Home again Home again jiggity jig

I have returned home again to the Lovely US of A. My trip was inspiring and educational to say the least. I learned a lot about business and finding a job that you love. I also learned about the importance of other people in our lives and working to the best of our abilities in everything we do. From the business world to the people i came into contact with everyday, thank you for being my teachers!

Time flys when you're......workin'

Wow! I can’t believe it has been a week since I posted. This past week has been a whirlwind of crazy schedules and meetings. As I try to write this, though it is four in the afternoon, I am trying to stay awake. I’ll try to catch you up without writing another book because I feel like no one wants to read this anyways. Ok so here is the quick version. On Tuesday we had the opening for a new branch of CARD bank in Candalaria. I didn’t have to go so it was just Judith and me in the office which was nice. We had a good time. Wednesday I went to Lucena on a bus (which I don’t recommend) though it’s only an hour I got car sick, but not that bad. I finished up the interview in Lucena in record time and Floyd and I were back at about four o’clock or so. Thursday I went to Dolores by myself which was fun and finished up the interviews there with Olga. Friday I did homework and almost finished the write-ups for the clients.  We had a good weekend. Aunt Tanny and I went shopping for some of the things needed for camp and had church on Sunday with a sermon from uncle Joe that was so moving that the power went out. Monday Uncle Joe and Aunt Tanny picked up Miri and EJ at the airport and I came home early to see them. I finished up the interview reports at work and helped Julie with another project. This morning I had a call with Washington D.C (which sounds important but I don’t know that it really is) and we discussed the schedule for next week. I can’t believe that video week is here already. Well that’s about it. I tried to be shorter but I don’t know if it really worked. I’m learning so much and I’m so excited to be a part of what is going on here. Please keep me in your prayers.

Pictures of my weekend

Delays, Entrees, and Island Getaways

 This weekend was a whirlwind however; it was a great break that I'm glad i had the opportunity to take. I left for the airport around noon on Friday and Uncle Joe dropped me off at about one thirty and picked up Calvin and a friend for Kenny's birthday party. My flight didn't leave until quarter to five so i had plenty of time to sit down for lunch. I went into a pizza place in the mall and got a salad and chicken. It was alright, but what I was most excited about was the Shirley Temple I ordered. That was nice to have a little taste of home. At 3:30 i went through security and got to my gate with nearly an hour to spare. After finding a place on the floor, the attendant came on the speaker to announce that my flight was another hour late. So i decided to get up and go find the little Gelato place i passed on the way to my gate. I got chocolate and mango and although it was good, it was nothing like the gelato that Bella's used to have. Any ways, the fight finally arrived and we were all told to board. I waited until everyone else went through because i don’t like standing in line as people are putting away their luggage. However, when i went through the gate i realized that people were being loaded into the beltway. Not the plane. The plane was not yet ready. They must have needed the chairs everyone was in. we waited for a half hour in the beltway but finally boarded the plane. Anyways, got to Tacloban airport an hour late and laughed out loud. I’ve never been in such a tiny airport. The pictures tell all.

I had a great time with Brian and Dona, we went out to a little café when I first got there for dinner and began a game called “Who got the best meal”(Brian got the best this time). For the rest of the weekend, everywhere we went someone got a cruddy meal and someone got a great one. When we got back to their house I gave them all their prizes. Dona was thrilled with all the fabric and Brian was excited about the camera. They both immediately wanted to watch the new seasons of NCIS that I brought and are excited for those.

On Saturday we went to see the McArthur landing and then on to this resort that they had taken Joe and Tanny to.  It was lovely, we swam played Catan(Brian cheated) and ate lunch (Dona got the best meal). We headed back at about three and got home about four thirty. The rest of the evening was relaxing and we watched some more NCIS.

Sunday morning Brian was really not feeling well and so he and Dona went to the hospital to see if they could get some test done. It was closed so he just came back and slept. This seemed to help a little. Dona and I went to the mall and got a piece of tubing to extend from their washer to the drain so the floor doesn’t have to be wet all the time anymore and also a rug for in front of the outside kitchen. They really need a couch and I think they are going to look for one this week sometime. We went to church at five and it was quite nice. Big church. After we went to dinner at a Japanese place in the mall and I think I got the best meal.

Monday I went to school with them while they had a professional development day. That was interesting but I felt really tired afterwards. I can see why Brian and Donna are so stressed. We drove straight from there to a beautiful property called Rafael’s Farm. It’s a restaurant right now but they are hoping to make in a conference center. This was the first place we all had amazing food! Also Donna was desperate for a Buko Shake(young coconut). The waitress said they didn’t have any but Brian called the owner who happened to be a good friend of his. He told him that his sister came all the way from the United states to try the best Buko in the world. The owner laughed and had some people climb a tree to get the coconuts for the shake!!!!! I told Brian that I had to put that in the blog. It was too funny. The owner didn’t even charge us for them so Brian left him a big tip. I’m sure the wait staff is happy. Then we went right back to the airport.

All in all it was a great weekend. I didn’t understand a word of what anyone was saying but then again neither did Brian or Dona. They speak Waray not Tagolog so we were all clueless. Sorry for the novel again!!! Love you all and miss you. Brian and Dona send their love. 

(pictures to follow)

We're Walkin on Sunshine...!

It seems that I have been very sick since I got here. Dealing with my teeth and other issues but Wednesday, despite my illness, I had a great day out on the field. The day started off at the Dolores Branch of CARD, heading into the jungle, flowed into getting lost in the jungle and finally escaping.

                I followed Glenda and Olga into the jungle to go to a center meeting. They had this building constructed out of bamboo and tin. The meeting went well and everything went according to plan. After the meeting Glenda and I followed Olga to this clients house, or so we thought.

We started off with a road like the first road picture, then we began following a road like the second picture, and finally we ended up in the jungle. Needless to say, Olga’s internal GPS was not aligned. Maybe it has something to do with her being pregnant. Anyways, we made our way out safely and I am grateful it happened because now I am not afraid of the Philippine Jungle anymore. Well, not as afraid.

           We finally made it to the home of Rosalie who is a saver. She told me all about her charcoal making business and how her four children are her life. She was very comfortable talking to me and so I am hoping the videographer wants to include her in the movie. She is very poor but she is personable. When I asked her what I could do to make her more comfortable she smiled and said “Hair and Makeup?” lol.  

After leaving her I went to visit four more clients. Two of them were unavailable and two others were nervous. The first woman was a Sari-sari store owner and she understood and spoke some English. This made things less complicated because I didn’t have to rely solely on the interpreter. (Side Note: Even if they say that they speak no English, they do speak some. Some Tagalog words use the English word such as money and days of the week. This makes talking a little bit easier because with the context I can understand them a little.) The second woman sold AVON and I was surprised. In the U.S, Avon is expensive, Mary Kay is only slightly more affordable and direct selling is all around a big expense. However, in the Philippines, Avon is cheap. They have payment plans to fund the products and it is marketed to the poor. Mary Kay just got introduced to the country and is very expensive. Only the wealthy buy it.

                After a long day out, I got back to the city of San Pablo at about 4. As soon as I got on the jeepney I had my second experience with a begger but this time, I was prepared!

                Since I have been so sick, I have been trying to go back to the basics for food i.e PB&J. Therefore, I had bought rice around lunch time because I thought I might eat it with my sandwich, but I was full and didn’t feel like it. When the begger came to ask for money, I pulled out my bag of rice for her. She could not have been more than 13. At first when she came right to me I thought “of course, because I look American” but then I when I saw how everyone reacted to me giving her rice, I was glad that I had the bag with me. I think of that verse in Matthew that says “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”.  You never know where Jesus might show up along the street in your day. All in all it was a great day.

                   Though I spent yesterday home sick all day I am trying to get my system to calm down and enjoy the experience. Today I am flying to Leyte to see Brian and Donna. I am equipt with the 18 pound(not an exaggeration) underwater camera from Mr. Nickerson as well as clothes for Brian, and about 70 yards of fabric for Donna. I’m sorry this has turned into a novel but I am so excited about what is happening here and I hope that these people realize that their money is not the only thing that needs saving. With the thorough Catholic influence, it is sad to see people give all they have in hopes of winning favor. Pray that these people seek Jesus and that he touches this nation.

A Day in the Life of a Saver

This is the project that I am currently working on for both CARD and The Grameen foundation, which is a sort of sponsor with the help of Gates foundation. Anyways, my job is to help select people to interview and video in order to create a short documentary about how the savings program affects their lives. So far I have written an article for the Grameen foundation newsletter( I will put up a link when they publish it, may be a while) and I have taken organized and named photos to put in both the Day in the life of a Saver project and the internal one im doing. I have been to many places in the poor community recently and wanted to show you a few pictures. The pictures of the "buildings" are the structures that they build  in order to hold these weekly center meetings for their groups. At best they remind me of a Jesus' day stable. They are made of bamboo or tin or anything else available.  The one picture with the green room is what they call an obo which is a makeshift bank in over 300 neighborhoods. These make it easier for the leaders of the center meetings to deposit the money. However, as you can see there  is no security at all. These Obo's are given the ability to handle up to 50,000 pesos per client(About $1,100) and there are no guards, no bullet proof glass, no security at all. The place a coffee table in the room with some plastic chairs and dish out or collect money. The very thought scares me. The rest of the pictures are of the groups of women, their children, and their daily lives. It is easy to get taken away by the emotions of how poor these people are but there are so many people trying to help them it is inspiring. The fact that I get to be a part of it is amazing.

Let's Get Excited!

I know I am! Tim Hansel said, “Life becomes precious and more special to us when we look for the little everyday miracles and get excited about the privileges of simply being human." This is what I experienced yesterday, but let me start at the beginning. 
For those of you who do not know, I am working for a company called Grameen Foundation. It has been given a grant by The Gates(yes as in Bill Gates) Foundation to come to the Philippines and work with a Bank to set up a savings program. The bank that they chose is called CARD bank. It is a bank created to be run by women, for women. Right now it is mainly a loaning bank that gives loans for women to open businesses like a convenience shop or a junk yard. It teaches women how to be responsible to pay back their liability and GF wants to add a savings aspect. This new program was started in January of last year and the savings accounts became available in November. My job is to do two documentaries. one that will be targeting the internal people such as the board, future donors, the executive team and the Gates foundation. The other will be an external look at the people the company is touching and will be for the general public.
SO, all that being said........I caught the jeepney at 6:30 and went down town yesterday and met Julie, she's the American representative on the project and my boss, and the rest of the team at 7/11 at seven o'clock. The five of us drove to Lucena and got there about quarter of nine. (I wish Brian still lived there because it would have been fun to see him as I go there every week.) The team got ready for their all day meeting and I went with one of the one of the team members out to what they call center meetings. this is a group of maybe 30 women that are required to meet for a half an hour every week to hold them accountable to paying back their loans. These women make t-shirts, create songs, some of them even build "club houses" for this weekly meeting. The two i visited were fun. All the children wanted their picture taken and of course wanted to see them. Over the course of the morning I took pictures and got to know their processes. 
We then returned to the office to eat lunch at a local dive(more of a home that cleared out the front room, put in a few tables and cooked in mass. However, I'm getting used to not knowing what I'm eating(and not asking!).
The most exciting part of my day, came after lunch. I went out on the field with one of the tellers as my interpreter to interview some clients. I met a girl who was a single mother at 18. She decided to turn her life around and start saving. She saved enough to start up a little business and now her hopes and dreams for her little baby girl are huge. The second girl i met had a gambling problem but a 22 years old she started saving and transformed her attitude about money and a future for her family. 
Both of these women have inspired me in my projects as I work on them. Last night i took the jeepney back home at about seven and got home just in time for a conference call at eight. Officially the longest work day I have ever had, but it felt good. Working from home today on the internal project(which is a good thing because it has been POURING all day) and going back out on the field tomorrow. I'm sorry this is a novel but i love you all and miss you!
Mel
P.S my teeth are feeling better.