Edmund Rice Brothers, Philippines Mission Diary - 10
2nd December 2007
Ï love this photo so decided to use it, but it is not mine; it was sent to me by a friend to share. I have called it a rainbow made in heaven. Greetings from Davao where for the first time we are experiencing cool weather and plenty of rain though the hot stuff is still around. I even thought about wearing a jumper today and Frank even wears a light tracksuit top these days. We are in a gentle weather belt, however, so we do not experience the extremes of weather that other parts of the Philippines have suffered from lately. You probably heard about the Typhoons that have been threatening the northern part of the Philippines, Negros Bohol and Leyte are all vulnerable. Bicol is the latest Island which had to be evacuated recently. Davao seems to be the place to be. Ha!
I have had this head cold for several weeks now and it appears from the eye, ear and nose Doctor’s report that I may have to have surgery to the old nose, which is a bit of a drag, but the situation will only get worse if I ignore it, so I guess something will have to be done at our Christmas break as I don’t want to lose any school time. A good time might be between out return from Kabankalan and Maasin and the start of school year which for us is January 9th. The interesting thing is that there seems to be some structural deformity which has caused the complications. Headaches and infection have all stemmed from this problem so maybe its time to do something about it. The Doctor said I would need to be in hospital for a couple of days. Medicines, such as antibiotics, are very expensive here and are out of reach of the most people. There is no subsidy system here, which simply means the poor don’t get the care that people like us can get which gives me something to think about. I guess it’s the multinationals trying to make bigger profits. I did promise myself I would love to find out why this awful situation exists. One of the many test I went through was the cat-scan which involved the nurse pumping dye into me; not nice. Of course I passed out, didn’t I, having some sort of reaction to the stuff. Anyway I came to and after a little while had the scan so all is clear for the operation should I choose to go ahead with it. The Doctor said I just had a mild reaction which was comforting to know. Ha! (More about this another time) My regular swims are on hold of course. Carl is in good form and continues to do his regular walks which keep him fit. As for Frank; well he just keeps on keeping on and is his happy self. He gets a regular blood test and his last one says he is fine.
The Cebuano language is steadily improving and I would say we are all progressing steadily and definitely working hard. My claim to fame is I can now recite off by heart the Our Father and Hail Mary in Cebuano, though I am still a little hesitant with a few “ugh” here and there. I think we will have to make a big move in increasing our general vocab as the success in speaking the language relies so much on our ability to put sentences together using words that we can recognise and call to-mind. Two of our students graduated last week so much sadness as well as joy at seeing more of our friends moving on. We seem to be for ever saying hellos and goodbyes.
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We have just visited the MJs new parish in the mountains (1000M elevation) thanks to Fr Eugene and his friend Eddy who became our driver for the day. We were very impressed with the work Fr Stan has done so far. He is building a new rectory and a new church is on the drawing boards. Marahan is the name of the closest village and the parish centre is about 80 KM from Davao though technically still in the boundary of the city. He has started a little farm to help support the running of the parish and because the people are quite poor money is being sort from many other places. They have about 800 families and 17 chapels which mean that people are lucky if they get the Eucharist more than once a month. As you can see from the photos the progress is slow but they are getting there. Fr Stan is assisted by our local priest, Fr Ben, who goes up every weekend to help out. The Archbishop visited the parish recently and was very impressed with what Stan has accomplished in such a short time, so much so that he donated P300, 000($7,900) for the building programme. Fr Ben raised another P200, 000 from his home country Belgium. The spot they have chosen is very beautiful and thanks to the generosity of a local family, who donated the two acres, they have been given a great start. Stan is into environmental friendly farming techniques and is thus able to give a great example to the locals on what can be achieved. |
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 Photos: The village of Marahan; The new Parish centre and rectory; The Farm with the pigsty in the middle ground. |
He uses only natural, locally produced food for the animals and grows his own vegetables which are free of chemicals of course.
The last point I make is an oldie for us in the West. We were surprised at the total absence of trees of any reasonable size and were informed of the early years of exploitation which has caused all sorts of problems in this country. The hills and valleys are at the mercy of the elements. Need I say more.
Frank and I visited the local Magsaysay Park (The name of the second President) in the city where there is a week long display of Mindanao indigenous ancient and traditional culture called KALIMUDAN and many interesting exhibits were photographed. We found the Muslim people there to be friendly and most hospitable sharing with us many interesting stories and their artisans showing us their wares. We bought a traditional music instrument each so we will have something as a memento of the outing. Their traditional houses were on display there which included a type of house boat. The ceremonial platform attracted my attention as it looked like a giant trampoline and was made totally of bamboo and vines. While we were there some 40 students climbed onto the platform and did some sort of a dance while 
linking arms. It certainly tested the safety of the construction and it past the test easily.
It was good to see and hear the good stories for a change as one of the elders shared with us some of his family heirlooms said to be over 150 years old. His son went and dressed up in a complete royal outfit as he explained the connection his family had with the Sultan. (A royal family apparently) On a sad note, Fr Roger and Fr Ping are back with us for a few days as he had to close his school for a while until a local family feuds settle down. Muslim fighting Muslins is not a nice 
environment for children and bullets flying over their heads and all. Let’s hope he is able to return soon to a more peaceful situation. He and his companions are trying so hard to teach the people to live together in peace. The police seem to be powerless to do much about it as they are usually out gunned and out numbered on most occasions.
Another interesting thing is the reaction to our elections just completed in Australia. Here election time is a very volatile time indeed with violence, serious vote irregularities and even death of the candidates and voters being part and parcel of the experience. It was good for people here to see how Democracy works in Australia. Our elections are very benign compared to here and the change of government seems to happen without too much “smoke”, which we should thank God for as many countries in the World just don’t have the same experience even though they are called democracies. The President, Gloria Arroyo, seems to be constantly in the media for the wrong reasons, though not being a local; I have to say I don’t understand the political intrigues here anyway. The Political structure here is modelled on the American System. I am not able to comment intelligently on its strengths and weakness yet and maybe this is a good thing. Carl 
and I were unable to vote as we would have had to go to Manila which we thought a little impractical. Postal voting would have been the way to go but we did not leave ourselves enough time to do this. I wonder if our votes would have made any difference; I doubt it.
Finally I tasted my first fresh coconut today. Eddy, our handy man, employed a couple of lads to climb our palm trees and cut down some coconuts. No safety gear or ropes were used. The pictures tell the story; the milk was very sweet and the flesh quite nice. The boys were 14 and 15 and had been doing this dangerous job for a couple of years so they told me. The going rate for attending to 7 trees was P100 for each lad which is about $2.50 and I can tell you that I wouldn’t do it for 100 times that. The trees have to be at least 20 metres tall and that’s a long way to fall. They shoot up, cut and drop the coconuts. The brown exterior is spiked and removed to reveal the green fruit which Eddy then opened for us. Frank was telling me they do the same in the Pacific Islands and he related a story of one young chap falling from a tree and breaking his neck. I had a lot of respect for these lads after that I can tell you. The left over shell is dried and used for fuel; nothing wasted.
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| Photos: 1 The climb 2 Dropped from a great height. 3 doing the honours 4 milk drunk but flesh nice too 5 my first drink 6 the brave boys |
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Kabankalan News- Improvements
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The first picture was taken last year at Our Lady of Lourdes High School, Candoni, one of our poorer schools, located in the mountains. It shows an old classroom relocated to open the school grounds to make a better playing space. The second photo is of water the students carried to school each day for flushing the toilets.
In the year that has followed significant progress has occurred. The photo above is the finished improvements.
Below are a few photos to show more improvements. Note concrete floors replacing dirt floors, a little paint, guttering, downpipe and a water tank for toilet use, the open space where this time last year there was broken cement from the previous building site.
Two things have contributed to this school beginning to lift itself. The Bishop obtained a small grant of money from the Salesian Congregation which he put into school maintenance in a number of schools, including Candoni. The new computers made possible through donations we have received have lifted enrolment. The spirit in the school is high. As can readily be seen this is a simple school, but a joy to visit.
Neil leaves on 4th December for Brisbane to celebrate his Diamond Jubilee, which happy event is on 15th December. He will be away until the end of January as he joins with Vince Connors on a jubilee trip to New Zealand after Christmas. Bon voyage Neil. Congratulations and much joy!
I finish with a little story which was shared recently and it certainly helps me when things are a little tough or the weather is hot and humid as it is a lot of the time here.
"On a gloomy, rainy morning, it came this little eight-year-old Angelo's
turn to say the blessing at breakfast. 'We thank Thee for this
beautiful day,' he prayed. His mother asked him why he said that
when the day was anything but beautiful. 'Mother,' said he, with
rare wisdom, 'never judge a day by its weather.'"
In case someone asks and the reason for it was explained in an earlier issue the
ERBPM stands for “The Edmund Rice Brothers Philippines Mission”
Until next time Peter Thrupp (cfc)
