. With skill and enthusiasm they quickly set to, blocking in the colour over the rest of the mural. The number of them who surpassed their own expectations was a 100%. A triumph for contemporary community art. We had loads of compliments from visitors, staff and pupils alike. By 2-00 we had completed the blocking in not a spec of white remaining on the whole wall.

The newly found confidence was enabling them to include tones, and light and shades and real detail. They surpassed all my expectations.. yet again. They did it in a coolish 28 degrees without any moaning or skiving and even cleaned all the brushes and trays and put lids on all the paint pots. Back to the Hotel by just after 3-00 and a short trip over the Mall before our third Poon which my tummy says is calling me now.

What a day!!! what a group of lovely young people.

Cheers for now.