Volunteer reflections
Claire in the Philippines!
After an orientation of 10 days with other volunteers Claire describes her first days in her project:
. So we arrived in Roxas, where I will be assigned for the remainder of the year, in a beautiful landscape of lush grass, green hills, mountains and a quaint little village. I met my fellow workers who were all very welcoming with signs around the office and house saying welcome Claire!
Our dream house
My house is called the "dream house", it's a very simple hut made out of wood with a tin roof! There are no walls just wooden open squares. Inside it's beautiful, full of colour, as it used to be a nursery! It's very basic - beds, a small wardrobe, a cupboard, a table and stools, then in the cellar there is a little charcoal grill, a bathroom (C.R) consisting of a bucket, a ladle and a toilet basin - that's it - there is no sink, no bathtub, no shower, no fridge and no running water! (Our faucet is damaged so we walk down to the bottom of the hill to use the alternative one.every morning. to turn the water on which is linked to our house with a hose pipe, we then fill our buckets up for the day then walk back down and turn the water off! so as you can imagine it's very basic!
Inside the house is not sealed like our houses back home so there are many creatures that live with us! This is one thing that I'm not coping with!! In our house there are lizards, geckos, spiders-and not just your average Joe blogs spider I mean huge ones! There are also cockroaches, mosquitos, which cover me in delicious red marks! and ants. We actually have just had terminators in to get rid of the ants as we had a massive termite hill outside the house with the king and queen of ants about the size of a small thumb!! Oh yeah and we also have rats, as I have recently just discovered to my horror!! This was not so funny and I ended up not using the office C.R for a few days due to being a scaredy cat! I wish the creatures would leave me alone now!!!
Because we're in the rainy season now, it rains a lot! And the rain is very heavy, like monsoon rain! At night time because of our metal roof the rain is so noisy you can't hear each other talk it's that loud, and the rain comes through the gaps, so we have many buckets lying around the house!! About the noise - every morning the roosters wake us up at about 4. I seriously want to shoot them! So the place is very noisy but at least you don't feel alone! There's always someone or some creature to keep you company!
The children of Railway
Our day starts at 5.00, we get the water, light the charcoal, cook the food, eat, I run, then shower, we then pray, then get ready for work, we're at work at 7.30 which is next door! I work in a children's centre, my job is sponsor relations (S.R) coordinator and ECCD early childhood care and development. This involves me working with children in their letter writing, going to the areas and schools of the children to assess the health and education, which I later report and write up! On my visits to the areas we often visit the homes which are in the shanty towns, which really shocked me on my first trip as it's the sort of place you only see in a magazine and looking at it is so different to actually being in it! The picture does not capture the reality of it! So when I first visited some children in the area of Railway I was shocked by the sheer poverty! The shanty town was built on top of a river; the houses were on stilts above the river which was black and full of rubbish and dirt! But once again the friendliness, kindness and happiness of the people concealed the poverty and after a while you don't notice it anymore!
ECCD children
The ECCD takes place every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons where I conduct activities for the children, like story telling, reading, writing, drawing, singing, dancing and playing games. The work day finishes about 5, then the local children come round our house again. We (me and Luz) then play, sing, and dance with them, they are so cute! On Saturdays the mothers, the youth, and the children from the barangays (villages) come for sessions and activities, which are very well organized and constructed. They learn about life skills and relationships, the mothers learn of health, and the children read, write and draw. The children here are so cute, they surround us with smiles, laughter, happiness, smiles and joy; they are always happy no matter what, and they love to play come rain or sun! They are also teaching me to speak Ilongo here as most people's English is very limited so it's hard to chat, and if I don't learn it will make me isolated so I'm learning! But it's very slow! The children help lots as they always teach me words like alibangbang-butterfly, damang-spider, itikitik-tickle, and the basic sentences!
Washing clothes
On Sundays and Mondays we have days off work, we usually go to the market for our weekly shop and then wash our clothes, and then there's usually a fiesta, or a birthday of someone so we go there! There is also the local beach Bay-bay, it is so so beautiful! I only wish I could spend every day there.
Claire and Luz cooking
So to round it up, I'm in good health, I'm very safe! and I'm being looked after very very well! I'm settled in now, and I'm very happy here, the Philippines has a very peaceful atmosphere, and the happiness and warmth of the people especially the children keep me going! Everyday I'm learning something new, I'm learning quickly to live simply, and I am learning what truly matters to me, and what doesn't matter to me!