Friends!

Let me tell you what a day it's been! Rejoice, for the Universe lined up just right for Henri Antonio Montilla Hugo! At 3:45, December 3, in an ambulance en route to Villaflor hospital for an emergency C-section, baby said, "You ain't cuttin' ME out of here!" and pushed his own path through Marisol's womb and into this world, beginning to write his own story.

While newfound friend/nurse Hari King, held baby still wrapped partially in his amniotic sac, I clamped off the cord and made the cut which would signal the transition from a world of darkness to that of light. So begins the miracle which my father prayed for at my mother's bedside for so long in her last days.

At 1.2 kilos, he's a little guy with a healthy cry. Currently incubating in a clear plastic box, he is taking oxygen and pumping blood efficiently.

I ask that you continue your prayers that no doubt had a role in all this, and ask for protection from any illness that might arise while baby is still in NICU.

Marisol is resting well under the care of Paz, her Auntie from London while I gather necessities to bring to her from home. Since she was able to avoid the C-section, doctors say she will be back to health in a couple of days, but we will no doubt opt to stay with baby in the hospital until he's ready to come home as well, perhaps in a week or two.

The Divine Mystery is indeed at work here!

Peace to all!

Victor

High Water

Took a trip to Dagupan and rode through treacherous streets flooded by recent Typhoon Juan. Purpose of the trip was to acquire jewelry making materials for the GK livelihood project of making beads from recycled paper.

Effects from Typhoon Juan

The people in this picture will be recipients of GK homes. They live right on the dike itself, a dangerous place to be when the waters rise. They will be relocated for their safety. You can see where the foundation to someone's house eroded causing it to collapse.

Lipay, Pangasinan

Marisol talks with prospective GK beneficiaries.

The boys sleeping...

Latest happenings and Filipino Music

So the boys have been attending a private school here in the Philippines. After a rough start, I'm happy to see that Theo is beginning to make friends and doesn't protest as much to go everyday. Desmond on the other hand, can't get himself to like it yet. We were able to get the boys to be in the same class. Not really the same level, but at least going at the same time and in the same room. DJ is in "Junior-Advanced" Casa, and Theo is in "Advanced Casa", both in "Montessori" Kindergarten style, (quotes around "Montessori" intentional.)

One of the highlights this past week was an event held at the local mall by their school called, United Nations Day Pageant/Parade.

Unaware of what kind of preparation this event truly called for, we agreed to have the kids participate. After all, recognizing other nations and world affairs is a good thing, right? Anyway, we were told that they would need a flag and a sash of an assigned country. We worked diligently creating as best the boys could, (with as little help from the parents as is tolerated) a flag each of Argentina, using watercolors, markers and bamboo sticks. The result was fabulous, (as fabulous as could be the work done truly by children 6 and 4.) I went ahead and made the sashes myself, using paper and marker.

The day before the parade, we noticed that one of the boys' classmates was preparing an elaborate costume for her country. Stunning, glitter-glue doused spikes to adorn her head, and a cellophane-red-flamed torch for her to hold was her costume as the Statue of Liberty.

They are supposed to have a costume???

Well, the best I could come up with, after scouring the internet for Argentinian dress was a picture of a Gaucho, a native cowboy from Argentina. That's simple, just a white button down shirt, khaki pants, and a kerchief around the neck. Was able to find the right clothes and the appropriate kerchief from a recent GK event. Simple. They now had their outfit and their accessories.

The day of the event was met with excitement. Turned out the excitement was mostly mine and because the boys ended up protesting all the way. When we got to the mall, imagine our surprise (although I should have seen it coming) over 200 young kindergarten students done up in the most amazing, flambouyant, obviously not-made-with-their-own-hands costumes. There were Egyptian pharoahs, Japanese Geishas, an exact costume replica of Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. And it was CROWDED and chaotic. It was literally, a huge production, and most all of the flags that the other children were bought from a store. I realized that it was not so much a chance to show off how much the students have learned about other nations as it was about who could win the best prize for the best costume. I even saw an Uncle Sam walking around somewhere...

I could only stand allowing the kids to march in the parade around the mall, which had a wonderful marching band leading us, and Theo at least, enjoyed walking around the mall unaccompanied by his parents. DJ on the other hand, needed my hand to hold the entire way.

After the parade, I said enough is enough, and my kids would not stand still for any kind of pageant or costume contest. We dismissed ourselves from the festivities to have lunch at a restaurant in the mall. We had just settled down and ordered, when the teachers of the boy's class found us saying they needed them back in order to be counted, or else their school would not win the prize for having the most people participate. Well after a bit of protesting, I allowed the boys to go back and be counted as participants, while their food waited back at the restaurant table.

I imagine the school won. I don't know. But I do know that school is different here, and perhaps given time, the benefits of putting them in school here in the province will be seen. As I've said, Theo seems to be making friends, asking to play in the school park after school for twenty minutes before going home.

***

On a side note, I came here looking for real good Filipino music. As a young visitor over 10 years ago to the Philippines, I stumbled across a cassette tape of a compilation of musicians. One of them was Bayang Barrios, and from that one song, called Bagong Umaga (New Day) I know that I wanted to hear more of her. What I like is that her music seems to come from the heart of the Philippines, and is uncorrupted by today's popular trappings, so prevalent in the taste of Filipino radio. She is also socially conscious and an advocate for peace, social justice and the environment. check her out: http://www.bayangbarrios.com/bayang/bayang.htm

Peace, all.
Vic

Today is a big day for Gawad Kalinga! It marks the end of the first of three 7 year phases. During this first phase (called GK777), our goal was to raise 700,000 homes and start–up 7,000 communities in 7 years; to "un-squat” the poorest of the poor, heal their woundedness, regain their trust, build their confidence, make them think and act as a community and to share the joy of a country rising from poverty.

The second set of 7 years (from 2011 to 2017) is the Stewardship phase called Social Artistry: strengthening governance; developing community-based programs for health, education, environment, and productivity; building a village culture that honors Filipino values and heritage. The goal is to empower the powerless for self- governance, self- reliance, and self- sufficiency.

The final 7 years from 2018 to 2024 is envisioned as a time of Social Progress. This phase seeks to achieve scale and sustainability by developing the grassroots economy and expanding the reach and influence of GK to 5 million families with support from key sectors of society in the Philippines and partners abroad. We will make the Filipino poor “unpoor” by unleashing his potential for productivity and hard work in the right environment.

Both of these next phases are combined under the name GK 2024, as we envision our goals to be accomplished by the year 2024.

This 21-year journey of Gawad Kalinga represents one generation of Filipinos who will journey from poverty to prosperity, from neglect to respect, from shame to honor, from third-world to first-world, from second-class to first-class citizen of the world. The term first-world simply refers to greater opportunities, higher standards, and better quality of life available to more of its citizens.

With a development road map in the Philippines, GK seeks to create successful development templates that can be replicated in other developing countries, helping to create a world free from poverty.

Vic and I have been celebrating all week. First, on the local level, we had a strategic planning meeting with the mayor of Villasis on Monday. We reported on the status of our own local GK village (Namnama), and sought to coordinate partnerships with the local businesses and balikbayans (folks who are from the area and have moved abroad…like my parents and all those Fil-AMs, Fil-Canadian, etc.). We have begun to build the first 3 houses and hope to have 30 by the time we leave here. We have been mentored by the caretaker team for the village, Arny and Mary. There are another 7 couples who will the “model couples” for the village. Some will be beneficiaries as well.

This October 7th, the folks of Villasis held a mass of thanksgiving. “We survived typhoon Pepeng” was displayed on a huge banner in the open air auditorium where the mass was held. Last year on Oct 7th the entire province of Pangasinan was deluged with rain by typhoon Pepeng for over 12 hours, which set off a series of catastrophic events. In order to relieve pressure on the dams, they had to be opened. The massive flood that ensued reached many rooves and turned everyone’s lives upside down. Eventually, after the waters subsided, the city began to rebuild. Except for the watermark above people’s doors, it’s hard to see signs of the devastation. 25 children from our village sang the GK theme song for the audience of about 500 people. Many of these families were made homeless from Pepeng and are hopeful for a home through GK.

There have also been celebrations at individual villages (which there are 2000 communities all over the Republic of the Philippines (RP))

On Friday the 8th we made our way to Manila for the GK EXPO. It is 3 days of looking back on the struggles and joys of the last 7 years and laying out what is in progress as well as dreaming with the Spirit of what the future may open.

Vic and I have had internal struggles with our own wealth while trying to serve. At home in Virginia Beach, we had 6 jobs between us, full and part-time, (not to mention the job of being parents to our 2 boys) all to maintain what we had (a house, 2 cars, food…) I thought we lived consciously. I had a garden for 4+ months of the year, hung my clothes, didn’t use A/C or heat except for extreme weather changes. We had no TV, and very few perks.

"Poor" in the Philippines means that you can't eat, always looking for your next meal. "Poor" and the "poorest of the poor" are not far from each other. It all depends on how often you eat.
Middle class is considered as those that work. But pay is minimal. There are those professionals that have good job; they are considered “rich” making about $200+ a month

Vic and I have been told we are “millionaire.” We are from the Elite Class. Very strange to me cause I was pinching my dollars at home and here I still try to pinch my pesos. I was told by a balikbayan relative from California, “you need to go out and spread your American dollars around!”

To make a long story short, here is the point: Yesterday, Oct 8th attended an exclusive invitation only BALL. There were only about 400 people invited and another 200 that wanted to get in. I can write more on that later, but we had dinner with Actresses, big Corporate executives, Governors and the Vice president of the RP. Vic and I went along for the ride and enjoyed the meal, feeling a bit guilty not participating in the Auctions, not "spreading our dollars around" much because I don’t know how to calculate BIG pesos that fast! P10,000 is about $220. But I see thousands and freak out!

Anyway, we are off today to the 10/10/10 celebration in Quezon Memorial Circle. There are expected to be over 100,000 people in the park. Some of the local villages around Quezon City will be walking to the venue. About 12,000 of them will divert traffic. We were invited to walk in solidarity with them. The call is to “be counted” participate, be a bayani (a hero!)

Vic is helping out in the CYD activities (child and youth development) I will be in the GKonomics ( the social enterprises arm of GK). This is the arm of GK that highlights products made in the GK villages, looking for fair trade means to market these items. I met some women weaving baskets in one of villages we were orienting in last month. They work hard! I suck at basket weaving. They were generous to me and said I was just needing practice. Then the “teacher weaver” said my basket looked like an "itlog"---an egg! She unraveled it and made me do it again.

Anyway, if you are curious, I think they are live streaming some videos of the workshops and parts of the EXPO at www.gk1world.com

Thank you for your continued prayers for our family, our village and our work with GK in the Philippines.

Salamat Po! (Thanks respectfully)

September 6, 2010

Today marks 2 weeks since we arrived in the Philippines. It was a long journey getting here and has had its challenges already these first 2 weeks. Thank you for keeping us in prayer, we definitely know you all are there to support us. FIRST it is HUMID here, we are constantly sweating and the boys are always reminding us how hot they feel. We are staying in Manila for the first month, my mother will be coming the Philippines on Sept 30 and we will all go to Villasis, Pangasinan in October together. While in Manila we are staying with Victor's uncle (his dad's brother). We have visited 3 urban Gawad Kalinga villages all have there own personalities. We attended the monthly GK Builder's night, they launched the new global website on Sept 1st., you are invited to visit it ( www.gk1world.com) still trying to navigate all the features but apparently when we get better at it we can post pictures and videos to it and you all can follow our villages with us or surf other GK sites. Builders night is where they share stories of all sorts of folks in the movement... the beneficiaries living in the villages, the volunteers, there were some government officials and some entrepreneurs launching products made in the villages or made in support of some villages. There were about 500 people in attendance. We sampled some sugar made from coconut...supposed to be good as a sugar substitute for diabetics and dieters. We saw these bikes made completely our of bamboo called bambikes. Some other products and programs too.

It is truly inspiring to see so many people putting their faith into action creatively. That's the next thing we have learned PEOPLE PRAY all day long for everything and in all they do...just small gestures we have notice where folks just pray in gratitude or thanksgiving or in hopes of some dream. We are trying to practice praying more with the boys, and teaching them more formal prayers since that is what we see the children here doing with their families.

We were advised by seasoned Gk advocates to be patient and to be ready to "unlearn and then learn with an open mind and heart." Help the people we are serving DREAM bigger dreams was another suggestion from a volunteer that was orienting us.

This week we are in the province of Pangasinan visiting 4 of the 5 villages here. We saw the build site for our village "Namnama" (hope village) it is a beautiful lush property already with rice fields, irrigation and fishing pond. It is 2 hectares??? not sure how big that is in acres but it is big enough for about 3 villages at capacity... The build begins tomorrow Sept 8th on the first 5 homes.

We will visit 3 of the established villages in Pangasinan, two in Santa Barbara and one in Dagupan City. We also hope to visit 2 schools recommended for the boys to attend once we are in Villasis in October.

Next week we will get extensive training on community building skills and becoming a care taker team for the village. We will be going to one of the GK farms in Bulacan...it is called Enchanted Farm. Another branch of the GK movement is to create 1000 farms in addition to the villages. So we will be there Sunday Sept 12 to Sept 19th.

Then 2 more weeks in Manila.

We spent this past weekend with my family celebrating my niece's (my cousin's daughter) Debutante ball. Very formal gathering and a whole cultural experience in it self. Victor got to play some saxophone for the crowd and we had an amazing meal and some cake too! Day to day we try to establish routines with the boys, they wake up with the animals. There are lots of dogs and roosters waking us up at 5am , if we are lucky and the boys are tired they will sleep until 6am. We pray, do some chores and have breakfast and then Vic and I do "school" with the boys for about 2 hours... we work on writing, reading and introducing more Tagalog words to them, some math and music every day. Then spent time outside, Desmond likes to collect bugs and do water play. Theo longs for home still daily and watches "english TV" there is a Disney station here that plays all day long.(YUCK) but we know it helps him with his homesickness. Yesterday he was so sad to learn there are no mailboxes at people's houses...he wanted to mail himself home:(

Victor takes Theo and Desmond for daily walks to the local "sari sari" store, it is a neighborhood convenience store with an assortment of items...they found one with ice pops and ice cream so that helps Theo to smile.

Peace and hot sticky hugs from the Philippines

Preparations

Packing. Letting go. Deciding what's important. Dropping out. Putting things in order. Mom is in the hospital. Are we doing the right thing? Soul searching. Sorting things out. Seeking support and prayers. Finding the right words. Excited. Free. Apprehensive. Trusting our leap of faith. Praying. Trying to keep a semblance of routine.