Since 2006 I have been empowering the poor with International Teams in Manila, Philippines. I have bachelor degrees in Psychology and in Elementary Education from the University of Toronto. Since deciding to serve full-time in Manila, I have witnessed the transformation of communities through access to education and opportunities to earn a stable income. As the team leader of IT Tender, I work closely with my Filipino colleagues to offer educational programs for street children and skills trainings for adults.
I've now served in Manila for a total of two and a half years. While I've learned so much about the rich culture, languages, and lifestyles of those in urban poverty, I still have a long way to go in comprehending what life is actually like for a street child in the Philippines. It's very easy to fall for stereotypes and generalize about their experience from a few brief trips. Unfortunately it's even easier to degrade their stories by comparing them to our own privileged backgrounds. By overlooking what they have to offer and contribute to society, sometimes I've found myself pitying them and searching for ways that I could be the saviour to their struggles through my own means or gifts. I thank God for sternly rebuking me whenever I robbed someone of their dignity with my own pride. If we care enough to take a deeper look, we can see that everyone in poverty has their own unique gifts and even valuable resources that can empower them in their fight to overcome their situation.
Our programs at IT Tender are not meant to be a crutch for a debilitated community, but rather a spark that illuminates their own gifts from within and encourages them to study, grow, and provide again for their families. All of the clients in our programs live in poverty, but each of their experiences are so varied. Each of them tell unique stories - some of abuse and suffering, some of resilience and faith, and many of great dignity in the face of an inherited poverty braved for generations. Many of our clients are homeless children and youth who sleep on the street. Some collect and sell scrap metals or plastic bottles, some search through fast food garbage bins for food, and some sniff industrial solvents to escape hunger pains. Others who attend our programs are known as "informal settlers". They live with their families in shanties of wood and corrugated metal, they have loving and hard-working parents, and they sometimes sell various products in the street at night to afford to go to school.
Recently, a photographer named Charlie Beck from Seattle came to get an inside look into our community here in Manila. His purpose was to promote our programs and to capture the varied and colourful lifestyles of the urban poor - lifestyles that are often oversimplified into black and white or blurred into the greys of our limited views on poverty.
This is what he saw...
Our small but dedicated team at IT Tender
(some of our staff were actually our clients before joining the team)
The mother of one of our Simula Learning Center (preschool) students shows her home and proudly shares how all of her children are studying and even excelling in their studies.
This hardworking grandmother washes clothes for her family.
Our photographer Charlie puts down the camera to join in on the karaoke - one of the favourite pastimes of Filipinos.
This community of informal settlers is right behind our drop-in center.
A basketball net can be found just about anywhere in the Philippines.
The parking lot in front of Starmall - where I live in an apartment on the 5th floor.
Cecille de Jesus teaches our students at the Simula Learning Center.
The jeepney is the most common form of public transportation in the Philippines.
These kids live in a unique community called Sucat - an almost rural community on the outskirts of the city. You might recall that we started reaching out to this community a few years ago through a simply feeding program. Now we are providing educational assistance for many of them to attend elementary and secondary school.
Jessibel is now attending high school through our sponsorship program.
Fernando with his boys. He can typically be found tending to his vegetable crop or fashioning simple grills for cooking which he sells to other families in the community.
"Sari-sari" stores are simple shops that sell all sorts of goods for daily life.
"Pedicabs" are another common form of transportation - a bicycle with a sidecar.
One family's colourful collection of "tsinelas" (slippers)
Our Nightlife program reaches out to runaways and abandoned street kids.
Late at night the market is wide awake and traffic is bustling.
In other news, I was encouraged by the visit of a good friend from Canada named Carly Thomas. She is currently teaching science at an international school in China, but she decided to spend one week of her vacation helping out here at IT Tender. Also, at the beginning of the month I attended the International Teams East Asia Conference in Palawan, Philippines. Missionaries serving across Asia and around the globe came to share their testimonies with one another. Recently, I was also able to take part in a discussion at the Philippine Christian University on the topic of Philippine policies and laws. My perspectives where broadened with regards to government policies here and their influence on those in poverty. My teammate Ate Gela coordinated the event.
Pastor John and I shared some stories about our programs at IT Tender at the 2013 International Teams East Asia Conference.
Giving the opening prayer before a forum at the Philippine Christian University
Recently a song has been stuck in my head. It's lyrics echo my desire for unity and perseverance in the struggle to repair broken relationships and dignity in depressed communities. Bono from U2 wrote the song "One" during a time of conflict between his band over the direction of their music. Tensions almost prompted the band to break up until they achieved a creative breakthrough with "One". This song is not just about unity within a band. The lyrics are a cry to all of humanity, prompting us to realize the responsibility we have for one another despite our differences or distances.
Inspired, I compiled some of my photos from the last couple months and made a video using a cover of the song "One". Many of the children and families in this video are recipients of our outreach programs at IT Tender. While this video shows some disturbing images, I'm not showing them to depress you. Actually, I want to inspire you. Besides the very real and disheartening images, I'm also going to show you images that give evidence of the love and unity that CAN and DOES exist in these depressed communities. And it's exciting when we can personally be a part it.
There is plenty to be excited for in 2013. I'm currently developing our newest outreach program to be launched in June. As I've mentioned in previous blog entries, "SMART Kids" will be a program for children ages 1-3. It will be a partnership with parents to provide opportunities for early learning, stimulating play, good health care, a nutritious diet, and a hygienic environment. "SMART Kids" is an acronym in Tagalog for "Sila'y Maging Aktibo, Responsable, at Tibay ng loob". In English this means "They're becoming active, responsible, and resilient".
Besides SMART Kids, I will also be investing time under the leadership training of Pastor John Basiwa. I will be learning more about the tasks and responsibilities of a team leader, accompanying him to meetings and observing his role as the overseer of all our programs (daycare, sponsorship, ALS, nightlife, and feeding programs). Pastor John sees potential in me to one day fulfill his current role as team leader if his role ever changed. None of this is set in stone, but we're just preparing for the future. In truth I'm quite hesitant to take a leadership role as a Westerner on a Filipino team serving a Filipino community. Nevertheless, Pastor John assures me that I have the right qualities and the right heart (particularly a heart FOR Filipinos) that make me fit for the role. I would still always have a Filipino director above me and Filipino mentors to guide me in any major decisions. As I said, this is all just for future consideration and I will keep you informed of any potential changes in my role here on the team.
In other news, sometime in March or April we will be getting the results back from our students who recently took their high school equivalency exam. As a part of our program "Pagbabago" (meaning "Transformation") we have been tutoring out-of-school youth and adults for this exam. Fifteen of them took the exam at the end of 2012. This tutoring program is sponsored by the Philippine Department of Education and is known across the Philippines as ALS (Alternative Learning Systems). Even world-renowned boxer Manny Paqcuaio attained his high school level education through this very program we're using.
Here I'm teaching a lesson on English - one of the subjects on their exam
Our students tackle a practise exam just days before the real thing
Thanks again for following along with me and my adventures! Take care and God bless!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!
Here in the Philippines, our loved ones include the 1,500 kids that our team brought gifts and joy to from Dec 1-11. Every year we host Christmas parties in various rural and urban poor communities. We pack multiple vans with presents, hygiene materials, and volunteers, then we travel several hours in all directions from Manila to spread the compassion of the one who was born on Christmas day. At the end of the day, it's not even about the parties. The greatest gift of the season is not a new toy, a new shirt, or a banquet of delicious food. Some of the most joyful people this season, whether rich or poor, are those that recognize the original significance... That Christmas is all about God coming to live amongst us. When Christ was born people called him Immanuel - meaning "God with us." We admire the humility of Christ who spent most of his time on earth with the downtrodden, the sick, the fatherless, and the widows. We can only hope to imitate his compassion.
This season of traveling and running our Christmas parties is equally exhausting and rewarding. I want you to also share in the rewards of blessing these children. Please enjoy these joyful photos and know that I'm so grateful for all of your support that made it possible for me to be a helping hand in this. I also want to thank the team from Sunrise Community Church who came all the way from Sacramento, California just to volunteer for the parties. Many of them are elders in their 70's and 80's, and their high spirits and energy truly inspired me.
My most anticipated Christmas party was the one held in the remote, mountainous village of Kanawan.
Rice from their fields are laid out in the hot sun to dry.
We held our Christmas party in their recently built church.
All the kids line up in eager anticipation of the party...some clothed, some not.
This boy loves to play with his collection of spiders that he keeps in a matchbox.
Tin Tin & I lead some opening songs and dances.
Inspired by our love for the TV game show Minute To Win It, Tin Tin prepared some simple, fun games.
Even the mothers in the community got in on the fun in the game "Face the Cookie."
David Crosson (right) from Sunrise Community Church in California shows how it's done.
Ate Loida (also on the California team) returns to her native Country to serve the poor.
Playing with one of the new toys from his Christmas bag
Before we returned to Manila, the children in Kanawan taught us their native dances.
Besides the party in Kanawan, we held parties in areas that we regularly reach out to in Metro Manila. One of our partner teams under International Teams Philippines regularly visits sick children in the hospital. This team is called Seed of Love Ministry led by Pastor Junie Antinero. We brought 100 gift bags and hygiene supplies to those children in the most critical, life-threatening conditions. To be sensitive to the patients and their families, I didn't bring a camera into the hospital. However, I'll never forget the smiles and the tears of the families who were encouraged by our physical presence and expressions of compassion this Christmas. We are continuing to pray for those families who are suffering due to illnesses and calamities right now.
Last Thursday, my team leader Pastor John Basiwa asked me to give the message at the Christmas party for our Nightlife Ministry. This ministry reaches out to street children in the most extreme cases - children who typically sleep in the street and don't have a home because they're either abandoned or runaways. Our drop-in center was packed that night, and we all enjoyed games, songs, gifts, and food. I enjoyed the challenge of sharing the story of Christ and meaning of Christmas in straight Tagalog, and the kids were delighted to share their own stories with a foreigner who could understand their language. We partied until almost 1 am (...which is normal for these kids, as they sleep during the day and scavenge or wander at night). My favourite part of the party was witnessing the youth from our ALS program running the show and even performing a special Christmas song for the kids. Each of these youth are in our tutoring program and are hoping to pass the high school equivalency exam that they recently wrote.
The theme of my message was "Hesu-Kristo, higit pa sa regalo", meaning "Jesus Christ, more than gifts"
Thank you so much for keeping up with me here! May you be blessed this Christmas as you spend time with family and meditate on what Christmas means to you. And may you also find opportunities to be a blessing to someone who may not have a family to be with or who may not have much hope this time of year. God bless you!
