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Day 13 and 14 - The Last Night (and the last morning the following day)

2 weeks passed faster than I thought it would. Perhaps it was the early mornings and nights that made it seemed as though time flew. I was not feeling exceptionally high spirited the past few day, but it didn't change the fact that I was going to leave the village the next morning.

Looking at the green roof all lit and the little tables and chairs from the sibol school brought beauty to the once open space two weeks back, I was, and I still am wishing that what we did would be something functional and useful to the community in the long run.

This was my first overseas trip without my family. While I must admit I'm not one to miss home much, the people in GK Bagong Silang really made me feel at home. During the trip, I come to realise that home is not defined by the comfy bed we sleep in, or how big our apartment is. It is the people that make up the definition. A house without the people will still be house, yet, however small the house may physically be, it is the laughter and warmth that makes it a home.

We may have built a green roof for them with the objective to provide an open classroom space and an alternative to sustainable agriculture, but as the team knows, this is just one of the tiniest baby steps that we can humbly contribute to the community. Instead, as city dwellers, I personally felt that it was a trip that I received more than I gave. The mabuhay ladies fed me way better than I would when I stayed on campus (just cos sometimes even heating up food may seem a hassle [ok, fine, i'm lazy lol]); the children taught me how fortunate I am to have such a blessed education as if it was nearly a given right, not a privilege; my host family showed me how family togetherness is an integral part to making relationships work; the environment made me appreciate how clean Singapore is. There's so much more to take away than I initially thought the trip would do.

If I were to say I left for Philippines with an open mind, I have definitely brought back a mind full of rewards. As we chase for material gains and status in Singapore, we often neglect the simple life lessons that we can learn from around us. It may very well be the same takeaway if a community project was done in Singapore, but taking a step back to solely have your mind on it (tossing aside other commitments) and embracing that of a totally different culture was a truly enriching experience.

These were the thoughts that ran through my head the last few days. No, I would not and did not shed tears when I left GK Bagong Silang, because while I may miss the place and people, the memories are strongly etched in mind (and because I have a heart of steel and an ego too big for a 1.55m female). As some of us keep our memories through the many pictorial evidence(over 16gb photos! Super cam-whores ppl! Haha), I've kept them both in my heart and mind.

The initial thought for YEP, carrying out the expedition, meeting the villagers, experiencing a totally new and different environment and the new friendships forged inevitably made this entire trip worthwhile.

Wednesday 26th May 2010

Tomorrow will be the day of the actual skit performance so the focus for today’s lesson was skit rehearsal. The performers were rather well-prepared and none of them seem to suffer from pre-stage fright. I guess that this is probably because they are so used to dancing and singing in front of crowds. After class was dismissed, I went over to Tripora to help out with the painting of houses. I was quite excited as it was my first time painting houses. Thankfully, I had some basic paintbrush training from the numerous days of varnishing! There were several times when I carelessly dripped the paint on the window panes and the door. I am just glad that the Titos were so helpful and patient!

When Zur and I went home during our lunch break, we found out that Tita took our dirty clothes to wash again! This time, she dug into my bag and found my bag of dirty clothes! I really wonder how she managed to find them because I did not put any form of identification on the bag. As she was still halfway through the wash, Zur and I tried our best to stop her but to no avail. I feel really bad but grateful at the same time!

In the afternoon, we visited another village. The other village has a hilly terrain and was more dispersed and therefore, it looked less crowded. We visited the first house built by GK, the place where they produced oxidized drinking water and the school. As usual, the children at the village were excited about our arrival and followed us throughout our walkabout. As we were walking back to our village, we stopped by a stall to buy some dessert and saw a stall selling “soft drinks” but to our surprise, those were gasoline!

Back at our village, it was community game time. We were supposed to organize today’s community game but since we had nothing in mind, we decided to have a crazy time with the children and everyone was just tickling, poking and chasing one another.

Evening came and it was time for our little adventure to the mall! We boarded the jeepney which was in a rather “cui” condition because it has not been used for quite some time. As usual, the ride to the mall was filled with laughter. We had the legendary Jolly Bee for dinner and shopped through the evening.



Michelle

Saturday 15th May 2010

Today is the first day of construction and teaching. Joanne, Maoying and I were in-charge of teaching today because we were suppose to assess the children’s command of English and alter our teaching plans accordingly. Tita Jean had to gather the children one by one and while waiting for the class to be full, we took the chance to explore the Sibol School. I was surprised that it is well-equipped and very clean. Not long after, the class was full. There were 13 students aged between 10 – 12 years old. After introducing ourselves, we got each and every student to give a self-introduction which included their name, age and hobby. They were shy (but this is so not true from the second day of teaching onwards..haha!) and the most outspoken student with the best command of English was Jessel. Thus, she was appointed as the class monitor. Since it was a Saturday and the teaching plans needed to be revised, we dismissed the class after we briefed them on what to bring to class and the class timetable. The three of us returned to the community hall to work on the teaching plans. We had to revamp the teaching plans because they were originally designed for pre-school children and it took us the entire day to do so.

Buddy buddy Zur and I went home in the afternoon to maglaba! Doing laundry with a friend at the backyard of a place that we had just called our second home is a totally refreshing experience. We had our share of laughter but I have to admit that it was tiring. The place where we were doing laundry was where our Tito had shifted in to sleep at night in order to accommodate us. I really feel bad that Tito had to sleep there, Tita had to sleep in the shop front and Anna Rose had to sleep in the living room in order to accommodate us.

During dinner, Zur and I brought some food from the community hall back home to share with our host family. Only Tita and Anna Rose were home because Tito went out for his weekly bible study class. We had a chat over dinner and we learnt that their current house was given to them only about a year ago and yet they have already hosted several times. I feel that even though they may not be well-off, they continue to host because this may be their way of giving back to the society. They are very grateful for the house. Using just a pair of hands, Tito has done up the interior of the house beautifully. However, due to financial difficulties, Tito had to halt his renovation plans and do up his house in several phases. Just as they are proud of their house, I feel the same too! I guess that buddy would feel the same way too, if not we wouldn’t be bringing everyone over to view our house!







Michelle

Block Fighter VS Block Doll & Halo-Halo!!

19th May 2010
BLOCK FIGHTER VS BLOCK DOLL

My dear YEP teammates made me look like “Chun Li” (the street fighter in game) because I’m teaching today!! Hahaha..

During craftwork, Chu helps the boys with the Block Fighter and I help the girls with the Block Doll. I must say that they are obedient and really get down to work when it is time to. During the process of teaching, their learning capabilities stunned me. They are not only fast learner but are very keen in picking up new things. They listen to instructions and express their interests while making their doll. I am very impressed with their standard of English and if not barred from financial difficulties, given a chance, I truly believed that they can excel in their studies. Overall, it was an enjoyable moment for me because I get to see the quieter side of the kids (they usually run about and always play games).

HALO-HALO

A cup of cold dessert under a 37ºC weather will never go wrong! I introduce everyone the Halo-Halo!! It’s their local dessert (something like “bobo chacha” dessert in Singapore): gem-like jelly, papaya, yam paste, banana, mango puree, evaporated milk and shaved ice. And it’s going at only 10 peso (S$0.30) per cup!! CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!! Hahaha..

It’s heavenly when the ice melts in your mouth and at this moment, everyone just indulge in their halo-halo. Image does not matter anymore, squatting by the kerb pavement enjoying the blissfulness is something you won’t get to see in Singapore! Well, I don’t deny that education is important for our future and work helps to keep us going, but the time spent with our family and friends should not be overlooked as well. Once time passed, there’s no way we can get it back. So start to do so if you have not!

CHEERS!!!

Yvonne :)

14th May 2010

A VERY WARMED WELCOME :)

After 3 days of Relax & Recreation activities, it’s getting down to serious work: Building Green Roof! Arriving at GK Village, we were very welcomed by the people there. They had beaded necklances and straw hats for us right at the door step of the dining area.
I felt as if we were really some big shots who are important to them. They had even prepared two dance performances for us! I believed the days where we were having lots of fun during our R&R, they were busy preparing these items specially for us. Be it the gifts, the dance or the snacks they had prepared, it was a very heart-warming section for me. I can see and feel their sincerity and friendliness in welcoming us into their community.

They brought us around the village, allowing us to familiarize with the environment. Their continuous effort in revitalizing the village to a better living condition has shown their will and determination in improving their living lifestyle.

More and more kids crowd around us as we tour the place. I had mixed feelings at this moment. Words aren’t enough to express how I feel. Just simple “hi-five” and taking photos can make them so so happy! The smile and laughter on their faces left a deep impression in my mind.

I am jubilated to meet my host family. Our Tito and Tita have five children and going to be six soon! Because Tita is pregnant! Hahaha.. Wow! The interaction they have in the family has made me realized that kinship is important than any thing else! Age gap between siblings does not mean miscommunication nor difference in interest/thoughts. I came to understand that COMPROMISE is an important factor to bring and bond the family members together, leading to a stronger relationship in the family.

CHEERS!!!

Yvonne :)

Day 1 - Arrival at Bagong Silang

The team arrived at GK Bagong Silang in the late afternoon after a rather late lunch over from SM Fairview. The first thing that caught my eye was the huge crowd that the van seem to be getting closer to with each drive forward. That was when I thought, "Woah, they think we are VIP ah?" Adults and children alike were all crowding around the entrance welcoming us.

Just after we alighted, we were warmly greeted with necklaces and straw hats by the mabuhay ladies. After entering the communal hall and placing our heavy luggages down, I noticed a scrumptous spread of food awaiting for us. I was still thinking that the filipinos must have their meals really early before i realised that the food was actually just our afternoon tea and not dinner! Still feeling full from the lunch, I customarily took a piece of the sticky rice cake to not disappoint our hosts. Indeed, while it was a tad too sweet for my liking, it was well prepared.

As we ate, we watched the welcoming performances by the mabuhay ladies, dancing to 2NE1's fire and the batang boys with their hip hop remix. Both the young and not so young can sure dance well! It was only later that I realised that dancing was just like second nature to the community down at Bagong Silang.

We were then later assigned to our host families by Roma according to our height. (I'm surprised that I'm even close to Yvonne's, she's so much taller!)

Yvonne and I were assigned to the Gilber family. Lea and Leiz, the two eldest daugthers welcomed us to the family and quickly settled us down, showed us the past people that they'd hosted and taught us basic Tagalog. The two youngest, Laila and Lloyd were not at all shy and immediately got the both of us to play their games with them. Their friendliness and family cohesion was one that I hardly experienced in my own. Despite having 9 of us in the little space, it was not at all uncomfortable.

We then proceeded for dinner and later had a debrief to prepare us for the start of the first day of construction. Honestly, sitting around in a circle, I finally started to feel that we were gradually moving towards a team, one that was not going to just merely be a group of friends, but work partners and our temporal family as we look out for one another throughout the rest of the journey.

While it was a long day, it sure was a memorable start to the many (not so many days now that I'm reflecting) days ahead of us in GK Bagong Silang.

Recollections @ Bagong Silang

Nineteen days. No regrets. For anyone out there still procrastinating whether you should embark on a YEP, take the plunge! J

Leaving for Philippines just a few days after my exams was the best way to get out of the routine and hectic lifestyle that we Singaporeans lead. I personally make an effort to travel for leisure and exploration when I have breaks after my semesters. Embarking on this YEP not only helped me achieve this objective, but it was definitely also a much more meaningful and fruitful experience!

Arrival

The first day we arrived at the village, I was in fact quite surprised with their overflowing warmth and love. The community put up dance performances for us, and prepared LOTs of food.

Prior to this trip, I actually thought I would be losing weight. I was soooo WRONG!!! Bonding through food and eating together is an integral part of the Philippines’ culture. How is it possible to say NO when you have 5 meals a day being prepared by the wonderful titas everyday? Even till now, I still crave for their crispy fried chicken and mangoes!

MANGOES

Oh and to my dearest teammates, I have a confession! I had about 10 slices of half-mangoes in one day hahaha.

I just can’t emphasize how great the mangoes were. A good number of us were running to the supermarket on our last night just to buy many many packets of dried mangoes and cartons of zesto mango juice. Lol. Really retarded, but definitely worth it!

Living experience

I was really apprehensive how I would pull through these 2 weeks initially. The first day I tried to shower in my host family’s toilet, I was already greeted with a cockroach crawling about on the wall. I was thinking “OMG. Go easy on me man.” It was a super quick bath cos I felt the cockroach might just jump on me anytime LOL.

The first night, I was lying down on the concrete floor in their living room (that’s how my host family Tito Francis, Tita Esmie a.k.a. HAPPY HAPPY, and Sheina have been sleeping). Then I hear chu hwai and tito francis snoring away already. Sian. It’s always important to sleep first!

Although I was fatigued, sleeping wasn’t easy because I always needed 2 pillows, a bolster, and a nice comfy bed (I’m not pampered, really). Well… after about one hour or so, I FINALLY KNOCKED OUT.

However, in the subsequent days, I guess I got used to the feeling. My teammates and I OCASSIONALLY (everyday for A SELECTED SPECIAL FEW) slept on the floor in the community hall after our lunch just to catch a quick 1 hour nap!

Children

“KUYA LARRY! KUYA LARRY! KUYA LARRY!”

That’s probably the only thing I remember about the kids. The Larry Fan Club.

Okay I’m kidding obviously. The kids in the village are always roaming around and hyperactive, unlike majority of Singaporean children these days. Personally, I have a younger brother who’s only 10 years old. Leading an active lifestyle is hard, with distractions such as the Playstation 3 and YouTube to entertain him. Well, the culture is different. And maybe the way we have brought him up too haha.

Our team was privileged to teach a very bright group of children. I was impressed with their standard of English and their learning capabilities. I strongly believe that barring financial limitations, these children can excel in school. All they need is an opportunity. Chu Hwai has always told the kids in the village that they should study hard. A fatherly figure indeed hahaha. But I couldn’t agree more on the value of self-enrichment right from an early age.

Overall

The last day came, where we had to say our goodbyes to our titas and titos and the adorable children. I was pretty much emotionless and didn’t expect to feel much about this departure, as we all knew this day would come.

However, after seeing tears well up in the titas’ eyes, I couldn’t control my feelings either hahaha. I shed a few tears when I was in the van.

Throughout the course of our stay at Bagong Silang, the experience we have gained is so so much more than what we have given them. For what they lacked in material, they more than made up for it with the wealth and love in their hearts.

I believe this trip made our team grow as individuals, and also served to create greater cohesion amongst us. I won’t forget the silly and retarded things we did, the times chatting with my host family, the HTHT sessions, towel boy and his 2 other notorious friends, larry’s naughty karaoke sessions and his art of eating bananas, the 20+ cockroaches in the community hall, the awesome MERIANDAS, the humsup club, walking out to grab RC Cola, our banana boat ride at Puerto Galera, and 9504317 other things! J

Cheers!

Leonard

Day 10: Sunday 23rd May 2010

Shopping as if we were on an amazing race

We had a late breakfast today at 730am finally. No more waking up at 5.15 am to prepare (For me and Jolyn)! But, we were almost late today because we wanted to take a family photo before our breakfast, fearing that the parents and children may leave the house for their own activities and it would be quite hard to catch them back. So, we took our family photo with the help of Kuya Hwai! After our delicious breakfast, there was still time before we leave the village to SM Fairview so we went back to our home to play jackstone (or jagstone??) with Rowan and charissa came to join us too! I do not excel in playing Singapore’s five stones, so this game really was a challenge but I managed to proceed to level 3 I think.
And then, we left the village at 9+ am on a jeepney. We reached the shopping mall before 10am and strangely, we were not allowed to enter for I-don’t-know-what-reasons but there were so many people in the mall already. It was like they were queueing for something. HAHA. Typical singaporean’s thinking. Anyway, we went to another entrance and got in within minutes after the security gantry. I think it is very cool to have a security gantry at every shopping mall exit. But, it would add on to much inconvenience as I always bring a bigger bag or pouch so I have to constantly open for them! And it may slow down traffic if there were huge crowd flow and I think it would occur in Philippines man! Their megamall was so nice!
Being typical Singaporeans who had gone to check and compare the price of Starbucks previously which coincidentally was the 1st store we saw when we entered, we went to buy their beverage. But, I did not! Decided to save money for other shopping items!  Oh another funny thing was that everyone was vigorously checking their mails and FB using the mall’s free WIFI. And Jolyn even used FB to try to contact me because she could not find Yvonne and me. But, I happened to off my wifi setting already at that time. But, it was very funny when I went to my FB page to see.
For the 1st half of the shopping trip, Jolyn, Yvonne and I went shopping together and oh man, we bought quite a lot of stuff (mainly clothes for ourselves and family as well as friends!). Yvonne is really a good shopper! Shopping with her is very fun but we have to control her spending too because she loves everything she see. (Right Yvonne??)
Anyway, we went to have our shopping for host family items (this time, with geokie) after lunch at Wendy’s. In the end, we got our host family the following items:
1. Pencil cases filled with pencils, sharpener and pens for Rose-an, and the twins.
2. Hair band+ earrings for Rose-an
3. Minnie Mouse Accessory Bag for Rowan
4. Notebooks and a box of coloured markers for all the kids.
5. A very long pillow (can have 4 people sleeping together).
When we went back home after dinner at the village, Kuya Hwai and Kuya Leonard’s tita came to look for Jolyn and I. As I recalled about how she was finding us, I could not help but laughed. This was what she said: “Neighbour Neighbour! Where’s the visitors?” “Come come. Come for a get-to-gether.” Then when we were at her house, she said, “sit sit.” And then, we all started chatting abit but I did not talk much because it was kinda awkward at first. Their tito was drunk and he was talking so much and continuously repeating all his experience. It was a very nice sight actually, to see us cuddle together in a small little living room, sitting in a circle and perspiring together because of the weather and listening to tita esmee’s laughter and saying that we are all her sons and daughter and she love us and would miss us forever and ever when we are back in Singapore. Last but not least, she will also end off with “nice to meet you”. These are all the words which I seldom or even, rarely will speak but yet, they can say it so easily! She influenced me then and I started to say “Mahal kita” to my host family too and they could not stop laughing. Haha.
Oh, it was not the end yet. After we left the 2 kuyas’ home, we went home and had a little war fight with Li-on and Rowan. Rose-an did not really play that much but she was there, laughing at us. Haha. We played until we were still trying to tickle each other in the dark! HAHA.
Okayyy…sorry for the long (and no pic) post. No time to do photo collage. It was really a well-spent day I would say though everything was very rushed on that day (especially shopping).

Cheryl:)))

Day 7: Thursday 20th May 2010

Regular Routine

It was as usual, breakfast at 6am, followed by construction team preparing for construction while the teaching team will prepare to teach the kids.
The construction team continued our usual routine work: sanding, varnishing and sanding again with our…erm….disgusting RE-USED masks. I remembered that I was sanding at the left roof and there was a lizard spotted! The lizard was not really scared of me even when I was sanding very near to it but in the end, it was myself who was more scared when I tried to use sand paper to scare it away.
For today, I finally got myself a “chin chow” drink. (sorry I forgot the actual name of the drink again. Someone please enlighten me again *hint: YVONNE!!*) and our dear leader, clarisa got us ice cream too which melted as soon as it was being scooped up! That was how hot the weather at that time! Speaking of this, we had visitors today! There were 2 groups of people; one from NTU and one from UC Berkley who came for recee and immersion programme respectively. What is coincidental is that the guy from NTU, William, is Yucheng’s friend. Too bad Yucheng could not make it for this YEP trip. But anyway, they helped us with the sanding as well as varnishing the timber.
After construction, Jolyn and I went back to our host family’s house, wanting to bathe but there was no water so we ended up sitting on the chairs and watched Rowan and Sheena dance! They were so talented. One of the dances they did was what they performed during our farewell dinner and it was so super sexy! 
Anyway, the day did not end on a happy note because of all the unknown insect bites on Jolyn’s face and neck. Tita Jean was informed and then, our tita Rosei also knew and she was very worried for us. We were almost asked to change host family too and Jolyn and I were very determined to stay in the house despite the risk of getting bitten/ worsening the bites again. The main reason was that the relationship and the bond with the family had already been established and we were so reluctant to think of the idea too. (On a lighter note, another reason was that I couldn’t part with the children, especially the twins). Furthermore, if we were to move to another host family, we would need to adapt to their habits and also, we would cause more inconvenience to them as what we had done to our own host family. They (after knowing the news) had cleaned the sleeping area for us. If we did not go back home in the noon or after construction, we would not have seen that the mattress was shifted and all. The sight really made me feel so guilty but yet heartwarming because we know that they really cared for us a lot.
Yup, that’s about it for today! Oh and did I mention that sometimes, at night, Jolyn and I played abit with Rose-an and Li-on at the upper floor until we got so tired but most of the time, we didn't really want to stop playing. haha.

cheryl:))

24^th May. Friday.

It was a great night sleep last night and head to the community hall for the perfect breakfast as always. It was my turn to take teaching today. Today’s theme is Body Parts. Dayan came late today, just like any other days. She never have the heart to learn at all. From what I heard from the parents, she is always absent from school just like how she is absent for our lessons. The class was as fun as usual. After teaching several body parts, we had a little game with them where names of body parts are written on sticky note pads and given to each student to paste on a model (who happened to be larry). The purpose is mainly to test if they had really learnt the body parts by heart.

After the class, it was the resting time till lunch time. Somehow, during rest time we have to fall asleep. It is like a rule or something. You will often find a bunch of dead body either before lunch, or after lunch. So, after having the sumptuous lunch (as usual), Maoying and me went back for laundry. Michelle followed us back home to help us with the washing too! Lucky for her help, we manage to wash the clothes faster than normal. Our tita, Tita Nelia, even bought RC coke for us to drink, because the weather is too hot! That is so sweet of her. Then we rested till about 2pm, then we headed back to the community hall.

There is nothing much to do for the day. Afternoon class was taken over by Chu Hwai because he offered to take over me. We rested again till about 3pm and had our afternoon snack. The favourite time of the day. After which, we started to perfect the dance for the finale. We started dancing as a team at about 3.30pm after we manage to gather most of the people, except the people who are in the teaching team. After a while, the rest of the team came over, so we have to start practicing. This is when, we started having some discusson about whether the guys should dance or not and if not, what are they supposed to do. The conclusion in the end was that the guys should do the background music and the bass of our song, while the girls will both the dancing and singing. haha.

At 5.30pm, it is the fun and games again, with the children. Couldn't remember what games they played though, but definitely it was as usual rowdy. After that was dinner time, another sinful but satisfying dinner! Maoying and I head back home to have a chat with our Tita Nelia! During the chat, we found out how our Tita and Tito actually met each other and how are the expenses in the family handled. Firstly, their love story. They met each other in a very cliché way where our Tito is the chauffeur of the family, and our Tita is the maid of the family. She was staying in the Manila squatter in the past while our Tito stays in Bagong Silang slums. Then she moved to Bagong Silang in 1995 and tried bidding for the houses built by GK. Finally they manage to get a house in 2001. Her expression showed that she was really happy to move away from the slums especially when she related to us about how the cockroaches bite will cause your skin to be swollen for days and in the new home there is no more ipis! Perhaps this is the reason why our house is rather clean, with no ipis running around in the day.

We also found out about their income and expense. Our tito is able to earn about 1000 peso as a taxi driver when he drive for 24 hours. This is also the reason why we do not see our tito as often. He normally drives alternate days so in a month he is able to earn roughly about 15,000 peso or less. The electricity bills amounts up to 1200 peso per month and the food is about 200 peso every time she goes to the market. This short but fulfilling chat makes me feel how much they yearn to leave the slums, and I suppose most of the people who are currently living in the slums are having the same goal as my Tita too. To have a clean and simple home!

After both of us bathed and rested, we head back to the community hall. The reason is because we are spending the night there! The debrief started and ended at about 11 plus or 12am. It was a rather interesting night to actually sleep with your team mates, right at the place where u always have the 5 meals everyday! =)

-JOANNE

19/5/2010

Wasn’t feeling very well yesterday due to the construction dust. But well, everything is on track. The construction is going on well, the team is bonding well, but nonetheless, I miss home.

However, as much as I miss home, everytime I see the smile of the titas, and the smiles of the children, I cannot help but tell myself, this is worth my effort.


Ever since I went into your world
I could not help but ponder
Perhaps even teared slightly
Could not understand why your life can be so tough.

And I looked back at my own possessions
Thinking all the praises I got from them.
But they seem so small now
Compared to the smiles I got from u.

Today I learnt
Primitive does not equate to unhappiness.

Love is all you’ve got
But its enough to make our days.

Thanks for all your love my dears
They are much appreciated.

larry

15/5/2010

Its just been a great journey thus far. The children, the people, the environment, its just so great that I cannot really find an exact word for this feeling. The people are just so happy always and it makes me happy.

Overwhelming feelings of happiness flows every second when I am in this little town. I can’t believe this town is so beautiful! The children, the community, it is just something I had never experienced before. It is so sincere, so real. Looking at the sunset and the children playing in the evening sun, I could not help but make this statement.

A place may have many beautiful buildings and structures, but to me, the beauty of a place comes from the people and I am proud to say, this place I am in, is, beautiful. From the bottom of my heart.

larry

when it is done but not over yet

22/5/2010


Finally we’re done with our construction, the timber structure was eventually ‘baby-smooth’ as quoted from Jeremy who enjoyed touching and ‘molesting’ the timber poles, checking the smoothness, and possibly finding excuses for us to sand the poles over and over again. It took us 3 to 4 days just to do sanding and vanishing of the structure for at least 3 times, mundane and exhausting, especially under the super hot and humid weather with still air. It was like 38 degree Celsius for the past few days we had been working under the sun that we felt cooler wrapping ourselves up with jumper than wearing singlet.

We held an opening ceremony in front of the structure with the construction titos and titas, using a big cutter and a flower ball made of tissue paper. It was fulfilling looking at the structure and the kids running eagerly around it (possibly because the site was closed down for the whole week during construction, and for those kids who trespassed the site were all chased out).

Of that moment, I thought I need an air-con; I need my bed to be in an air-con room for me to lie on. Yeah right, I had been sleeping on the floor for nearly 2 weeks, together with all the cockroaches that crawled over my body and neck at night. It was a fun, new, exciting, memorable yet scary experience I had in the village, not forgetting stepping on a huge earthworm throughout my shower, getting electrocuted by a bare wire in the toilet, and hit by the bucket falling from the sky on my head, thanks to Zuraidah’s ‘steward’ the day before.

chu hwai

The day the grandpa of the year visited

16/5/2010







Tito Tony, founder of Gawad Kalinga, came by in the afternoon, and shared with us a short but inspiring chitchatting session. Listening to him made me realized that how meaningful this project is to the community, but at the same time, how insignificant it is as compared to the whole movement of GK in transforming and reforming the communities, their living conditions and also the characters of individuals by hiring them to work on GK projects to make them feel useful. As such to make them realize that the objective of living in poverty is not merely to survive, but to be progressive. I learned from this short talk with Tito Tony, it might be diplomatic but it is indeed inspiring and meaningful.



chu hwai

Power of the girls

16/5/2010

The day started off with construction again, but things had been fun and rewarding at the same time, as we literally saw how the roof structure was taking shape in a few days time. We had a lot of fun doing some playful things together – drilling the timber in weird positions and competing in chiseling off the pole etc, playful but of course, safe as I was keeping an eye on all of them working in the construction site (unfortunately I was assigned the safety officer of the project, thanks to Jian Long who could not join us for the trip)

Most of us did not really have experience in working on hands-on project like this, and that’s why most of us were really excited using all those tools. The girls were particularly aggressive as they obviously outnumbered the guys in this team and they really wanted to prove their capability in this aspect. While the guys were the ones holding the scaffolding for them, the girls were using their “cow not bull” strength sawing and chiseling the timber structure, and not forgetting Leonard and Jeremy who were enjoying the ‘drilling’ work so much.


Construction was fun because the tasks were still within our capability, and we could see the result really fast we thought that we could finish the structure in a few days time. No, not for the weather, it was really scorching hot we all craved for Zesto mango and orange juice and iced water, you could imagine how Larry got his ‘breast burn’ under this weather.





chu hwai

25/5/2010

We think we need so many useless things, when all we need is time to breathe.

Construction for green roof is already completed. We help out a little bit in painting of houses at the back alley. Soon, it was evening again. Being rather free we decided to walk around the village as a group. The slope leading out to the main road, was a play area for the kids in the village. Along there we can see karaoke, their form of billiard, arcade etc.

We sway along as Larry(hobby being singing) sang his song. Seeing the kids playing with they skate board, we decided to try as well. But compared to them, we are rather lousy. We can’t even go in a straight line. So eventually we created our own games, piggy back, princess carry etc. And the weirdest of all to me, is kola bear carry. I guess that is inspired from Jan Jan younger brother. Overall it was a relaxing and enjoyable day, immersing ourselves in the community and just simply have fun.

I guess that’s what travelling is all about, a getaway for the time being, to think and then breathe again.

maoying

28/5/2010

Those minutes sitting in the van looking out of the window to perpetually leaving the village and losing the sight of it was what that brought me to reminisce whatever that has happen again bit by bit. Everything suddenly becomes so vivid.

"Sometimes,' said Pooh,

'the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

I guess the quote is quite apt to use in this context. During the short stay in the village we have receive so much love from the locals and the community as a whole, much more than what we are here to give.

On the first day, Nelia tita comes and picked us to her house. It was the very first time in my life, guided and led by a small girl. I was feeling uncertain about everything, yet i feel safe in her little hands. Joanne and i sat in the house feeling a little awkward. So Tita Nelia starts talking about her house being very small, but yet you still feel the sense of contentedness of having this house.

The second night, everything was already well-prepare, in small details. They brought down their only mattress for us to sleep. The toilet that has no lock and place to hang clothes, now has curtain added on and a bucket cover for us to place our things. Even the clothes we wash earlier in the day at the back alley had already been taken in. I was thankful for the thoughtfulness of tita Nelia trying to make our stay as comfortable as possible.

The third day where construction starts for me, lasted on for about eight days. It was a tiring process, largely due to the very hot sun, and our unfamiliarity with the skills involve. Unlike us, the workers are amazingly amazing. Looking at them, doing plastering is like damn easy. Everyday during our free time, we were showered with “flowers” by the kids. It seems to be the most direct and sincere gift they can offer. Lots and lots of it.

We learnt that the locals have to help in the building of the community houses. Personally i feel that it is a good policy, because apart from receiving help, they also will be contributing in return. I believe Gawad Kalinga is definitely more than just building houses for the poor. Providing a decent home is only the beginning of the transformation for its people and communities. I am both excited and hopeful to see the changes down the years. But one thing to be certain, it will definitely not be achievable by a single individual but the collective efforts of many.

Coming back, to the very last day, i was gald that i teared. Because the tears i cried, was tears of gratefulness, happiness and the many 'bu she de-ness"(sorry suddenly cant think of suitable english word). It was because of the friendships we built within ourselves, with our host families, the kids, the mabuhai ladies, the community, and the place.

To conclude, i will like to end of with what "happy happy!" tita said, "when you sad just always remember here in Bagong Silang and laugh with us."

maoying

like ate and anak na babae

Day 14 24/5/2010

LIKE SISTERS and DAUGHTERS

I was still feeling exhausted and drained from last night and tita nancy thought I was sick. She got a bit worried and kept asking me to sleep. HOW I WISH I could do that.

This morning breakfast was greeted by the 3 loud horns of a truck and I saw everyone bringing bags and bags of garbage out. Basically everyone in the village was bringing their garbage to the truck. As i went out to observed them, It was indeed a different sight for me seeing kids, adults, all carrying their garbage out of their homes to the truck, even the kids who were dragging big bags out. Kids helping their friends to carry their garbage bags... Some hanging around to help others drag the bags over. It made me think how singaporean kids would never do cause they are always too busy for housework and with their maid around, basically everything is being done for them. And I do admit, sometimes I can be one of those kids. even though I dont have a maid, I seldom bring the garbage out. I feel this is something that is really being taken for granted by us. We do not appreciate the accessibility and yet we shunned the people who are clearing our garbage saying the truck is dirty and smelly. On the other hand, these villagers' 1 week worth of garbage is what they have to drag out everytime the truck comes. If you missed it, then just have to wait for the folowing week.




Today tita Jean came over to our place to visit tita nancy. We didn’t know they are such close friends, just like “sisters”(ate) they said. And I think I have to agree on that cause they share so much common interests and have really similar personalities. Their stories about how they came to Bagong Silang were really moving,from what i gathered from their conversation. They both left manila city and their families to move here with their husbands and start a totally new life. Both came from well-to-do families and yet, they packed and leave to come to a village and experience something totally different. now, this is something that I totally admire them for. They are brave women, each with a distinct personality but yet share the similar characteristic of being independent.

Today was also the day that we found out that tita nancy was WASHING OUR CLOTHES!! Like she took our dirty clothes and washed them! We came back after lunch to wash our 3 days worth of clothes and found that our clothes went missing. Tita Nancy was so scared to tell us and afraid that we got mad for her rummaging our bags but honestly, I felt shocked and grateful and guilty!! I mean we meant to wash them later that day but didn’t expect her to beat us to it! Even as we tried to help her, me and michelle got shooed out of our own home! Can you believe that we were asked to go back to the community hall so as not to disturb them? Tita Jean was even defending her and shooing us. I felt quite disoriented by it and between me and Michelle, I got a hunch that Tito told her about our lousy washing skills. Hahaha I think we were not exactly professional in washing clothes by hands but I know we tried our best but yes, tita is better at doing it.



THANK YOU tita nancy and tita jean!!! You showed me the meaning of true hospitality and how much you cared for us and really treated us as your daughters. PAMPERED daughters(anak na babae).



zuraidah

the best Lingo ever!

Day 13 23/5/2010


The day we all had been waiting for since we arrived at the village. IT WAS OUR OFF DAY!

FREE SUNDAY from our usual routine of doing construction. Breakfast was scheduled to start at 0730 which was AWESOMEEE. I think everyone was pretty happy about this. Haah.

However, Michelle and I decided to wake up early still @ 0430 to help Tita Nancy and Tito Robinson make doughnuts. Ever since we arrived, we were excited to help them out with their doughnut making session and today was the day we were free to try out our doughnut making skills. I felt pretty dazed initially as both of us were still in our sleeping mode but soon it became fun as we tried to master Tito’s amazing skills of shaping the doughnuts. Even tita couldn’t master the skill! Yet we were attempting to outdo tito. Too ambitious I would admit but tito was generous enough to teach us and allowing us to shape most of the doughnuts. Honestly, I thought our standard was not even close to his since our shapes were either too fat or too thin or just plain weird. HAHAHAAHAH. Tito is practically a professional baker having about 10 yrs experience while we are just noobs at doughnut making.




We bought 20 pesos worth of doughnuts(1 peso per doughnut) from them for our team and we felt accomplished with our handmade doughnuts! P/S: I really think that selling doughnuts is a lucrative business for them since they are the only shop that does them and we saw neighbours buying 15 to 20 at 1 go. What a way to start our day, especially a FREE DAY!!!

Felt so excited to go shopping for our host family and finally back to a familiar civilization that was with aircon and wireless and starbucks. HAHA. Let’s get ready for the race against time to finish shopping, developing photos, surfing the net and enjoying aircon....cheers to all! I thought it was a good day to take a breather and explore the mall....

cheers zuraidah

18/5/2010

Ok guys! this is my blog post for 18th May.

18^th May. Tuesday.

Woke up at 5am and packed the bathing bag because I was planning to bathe at the community hall today, and left the house! Breakfast for today is porridge with omelette and egg! After breakfast, we head off to work. I was hindered by the state of my shoes only after 4 days. It was spoilt and I had to bandage it with masking tape and duct tape. After rescuing my shoes, I head over to do construction. Today for me is mainly plastering and mastering the art of plastering. There is a lot of laughter today because the group of people doing brick-laying was cracking a lot of jokes, keeping the atmosphere rather light. At least we won’t be bored doing the same job everyday!

I went over to the Sibol School to see the children for a few times. Their progression is actually rather good, and enthusiastic in their participation. I guess after some warm-up the children are now opening up to us as compared to the first day when Maoying, Michelle and I took the first lesson. After the morning snack, I continued to do plastering until it gets rather boring. After doing this, I begin to appreciate the workers in the construction site in Singapore. The amount of patience and endurance they have to put in for our buildings. It is not even for themselves, it is for us. I had respected them, because without them there won’t be building in Singapore, but now I respect them even more.

Soon, it is lunch time and after lunch, Maoying and I head back to do laundry. We have a lot of clothes accumulated for about 3 days and especially with my windbreaker. Just last night, I realized that my windbreaker had an infestation of ants because I left it on top of my bag (and I did not put the insect repellent gel). My windbreaker has netting and all the ants were infested inside the netting which made it harder to clean. As usual, Joy is around being the Teacher Joy in washing of clothes and handing us hangers and clothes pegs when needed. That’s really sweet of her. Jodis also started talking more to us, which means he is opening up to us more.

After resting, we went back to the study room to do up the photo frame for our host family. Then we went back to the community hall to rest again until about 2pm. I headed over to Sibol School to help out a little although I wasn’t of much help actually. After a while, I head back to construction. The children started doing things for us. It is sort of like plasticine but is made from sand mixed with water instead, with flowers on top. Somehow it looked like flower pots.

My runny nose started to get worse during mid day. Then I was being quarantined from the rest of the people or rather, the rest of the people was quarantined from me. During that period of time, it really felt rather helpless because nobody is supposed to go near you. I was not feeling tired or lethargic in any way, in fact I was feeling normal except for the runny nose. haha. My temperature was slightly higher than normal at about 37.3 degree Celsius. Then Charissa said that if my temperature is not going down by 8pm, I’ll have to be sent to the hospital which is about an hour ride away from Bagong Silang. Ah! That made me sound like I’m seriously ill. But well, hospital has AIR-CON! =X

Maoying packed some of my clothing for me in case I have to stay over at the hospital, and then suddenly she appeared in the study room too! She is caught with high temperature of 37.7 but she is also feeling very fine. My room-mate is quarantined with me. LOL. Temperature is starting to drop but both of us have to sleep in the study room until tomorrow morning. Being quarantined is not anything bad because I get to have a super long bath in the community hall which is heavenly!

-JOANNE

mis na mis kita

This is my second time embarking on the Youth Expedition Project journey. Both are enriching and fulfilling in different way. This project to the Philippines particularly offers me a new perspective in looking at the community-in-need and their living conditions, of which is in many ways different from ours.

Walang Iwanan, as the term explains, no one is left behind. To me, only during and after this trip that I realized, how important welfare is to every human being, no one should be left behind. As mentioned by the GK founder Tony Meloto during a short chit-chatting session with us at the construction site; everyone deserves to be treated just like the others, they are human beings. His words struck me.

As we have always been living in a relatively comfortable and established society, as we have also been traveling to different fascinating tourist locations in the world, as we think that we have seen the world, we have been ignorantly neglecting and forgetting what we have not yet seen, of which I still dare not say that I have seen all of it, but enough for me to firstly, appreciate how fortunate we are to be given what we are having now, and secondly, to feel for these communities.

For these 15 days in this particular GK village, the term ‘community’ comes to me very meaningful. I never felt how well bonded a community could be until I was there in this village. The sense of community is overwhelming when you see the villagers come together to build their new village, and when you see the neighbors can just enter each other’s house from the front or behind, watching television together, chatting and laughing. There is no remarkable boundary within the village, I just feel like I am in it all the time, for the 15 days, that I enjoy my time so much with them.

I had always been sympathizing how less fortunate these people are before I embark on this journey, but from now on I will not use the word ‘less fortunate’ on these people anymore, because they simply have those things that are sought after by many of us – a rather simple life with laughter and love. We are all on equal ground, because we own different things, we are still lacking of something.

“Poverty is everywhere; poverty in terms of money and materiality, poverty of emotions in most developed countries; there is always something to be compromised” Tito Tony Meloto

Coming to something lighter, I set myself an objective for this trip; I am here to serve and to give, I want to help in whatever way I can. However, I think throughout the 15 days in this community, I think I have taken in more than I have given out to them. I really can’t express how much I have enjoyed myself with the community, for the foods they cooked for us, for the ‘hi-5’ from the kids, the smile and laughter they offered to us whenever we see them, these little things form an unforgettable memory we had together with them.

It is a colorful village, the people and the life there I will never forget.

I did not really cry when I was leaving the village on the last day, because I have a feeling I will be seeing them again, or at least, I will be missing them a lot. Salamat po, thank you for the experience, and to all my YEP teammates, thank you for being there with me, may our friendship lasts forever.

Chuhwai

merianda

HELLOO bagong silang!! its merianda time....

Larry's Escape

I am never good with words, neither am I a good writer. When I was asked to write about my experience in the GK Village. I was taken aback. I was afraid I could not churn out a wonderful piece of essay, with mountains of cliche statements. But as I now reflect upon what I experience there, it just flows out so naturally.

I wondered why? Perhaps it was the sincerity of the locals that allowed me to naturally write out this sincere reflection.

Perhaps some sincere declarations. Before I arrived in the village, I kept thinking to myself, what would be the situation there at Bagong Silang? Can I even take the hardship? Being a “pampered” kid since young, and always making it a point to stay in posh hotels for vacations, will Larry be able to take it? My friends even joked, “Larry, do not go there for 1 day, and fly back the very next day.”

I had doubts. I had doubts about my safety, my experience, and even my comfort. But these 2 weeks of stay had indeed changed my view of many things. I had never felt so happy before in my life.

I was indeed touched by how the community were so close together. I was so touched by how all the villagers were so sincere in whatever they do. Simple gestures like hugs had never meant so much to me. Just a simple “I will miss you”, “I love you”, to them, meant so much. But in a busy city like mine, how much do any of the above mean to an individual?

In the midst of our busy lifestyle, we strive for wealth, we strive for status, and we strive for so many things. But to the villagers, having their family with them, and loving god, is all that matters. The love they had for one another is so pure, and so sincere. I felt so loved by everyone there, from the children to the adults. Till now, even when I look back, I can still remember all the little love they showed me, and all the little gestures that mean so much to me.

In this lonely city, we lack love. And within that short period of time there, I felt the love which had been missing in my life for a long time. All I can say is that the villagers brought me to realise how important my family is to me. How I should treasure them, and love everyone around me like how they did in the village.

Perhaps one country may have many skyscrapers, many beautiful architecture. But the one X Factor that makes a place beautiful is the community, their people, their love. And I am proud to say that, GK Village is a true sincere beauty. Thank You for the experience, the joy and the smiles. It will last a life time.

Larry Yeung