Only two days left here at the school. I know I’ve already mentioned this but I’m definitely going to miss a lot of the people here. Both the kids and the staff have taught me so much about their culture, especially how easy it is to make good friends despite the huge differences. Not to mention all the sign language and Visayan I’ve learned, even though I'm not sure how I’m going to keep practicing that when I get home.
I spent some time today teaching the scheduled performance songs to Joseph and Jade. I think they’ve just about got them down, and I bet they will stun the crowd with their performance. We’re working on getting the kids involved by singing the choruses, so that will be the main task over the next day or so. I was hoping to teach them a dance but I think that it would take more time than I have. I definitely want to have another ‘dance party night’ with everyone to give them some tips on how to dance to other styles of music. Filipinos definitely love music, which is great except for one hideous institution that drives me crazy, karaoke. Everywhere I go people are doing karaoke, and 99.9999999% of the time it’s very bad and very annoying. Do they really need to turn the volume way up on those things? Anyway I digress. Apparently a puppet show is scheduled for this Friday as well, so I’m curious to see how that turns out.
It’s been really hot up here in the mountains lately, yet as usual Jade doesn’t seem to mind it and can pass out in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile I sit there in a sweat just waiting for morning to come. It seems like the animals have gotten wind of my imminent departure, as we’ve been having an unusual amount of visitors lately. Last night the rats and gekkos were causing quite a ruckus. A big spider also crawled into my bag, I guess he wanted to go check out my crib.
Before I sign off I wanted to address something I said in an earlier entry. I had voiced concern over why Tom and Diane did not admit kids under 9 to the school. I feel I should clarify that the school here is intended as a second chance school for dropouts. It’s not meant to compete with regular public schools, Tom and Diane have no problem if kids want to go to their barangay’s school. Basically Mapa addresses the need for an educational institution for kids passed up by the government school system.
Tomorrow I think we'll get a final round of basketball versus the local MAPA pro team. Hopefully we can pull it together so the teachers don't end up losing money again.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Steven: July 23
So here we are, our last week at the school. These past few weeks have been a lot of fun with the staff and the students. T-bone, some of the staff, and I have gotten several intense games of b-ball versus the local pro team. Although we have yet to take home a victory we’ve had some good games despite the cheap play of our opponents. Before the games we take a run up this really steep hill leading to the concrete court, which probably is not a good idea since it significantly drains us.
All the students speak to me in Visayan now, I’m sure they enjoy it when I have no idea what they’re saying, but I’m learning. Also over the weekend the kids had a quiz bowl. The competition was intense and saw many heated intellectual battles covering nutritional topics. Afterwards they had a dance party which was pretty hilarious. They put on really loud techno music and proceeded to go crazy, you really just had to be there.
I’ve also taken some time to enjoy the island a little more. I went for scuba dive #2 this past weekend right around White Island. I saw some amazing coral formations along with a nice stingray just to name a few of the sights. Then I took a mountain bike ride around most of the island. Every five seconds some locals would shout something to me. It’s going to be odd to go home and not be treated like a spectacle anymore, but alas.
In other news it’s still hot, all this nonsense about a rainy season cooling things off is false. Today when we walked up to the school my shirt was soaked through with sweat, a nice thick blanket of wet, hot air was the culprit. Although some rain finally did come through the mountains today, but it stopped a little while ago and now it’s just hot again. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that the tropics is simply not somewhere I’d want to live for a long time, cold weather is definitely preferable.
I’m a little worried about training the performers for the show at the end of the week. We’ve agreed on three songs and a dance. I suppose I’ll play guitar, but I doubt anyone else, especially the kids, actually has the lyrics memorized. Then for the dance I still need to teach them a ton of steps… Well last minute is typically when I get everything done so maybe I shouldn’t be worrying. Tonight a huge spider decided to crawl into my bag, and then some gekkos stopped by to stare at me from my ceiling, and I heard some rats behind the dresser again. I think it’s fair to say there are certain things I won’t miss about my nepa hut up here in the mountains. Yet I certainly will miss the unique people I've met here at the school during my time here.
All the students speak to me in Visayan now, I’m sure they enjoy it when I have no idea what they’re saying, but I’m learning. Also over the weekend the kids had a quiz bowl. The competition was intense and saw many heated intellectual battles covering nutritional topics. Afterwards they had a dance party which was pretty hilarious. They put on really loud techno music and proceeded to go crazy, you really just had to be there.
I’ve also taken some time to enjoy the island a little more. I went for scuba dive #2 this past weekend right around White Island. I saw some amazing coral formations along with a nice stingray just to name a few of the sights. Then I took a mountain bike ride around most of the island. Every five seconds some locals would shout something to me. It’s going to be odd to go home and not be treated like a spectacle anymore, but alas.
In other news it’s still hot, all this nonsense about a rainy season cooling things off is false. Today when we walked up to the school my shirt was soaked through with sweat, a nice thick blanket of wet, hot air was the culprit. Although some rain finally did come through the mountains today, but it stopped a little while ago and now it’s just hot again. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that the tropics is simply not somewhere I’d want to live for a long time, cold weather is definitely preferable.
I’m a little worried about training the performers for the show at the end of the week. We’ve agreed on three songs and a dance. I suppose I’ll play guitar, but I doubt anyone else, especially the kids, actually has the lyrics memorized. Then for the dance I still need to teach them a ton of steps… Well last minute is typically when I get everything done so maybe I shouldn’t be worrying. Tonight a huge spider decided to crawl into my bag, and then some gekkos stopped by to stare at me from my ceiling, and I heard some rats behind the dresser again. I think it’s fair to say there are certain things I won’t miss about my nepa hut up here in the mountains. Yet I certainly will miss the unique people I've met here at the school during my time here.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Trevor: Sunday, July 22, 2007
As we were walking down to the main road from the school on Friday, Steve brought to mind the fact that we have only 5 more weekdays at the school. We'll be leaving the Philippines in roughly a week and a half. It seems like just yesterday that we were making the sweaty trek up the hill to Mapa for the first time, yet at the same time, I feel like we've been here forever. Those two sentiments may seem directly conflicting; it's certainly a strange feeling overall.
This week, there was a mild "disturbance" near the grade 5/6 classroom (ie a strong smell of animal feces), so we merged the class with grade 4 for the day. Both classes have speech during the first period in the afternoon, and together with Wilvin and Jennebeth, I came up with an idea for a vowel-sound competition. We wrote a poem on the board, and each group of 6 students tried to write down all of the words that contained each vowel sound. The group that found the most words won. It got pretty intense, especially after we announced that the winning group would receive extra credit on their next quiz. It seems like the students don't get the opportunity to learn much "outside of the book." Activities where they get to apply what they learn from the textbook seem to really spark their interest.
This weekend, I've been back down at the house, working on the topic lists for the curriculum. Last night, Tom and Diane went to one of the resorts nearby to meet with some old friends, and Steve was at Paras, so I was at the house with Jomar, a grade 6 student who comes down to help at the house on weekends. He's one of the brightest students at the school, and we threw a baseball around, watched Back to the Future on TV, and we got to talk a little bit about what he wants to do after he leaves Mapa. One regret I have is not having been able to bond more on an individual basis with the students. It's very difficult, because while they have an informal relationship with the teachers, Steve and I are constantly referred to as "Sir," and the kids are really shy about speaking English with us. I've joked with Tom and Diane that I'll have to get my little brother to start calling me "Sir Trevor" when I get back to the US. But perhaps most importantly, I was able to get a student's perspective on the English curriculum by talking to Jomar about which teaching techniques helped him and which didn't.
Well it's back to work on the topic lists, but I'll be sure to check in a few more times before we leave.
This week, there was a mild "disturbance" near the grade 5/6 classroom (ie a strong smell of animal feces), so we merged the class with grade 4 for the day. Both classes have speech during the first period in the afternoon, and together with Wilvin and Jennebeth, I came up with an idea for a vowel-sound competition. We wrote a poem on the board, and each group of 6 students tried to write down all of the words that contained each vowel sound. The group that found the most words won. It got pretty intense, especially after we announced that the winning group would receive extra credit on their next quiz. It seems like the students don't get the opportunity to learn much "outside of the book." Activities where they get to apply what they learn from the textbook seem to really spark their interest.
This weekend, I've been back down at the house, working on the topic lists for the curriculum. Last night, Tom and Diane went to one of the resorts nearby to meet with some old friends, and Steve was at Paras, so I was at the house with Jomar, a grade 6 student who comes down to help at the house on weekends. He's one of the brightest students at the school, and we threw a baseball around, watched Back to the Future on TV, and we got to talk a little bit about what he wants to do after he leaves Mapa. One regret I have is not having been able to bond more on an individual basis with the students. It's very difficult, because while they have an informal relationship with the teachers, Steve and I are constantly referred to as "Sir," and the kids are really shy about speaking English with us. I've joked with Tom and Diane that I'll have to get my little brother to start calling me "Sir Trevor" when I get back to the US. But perhaps most importantly, I was able to get a student's perspective on the English curriculum by talking to Jomar about which teaching techniques helped him and which didn't.
Well it's back to work on the topic lists, but I'll be sure to check in a few more times before we leave.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Steven: July 14
Only a little more than two weeks left here! It's hard to believe the summer has gone by so fast. T-bone and I just returned from an interesting visit to Cagayan de Oro. We managed to somehow get our visas extended after paying a hefty fee of about 60 US dollars. They certainly like to gouge the foreigners for they're worth over here, so be forewarned potential travelers. Although to be fair many places are like this too, it's merely the driving principle behind a healthy tourism industry. Otherwise we got some DVD movies in this subterranean Muslim-run shady boutique, waited with a swarm of people at the Cebu Pacific ticketing office, saw a movie at the local 'mall', and got a cheap 'Hobble-Hobble' ride back to Tom and Diane's that was the highlight of the trip (minus the hot ash flying into my eyes, apparently the entire population decides to burn random crap at around 5 in the afternoon).
On another front stuff at the school is going well, I've been spending time with Joseph and the Grade 1 math students. The class has essentially been split between those that have a clue as to what's going on, and those who still can't count. There are definitely a couple of bright kids in the class though who catch on to all the topics very fast, luckily they often help out and teach the others. I've given all the teachers the achievement tests from the public schools for math, and later I will give them the ones for Science, Filipino, and Makabayan (history, music, and art). T and I also picked up some new math and english books in CDO. They look very promising, well-laid out with sample tests for the teachers to use. They might be a little more expensive than previous books have been so we'll see what they decide.
T and I just got back from going to this tree house attraction here on Camiguin. Very cool sculptures and paintings covered every surface of the place, definitely worth seeing.
Oh I also got some bad food poisoning while in CDO. So one of the few nights I'm in a nice room with A/C I spend clutching the bathroom toilet, oh well. If you're ever in CDO be wary of the chorizo, that's all I'll say about that. Now I must be off, many things to be done
.
On another front stuff at the school is going well, I've been spending time with Joseph and the Grade 1 math students. The class has essentially been split between those that have a clue as to what's going on, and those who still can't count. There are definitely a couple of bright kids in the class though who catch on to all the topics very fast, luckily they often help out and teach the others. I've given all the teachers the achievement tests from the public schools for math, and later I will give them the ones for Science, Filipino, and Makabayan (history, music, and art). T and I also picked up some new math and english books in CDO. They look very promising, well-laid out with sample tests for the teachers to use. They might be a little more expensive than previous books have been so we'll see what they decide.
T and I just got back from going to this tree house attraction here on Camiguin. Very cool sculptures and paintings covered every surface of the place, definitely worth seeing.
Oh I also got some bad food poisoning while in CDO. So one of the few nights I'm in a nice room with A/C I spend clutching the bathroom toilet, oh well. If you're ever in CDO be wary of the chorizo, that's all I'll say about that. Now I must be off, many things to be done
.
Trevor: Sunday, July 15, 2007
Posing in front of JollibeeThis week, we caught the edge of the tropical depression that passed its way through East Asia. There wasn't very much rain, but the winds were almost scary in their intensity. Wilvin left the school during the week to attend his Grandmother's funeral, and so I was left alone to brave the storm in our sleeping quarters. Ok, so maybe it wasn't that bad, but it's pretty incredible to see the trees outside the window bent far over due to the wind. It was nice and cool, but it was difficult to sleep because of the nipa leaves that kept falling from the roof onto the bed. I woke up many times during the night to brush leaves off of the pillow.
Because Wilvin was gone for two days, I was able to take over his grade 5/6 language class. Teaching common and proper nouns was an interesting experience, especially because I've had to re-learn much of the grammar material myself. Actually thinking about what each word means and their relationships to each other in sentences isn't something that I do on a regular basis. However, I think my points came across well, as the kids seem to pick up the material without much problem.
This weekend, Steve and I went to Cagayan to extend our visas. The ferry ride was quite rough, and I felt a bit queasy afterwards, so I just slept on the bus ride. We went straight to the Department of Immigration office, just as they closed for a two hour lunch break. We were pretty dismayed, as we had donned close-toed shoes and long pants specially for the occasion (you are not admitted otherwise). We ate lunch and then returned, and finally received our visa extensions. While in Cagayan, we also changed our return tickets as well as saw a movie at the mall near our hotel. The size of the move theaters here boggles my mind, they're easily twice as large as those in the US. We also stopped by Jollibee, a national institution of a fast food restaurant which seems to be perpetually crowded, regardless of the time of day.
Sleeping in an air conditioned room was nice, but it was actually too cold at nighttime. Could I be getting used to the climate? It's unthinkable. On the way back from Cagayan, the bus ride and the ferry trip were uneventful, but as we struggled onto land, we discovered that the motorella and jeepnee drivers were trying to overcharge us for the trip back to Tom and Diane's house. So we decided to jump on the back of a "habel habel" (read: motorcycle). On one motorcycle, there were was driver, Steve and I, along with two backpacks and a box of textbooks that we had purchased in Cagayan. It was a new experience, but is far from one that I would like to experience again.
When we got back to the house, it was almost dinner time, and a bunch of the teachers had come down to spend the night. There's a sense of family that pervades Tom and Diane's relationship with all of the people they work with on Camiguin.
This morning, Tom took us to Enigmata, which is a treehouse, built in a huge acacia tree by a local artist. It's a very unique home, and seemingly every surface in the house is decorated, down to the toilet seats.
As Steve and I look back at the month and a half of time we've spent here and the two weeks we have remaining, we can't fathom just how fast this summer has passed.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Steven: July 10th
Well I'm back after an unprecedented leave of absence from blogging. Much has transpired since my last entry, so allow me to bring you all up to speed.
Lately T-bone and I have been playing some hoops with a few of the teachers. We sprint up this steep hill to a concrete court, or the battlefield, then the games begin. I enjoy the competition, although I can tell the Filipinos get frustrated at my height and see it is an unfair advantage. Afterwards sometimes we get some young coconuts back at the school. Downing the sweet coconut water after sweating off five lbs in the hot tropical sun is quite an experience.
My sign language ability has been growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to the assistance of all the great teachers up here. Anirose has been especially helpful to me, frequently quizzing me with mercilessness. In return I quiz her on the Spanish language, which she is quickly learning.
Wildlife continues to be a constant source of entertainment. The other night when I got into the shower there was a nice, big toad in there with me. Jade Emperor told me it was harmless but then later corrected himself and said it might be poisonous... Big spiders are the main nuisance in my sleeping quarters, ants aren't that much of a problem at the school (unless you leave something with sugar out).
The other day, as aforementioned, Trevor and I gave a rousing talk about nutrition. I thought it went over fairly well, with some talk about things like physical fitness and natural herbs. My favorite part of the ceremony was the parade at the beginning. T-bone put on some music and the kids started to get their dance swerve on. At then end we were presented with a certificate and some deluxe T-shirts that will certainly see some serious wear back in the states. Although mine is a little tight (mind you it's and XL by Filipino standards).
I've been having a lot of fun teaching guitar to Joseph (a teacher) and the kids. They are all very eager to learn about the instrument, especially when it comes to playing pop songs. Most of the songs they like I am not familiar with but I've downloaded a few and will start to teach them not that I can listen to them. I think it would be great to put on a concert before Trevor and I leave disembark early next month.
Speaking of leaving. It's funny how when I first got here all I could think about was going home. Now I actually don't want to leave and know it will be extremely hard to say goodbye. It's such a simple life right now and surrounded by people whose company I enjoy. I'll definitely have to plan a return visit before the end of the year.
In other news, last Thursday night we had a swarm of flying termites invade the school buildings. Inexplicably, some of the kids decided to feast upon the creatures. Upon inquiry, I was told that they tasted like 'milk'. OK, well I seriously doubt that but they seemed to really enjoy eating the little guys. I politely declined the cuisine.
Finally, I managed to get the achievement test for grades 1-6 in science and math. So I'll be going over those as well as getting them to the teachers. This way they'll have an easy way to gauge what they're doing against what the public schools here on the island are doing. Maybe they can even adapt the tests and administer them to the kids at the school as a diagnostic tool.
The tests certainly need some revisions though, as some of the questions are esoteric and/or nonsensical.
Thanks for continuing to read the site. Feel free to ask me any questions.
Lately T-bone and I have been playing some hoops with a few of the teachers. We sprint up this steep hill to a concrete court, or the battlefield, then the games begin. I enjoy the competition, although I can tell the Filipinos get frustrated at my height and see it is an unfair advantage. Afterwards sometimes we get some young coconuts back at the school. Downing the sweet coconut water after sweating off five lbs in the hot tropical sun is quite an experience.
My sign language ability has been growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to the assistance of all the great teachers up here. Anirose has been especially helpful to me, frequently quizzing me with mercilessness. In return I quiz her on the Spanish language, which she is quickly learning.
Wildlife continues to be a constant source of entertainment. The other night when I got into the shower there was a nice, big toad in there with me. Jade Emperor told me it was harmless but then later corrected himself and said it might be poisonous... Big spiders are the main nuisance in my sleeping quarters, ants aren't that much of a problem at the school (unless you leave something with sugar out).
The other day, as aforementioned, Trevor and I gave a rousing talk about nutrition. I thought it went over fairly well, with some talk about things like physical fitness and natural herbs. My favorite part of the ceremony was the parade at the beginning. T-bone put on some music and the kids started to get their dance swerve on. At then end we were presented with a certificate and some deluxe T-shirts that will certainly see some serious wear back in the states. Although mine is a little tight (mind you it's and XL by Filipino standards).
I've been having a lot of fun teaching guitar to Joseph (a teacher) and the kids. They are all very eager to learn about the instrument, especially when it comes to playing pop songs. Most of the songs they like I am not familiar with but I've downloaded a few and will start to teach them not that I can listen to them. I think it would be great to put on a concert before Trevor and I leave disembark early next month.
Speaking of leaving. It's funny how when I first got here all I could think about was going home. Now I actually don't want to leave and know it will be extremely hard to say goodbye. It's such a simple life right now and surrounded by people whose company I enjoy. I'll definitely have to plan a return visit before the end of the year.
In other news, last Thursday night we had a swarm of flying termites invade the school buildings. Inexplicably, some of the kids decided to feast upon the creatures. Upon inquiry, I was told that they tasted like 'milk'. OK, well I seriously doubt that but they seemed to really enjoy eating the little guys. I politely declined the cuisine.
Finally, I managed to get the achievement test for grades 1-6 in science and math. So I'll be going over those as well as getting them to the teachers. This way they'll have an easy way to gauge what they're doing against what the public schools here on the island are doing. Maybe they can even adapt the tests and administer them to the kids at the school as a diagnostic tool.
The tests certainly need some revisions though, as some of the questions are esoteric and/or nonsensical.
Thanks for continuing to read the site. Feel free to ask me any questions.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Trevor: Sunday, July 8, 2007
Tom and Diane's Jeep (the vehicle for patient visits)
Showing off the Department of Health's vision statement
Two little girls at one of the patients' houses
Nutrition Month kick-offThis week, it's really started to rain. Some days, it has rained almost from dawn until dusk. I'm wondering if my clothes will dry before I leave the Philippines. It's a constant struggle to find sunlight, and we have to run out and take our clothes off of the line whenever it starts to rain.
The grade 5/6 class is held in a sleeping quarter building at the bottom of the property, and its roof has a few holes. The students have to strategically place their tables and benches in the classroom so that they don't get wet. It's really amazing to me how nipa roofing (made from a leafy plant similar to a palm leaf) can keep the water out, but it generally works pretty well, except when it's not replaced regularly. Tom has sent new nipa up to the school, so the roofing will be fixed soon.
On Monday, we went with Diane on one of her trips around the island to see patients. We were chased by hordes of mosquitoes while hiking off the road in search of a patient, and went between a few of the public schools to track down patients during the school day.
July is nutrition month, and the school held its opening event on Wednesday. Steve and I were the "guest speakers." We spoke about having a health lifestyle, and Steve spoke specifically about medicinal plants. I'm not sure about our expertise in those areas, but we figured out some things to talk about. Each grade had made a poster, and they hold cleanliness checks and various other events throughout the month. Celebrations like nutrition month help to get the students involved outside of class.
On Saturday morning, I interviewed a group of brothers for my documentary. They have 7 kids in their family, and all of them have been touched by Family to Family in some way either by attending the Mapa School or participating in the high school assistance program, or both. It was amazing to hear the struggles which they have endured, and have still managed to get a secondary education. The Mapa School truly has a family environment, not just within the sibling groups that attend the school, but within the networks that the students maintain long after they leave. When Tom and Diane need information about a former student, they will just talk to other former students, as they all seem to look out for each other.
Last night, Steve and I stayed at Paras Beach Resort, which is about 15 minutes from Tom and Diane's house. It sits right on the water, and it was nice to have air conditioning and hot water for a day. Strangely enough, I miss the school and its more simple lifestyle. It's going to be an interesting transition going back to the US.
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