Edmund Rice Brothers, Philippines Mission Diary - 23
31st October 2008
 REGISTERED NAME: Edmund Rice Brothers, The Philippines, Inc. CN200825020 |
Quote of the Month:
“God gave you eyes to see and eyelids to close them”
Here we have a quote that was taken from the mouth of the Master after someone asked him whether people should be punished if they saw them doing wrong. Not bad advice for a fellow like me who is a little too quick to criticize for his own good.
In Hilongos we are still experiencing hot and humid conditions which is the normal lot of all Filipinos though they tell me it does cool down a little in December. I don’t think I will hold my breath for it. No Typhoons or earthquakes to report and though the rain is plentiful we have only lost one day of School this term because of the extreme weather conditions so all is pretty quiet at the moment. We have had a visit from Peter Dowling since I last wrote and it was a delight to have him for a few days. He has since gone off to Melbourne to be with his Parents for their 60th wedding anniversary. We are expecting Steve McLaughlin and Paul Ryan to visit us soon.
School News:
Two big events for the School this month were Saint Teresa Day and the Intramurals to celebrate the School’s foundation day. The School feastday was celebrated with a Eucharist and procession followed by a day of games and fun; no classes of course. The intramurals was a big deal and we lost a good week from classes as the three days set aside for games and celebration were accompanied by shortened classes the week before and in some cases no classes at all. The various activities were arranged and students were expected to practice their particular discipline some of which were baseball, volleyball, basketball and other minor sports such as table tennis and chess. Also public speaking, band recitals and team dancing were part of the proceedings. One day was given over to the running sports and this happened within the small confines of the School ground which gave rise to some funny mishaps but all in all everyone seemed to have had a great time. The whole week was brought to a satisfactory end with a Saturday evening concert and Pageant where a Master and Miss STSH were chosen and suitable crowned. Never mind that the winners were both under the age of 10. We three brothers did start the evening off with an evocation where we were asked to sing a hymn. With the aid of a power point presentation the introductory prayer went off very well thanks be to God. It is now Monday and we find we are to have yet another holiday from classes to celebrate General Macarthur’s famous return. Oh how these people love to celebrate.
Sogod:
Peter made another trip to Saint Thomas Aquinas College Sogod recently and was able to hand over to Fr Merwin, the director, a small donation of P10, 000 ($250), from community resources, specifically for some much needed Science Equipment, which will fit well in the new Science room. I have prepared a power point which focuses on the Leyte mission. A copy has been sent to Bob Chambers (RBChambers@edmundrice.org) if you would like a copy please contact him and he will be happy to forward it to you. This CD will interest anyone who would like to know more about what we are doing here on Leyte and certainly it would be very helpful to those wishing to assist our mission.
Alay Lacad 2008:
The day started at 5.30 with a half hour workout in the local Hilongos Gym, and yes I did participate in the whole exercise but unfortunately I wore myself out and was unable to do the whole walk though I did do some of it. The walk was to a nearby Barangay some 6 km away. The idea was to raise money for the poor students of Hilongos who can’t afford to go to college. I and Carl represented the community as Frank had to be at the School all morning. The concert and games were fun to watch and of course the countless speeches given by each of the dignitaries in turn caused the day to drag on a bit. We got back in time for a late lunch.
NFRBP:
Peter T, Neil and John went to Davao City recently to attend the National Federation of Religious Brothers in the Philippines called the 9th Triennial Conference, which ran from the 24th to the 26th of October. Some 150 religious brothers attended and it was a very impressive gathering of men indeed. It made us feel we were not alone in our missionary work. A special reflection which I will call “brotherhood in the Philippines” will follow at some stage which will spell out in more detail why the whole experience was so worthwhile.
Christmas:
The brothers at Kabankalan and we three plan to get together on December 19 and have our first Philippines Christian Brothers gathering in Cebu. Rod, Neil and I will make our way back to Australia after this to enjoy a well earned break. The others will have their break later next year. I will spend Christmas with my relations in Sydney. Rod and Neil will make their way back to their respective States.
Life in Kabankalan:
The new house is well advanced and they hope to be in by December.
Rod has just taken off for Perth to assist in the farewell of his Father who passed away just recently. We ask all our readers to keep Mr Ellyard and his family in your prayers. PXT
