Visit to the Red Cross

A visit to Quezon City’s Chapter of the Philippine Red Cross involved another serious conference setting and a presentation including all their volunteers dressed up in uniform. Kindly arranged by a Rotarian I met at one of the meetings a long presentation didn’t even begin to cover the amazing work they do in the Philippines.

I think sometimes we forget in the UK how spoilt we are. If we have an emergency, a fire or a car accident we call the emergency services and know they will come. In Manila that might not be the case. While the Chairmen wasn’t critical of the government provision of emergency service it was clear that these were not meeting the need and the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) were filling in the gap.

In addition to the services that are remarkably similar to the British Red Cross (BRC) in terms of support for the homeless, first aid training and family tracing to name a few, there is also an additional massive scope to their work in Manila. As well as the disaster relief, a vital service with the Philippines being the top most disaster prone country, there is massive work in capacity building for communities as well as filling in for the emergency services. If this wasn’t impressive enough the fact that there are almost no paid staff and this work is carried out by volunteers should do it.

Although they do have an emergency number and a call centre is manned 27/7 they are also called out by the Philippine National Police when they attend emergencies. But the main point of contact with the public is through their astonishingly comprehensive network of volunteers. Ambulances, dinghys and fire engines are donated by their supporters.

Recognising that the usual support systems we rely on in the UK might not be available or affordable to most of the population the PRC, like the MMDA and other organisations we’ve seen focus on training people to help themselves in an emergency. Thousands of members of the public are trained in not only first aid but disaster preparedness an water rescue and they have a great volunteer retention rate with the volunteers around the table averaging a seven year involvement.

Each chapter fundraises and is given a target and a budget. Quezon City’s is 65m pesos and they regularly exceed fundraising expectations. Each chapter has its own board of trustees and paid staff and the national PRC sits over the top with its own board. Interestingly this board includes 6 representatives appointed by the president perhaps representing the key role the organisation plays in the country. However the staff we spoke to were keen to assure that they didn’t see this as compromising the independence of the organisation as with them representing only 20% these six could not have a majority vote.

Following the visit to the Quezon City Chapter we were lucky enough to be able to visit the national headquarters where after the rest of the group made it clear my list of questions was too long the briefing session was cut short and we went for a look at their monitoring centre where everything from the levels of La Mesa Dam to the levels of deportees from Saba. All this work is done on simple excel spreadsheets regularly updated by staff.

To put into context the severity of the risk the PRC are facing an overflow at La Mesa Dam could kill two million people if evacuation is not quick enough. 

Like most organisations we’ve seen whilst we’re here this type of risk gives so much more significance to their work. With so few resources the work done here is stunning and I’ve written in previous posts really simple, practical economic solutions go so far to mitigating these risks.

Following my donations

It’s not often you get to know how the money you donate to charity is actually spent but today I was able to meet Jun Perez, President of SEED Finance, the Filipino partner of Lendwithcare. I’ve always thought the whole concept of Lendwithcare is fantastic and was keen to find out more about how the scheme actually operates on the ground.

I didn’t think when I emailed the general email address that they’d actually be able to arrange the visit but within a couple of days they’d put me in touch with Jun. It’s always a concern that when you learn more about an organisation you find out about the issues and problems but nothing was further from the truth with SEED Finance. At the risk that I’m beginning to sound like this is written by their PR company I can assure you that I’m fairly cynical generally and have this week been accused of cross examining the Chairmen of the Quezon City Red Cross in a manner that was apparently more like an interrogation than a Q&A session.

So at the SEED offices we were shown to the small meeting room and given a history of their involvement with CARE International. Jun was friendly, well informed and enthusiastic as well as keen to talk about their work. Photos on the wall have the caption ‘Micro no more’ underneath and a map has pins showing their coverage of the country.

For anyone else who lends with Lendwithcare I can assure you from what I’ve heard your money is being well spent. The individuals we see on the website are all members of co-operatives in the provinces and this is how their loans are administered. Jun made it clear that their loans were not the cheapest in the market but that they offer an extensive support service that extends beyond the loans themselves. This includes technical assistance and training so not only are the loans protected but a sustainable business is created. It seems like these measures are helping contribute to their 97% overall repayment rate, up 57%.

Loans are targeted in the most deprived regions and in places where mainstream banking is difficult to access. Practicalities such as having to get a boat to another island can mean entrepreneurs have to take time away from their business to carry out simple administrative tasks. Mobile banking has been utilised incredibly effectively to address this issue and people can now order supplies, pay utility bills and send money to kid overseas all through their mobile phone and the co-op money card. This is backed my Mastercard and linked to their phone account.

Having introduced this scheme in a fishing village a complaint was made by an entrepreneur that he was unable to access his money one weekend when the cash desk was closed and the ATM wasn’t working. SEED and the co-operative decided to address this by installing mobile card swipe machines in small businesses on the island. This meant there was no need for people to withdraw cash in order to buy materials for their business. Simple solutions like this and utilising the latest technology mean are great for making the lives of the beneficiaries easier and allowing them to maximise productivity.

Another example of this is how it allows the organisation itself to work more efficiently. At a conference a request was made for funds for a co-op to Jun. He text someone in the office, they made the necessary approvals and the money was available in around 2 hours.

The governance of the organisation reflects the client focus and on the Executive Committee two out of the five members represent clients. There is regular dialogue with area, regional and national conferences to share ideas and best practice.

One of the clever engagement tools used by Lendwithcare is the updates from the entrepreneurs. Being of a sceptical nature I’m not sure I quite believed before that these were so accurate as to be about your money. Having heard about their systems and the fact that each beneficiary is visited monthly I’ll now be much more interested in these updates.

Currently only 5% of their income is from individuals with the majority of investment coming from companies. I know after visiting SEED I’ll be happy to put more money in and be confident it’s being well spent.

Printing, waste management and kids. Just another day at the office

Our final ‘proper’ day starts with a trip to a publishing company owned by one of the members of our host club and an introduction to their integrated approach from printing the books to training the teachers. The visit included our shortest drive yet – the previous record was set driving across the street – maybe 70 yards. This was into the van, out of the gate and into the gate next door. To the same building.

Next in true  varied form it was off to the city dump for some briefings.

Its easy to think that waste management might not be that interesting but as with all these visits once someone starts talking we suddenly become fascinated with the talk. Work on the site began after 250 people were killed in trash slide 11 years ago. The city council got involved and engineering solutions were put in place to ensure this wouldn’t be repeated. As with every initiative here the work being carried out is founded on extreme necessity and the risk of loss of human life giving each project an urgency that might not be found elsewhere.

Despite this there are ambitious plans for the future taking the project forward and including incorporating the government tree planting programme, an eco park and a housing scheme.

A large proportion of the waste is processed by hand with 490 trucks a day coming into the plant from around Quezon City. 8 groups of 75 scavengers  go through the waste sorting for reusable or recyclable materials. The workers are not paid and instead split the income from the materials that are sold from their work.

A savings scheme endorsed by the government is a rack of tiny piggy banks where once a week workers put in 15 pesos or more if they can afford.

Another income generator is the refuse derived fuel produced from the organic waste. James from Harrogate showed us round the plant in which the material is autosegmented before the metal is manually picked out. Organic waste is then baled and sold as fuel for use in place of fossil fuels. When James arrived in August last year the plant was non existent and has been designed, built and made operational in this time in an indication of how quickly things move here.

Similarly the Biogas project began 2008 and now has 90 gas wells over the site producing electricity for 3500 families and generating income for the city.

Although this is a government project there is still a CSR angle. This covers all the key areas and is delivered in partnership with their private sector partner. As with most we’ve seen so far there is a holistic approach covering education, livelihoods, housing and disaster management as well as healthcare and nutrition through the Patayas Poverty Alleviation Foundation.  

Welding courses are offered with employment opportunities with the private secor partner after completion and ‘jumpers’, the kids that climb onto rubbish trucks looking for things to sell have been organised into a football team to get them off the streets.

Another massive lunch and then onto a feeding programme (ironically) where the Rotary club hosting us have created a community corps with resident to create a partnership and feed the local children. Having picked up some tricks from the Aussies we took along sweets, pens, chalk and bubbles and were mobbed by the children once they realised what we had. After some awkward conversation where I tried miming to the kids and writing and drawing in chalk on the pavement they revealed they actually spoke perfect English and I think were laughing at me a little. Or a lot. Basically at four they can speak two languages and I couldn’t even remember the Tagalog word for pretty. 

Leadership skills and a month to remember

I’m not sure how it comes across in the blog but as well as being fantastic this trip has been bizarre. Simple things like staying in other people’s homes, spending massive amounts of time with team mates you’ve just met and having your photo taken about 100 times a day all contribute to this. It’s been great having the Aussie team around and meeting people here who’ve also done GSE and understand how intense it is.

The Australian team is on a slightly different programme and are called a Vocational Training Team rather than a Group Study Exchange team. They are all teachers and have had a more vocational focus including delivering workshops and sharing knowledge as well as the cultural aspects. It’s been really interesting to get to know them and see how they work as a team under their team leader Jacqui.

I seem to remember that part of this trip was about developing as leaders and watching how Jacqui has led their team has been really interesting. Being a bit bossy and a bit of a control freak it’s been great to observe such good leadership. From my perspective Jacqui has completely got the difference between leading a team and managing one. The team as a whole have a fantastic relationship and are close with them providing support to her as well as vice versa. It seems that respect built up between her and the team members has provided a great base for her to be able to lead effectively.

It would be easy in this stressful and alien situation to be issuing orders to get the team to do things but Jacqui has a great knack for just giving people the option to do the right thing. For example on the way up to Baguio not all the car seats had seatbelts as people often don’t bother with them here. Instead of telling her team they had to buckle up she just quietly arranged for them to get seats with belts available so they had the option should they want to.

Another example of the respect afforded to her team members is in her assumption that they will do the right thing. In Boracay we were on a night out and Kerrin went to let her know she was off to find a ‘comfort room’. Rather than lecturing her about not going off on her own or telling her to take someone with her she assumed that Kerrin would already have thought of this and that because I was standing nearby I’d be going with her (which I was).

There is some assumption on this trip that on our return we might join Rotary and some people we’ve had contact with have made us feel obliged to do so. Although clearly committed to Rotary and their work Jacqui has reassured us that this is not the aim of the trip and we shouldn’t feel under any pressure. She also allowed us and her own team space to not have to take Rotary so seriously even extending to the slightly drunken ‘Rotary meeting’ held on the beach in the dark complete with fake bell ‘dinging’ the meeting to order.

On this trip we are chaperoned pretty much 27/7 and it would be tempting as team leader to treat us like children on a school trip. Jacqui’s leadership is so effective in keeping her team on track and ultimately safe and I hope I can take back what I’ve learned from her and apply it at home. 

Big presentation and the governor's ball

The day of the big presentation dawned and I went down to the conference centre to catch the Aussie’s 9am slot. As always they gave an impressive performance although with it being their last day this had a sadder element than normal with the sections on their highlights drawing tears from three of the five team members.

Having sussed the logistics and picked up some tips for our own slot later in the day I headed back to the hotel for some finishing touches which turned out to be a complete rewrite as the WiFi failed to let us download Prezi at the last minute.

Blazers on and back to the auditorium for our slot. Excited by our surprise finale we scanned the audience for people we knew. The presentation went almost exactly to plan but sadly our final video – worked on until the early hours of the morning failed to play correctly. Luckily the audience didn’t know that we’d spent hours making the footage in time with the music and enjoyed it anyway.

Our first free time was unfortunately spent in a fruitless search for Dan’s iPhone before it was time to get ready for the ball.

Some faffing, photo taking and stops at the off licence made us pretty late an awkwardly there didn’t seem to be a table for us. However one was hastily put together and we made attempts to disguise the excessive amounts of wine by hiding half the bottles under the table. It being the Aussie’s last night we snuck out to get some group pictures taken of the 10 of us and get a final Gangnam filming in. Duties over it was back into the ball for some final ‘fellowship’.

As always entertainment was provided and it was lovely to spend time with my first host family, Dennis and Karen and also to see Dennis take part in the performance with his classmates. Never people to leave a party early we were the last to leave with our hosts from the first week, Camp Crame. It seems difficult to believe that a month ago we’d never even met these people and as it was when the Aussie’s left it will be sad to leave them. 

International relations and 'inspirational' speakers

Discon 2013 got off to an unexpectedly exciting start with a parade of various groups of Rotarians led in by men wearing traditional dress consisting of a piece of cloth barely covering their crotch and not covering their bums.

Concerned that we didn’t have enough time to have finished our presentation for the next day we were anxious to leave and get on with our work. After watching a lively dance display the urge to leave was increased by the guest speaker Dr Carl. His ‘inspirational’ speech was nothing of the kind and included some bady put together pneumonics.

The final insult was in his reference to Kristel Tejada a student at a Manila University who committed suicide due to being unable to afford her tuition fees. He used her death to illustrate his point on ‘Tenacity of Purpose’ – apparently she didn’t have any. Given how recent her death was and the likelihood that someone in the three hundred people watching knew her it seemed at the very least insensitive and at worst arrogant and condescending.

To give him the benefit of the doubt I will concede that I can’t confirm he didn’t know her and her family and have sought their permission to discuss her in this way. But I’m guessing he didn’t.

Anyway we were rescued by Dan and taken to see Sally and Homer on the family stall. After dressing up in some more traditional dress for a photo opportunity (over our suits) we had a quick break for some games before dutifully heading back to the hotel to finish our work.

Presentation almost completed it was a quick change and back out to the first fellowship event an ‘international evening’.  Held in a marquee behind the conference centre the ‘international’ element was in the form of fancy dress with clubs having a theme and a parade for best costume. The event got off to a shaky start when it was beginning to look like there was no bar. A quick surveillance exercise revealed that ironically the table dressed as Arabs were the only ones drinking wine.

Entertainment followed the parade and the Aussie team performed the coconut dance and held an auction to raise money for the district’s End Polio Now fund. Not wanting to be outdone we got up for some Zumba and with Natalie in the lead and her three uncoordinated back up dancers doing their best to keep up we led the room in some Zumba.

We were rescued from our ‘dry spell’ when one of the guys we’d been drinking with in Boracay with invited us to his table for some whiskey and soon the evening got into full swing as we caught up with people we’d met over the last three weeks and showed how Brits and Aussies can hold their own on the dance floor. Assuming that they consider enthusiasm to mean more than rhythm.

As my team mates went home early I stayed out with the Aussies and carried on the drinking with a nightcap with Steale at the piano bar in the hotel next door. Heading back to the hotel my knocking failed to wake Natalie and I had to seek the help of the night porter who showed massive concern at my having bare feet. He showed visible relief when we got to the bedroom door where I’d left my heels but sadly couldn’t open the door with any of his keycards. It took quite a bit more time before finally I was able to get in and get to bed.

Off to Baguio and a defeat for Dan's van

After the heat of Manila we're off to Baguio for the district conference. After some logistics by Dan G (our co-ordinator) and an extended breakfast in McDonalds we piled into his van with our luggage for the six hour drive. Always making use of our very scarce spare time we all got out or laptops, iPads and phones to get on with some blogging, photo sharing and work on the presentations.

After some stops for snacks and to use the 'comfort room' along the way we unloaded the extra Aussie team members into alternative transport so we could stretch out and headed for the mountains. The landscape here is spectacular with the steep mountains rising quickly out of the flat flat fields. As we'd all had a quick nap the sight of the mountains increased the enthusiasm although the 'cold' weather had not yet showed itself.

The mountain roads proved challenging to the van and despite a stirling effort it finally gave up and broke down  9km from Baguio. Luckily it chose a picturesque spot which handily had a snack stop and a store selling furniture which was an ideal place to have a light lunch (probably a snack by Filipino standards) provided by Marby, Natalie's host. As Dan G and the driver poured water into the overheated engine we made some attempts to befriend the child sorting runner beans and a younger observer. Sharing our lunch with them didn't seem to work neither did playing peekaboo or our attempts at Tagalog. Dan G explained that they didn't speak Tagalog (possibly why that wasn't  working) and that they were part of the indigenous population.

After our impromptu picnic the other van came to pick us up and we 'negotiated' Baguio's complex one way system with some complex moves including a three point term on a two lane one way street and some indecisiveness at a sign saying 'Turn right only' which involved a little reversing. The narrative throughout the journey was about the lack of a comprehensive driving test or licencing system in the Philippines and the possibility of paying for your licence if you fail the test. We also encountered what we thought to be our first roundabout - I hope it wasn't as we went round it the wrong way...

Instead of arriving at the hotel as we were expected we were delivered to a 50's diner for some mango shakes and confusion over transport arrangements with the Aussie team. Not wanting to miss out on the new 'set' we did some quick filming much to the amusement of the staff.

Arriving at the hotel the cooler weather made an appearance although our bags did not for some time. Always working hard we began filming and work on our presentation and worked long into the night albeit with a few beers to keep us company.

Special action forces and cheese

A change of pace today from housing to the Special Action Forces (SAF). Natalie and I got in a jeep driven by two uniformed police officers making us feel like celebrities and set off on the long trip the Philippine National Police camp where the SAF are based.

I don’t know whether it was our uniformed escorts but we were admitted to the camp with no checking of our identities or bags. There’s a law here making joking about terrorism an offence but it is difficult not to at times. The presentation on their work was a bit overwhelming for someone who knows very little about the SAS at home. Again the questions were tricky as we were presented with an impressive array of uniformed officers but thanks to Dan and Natalie we managed a good showing before getting off to some presentations of their skills.

First presentation slightly uncomfortable with some serious guns displayed on a table including a grenade launcher and some machine guns. Although it’s really interesting it’s easy to forget what these are actually used for and the situations that these people face in their routine work. It’s also difficult to forget some of the human rights issues I’ve heard discussed around the PNP and their practice although this seems ungrateful to the people who are giving up their time to show us around.             

 Next was the explosive sniffing dogs, their first ‘trick’ was finding the explosives under plant pots. To ensure a fair test the dog was taken away whilst the little pot (probably of actual explosive here!) was hidden. The dog was quick and efficient but even more impressive was the trick where he was able to pick out the pot that had had the explosive in it previously.

On to the unit shows and a great effort with a tank on show and two units in full uniform standing in the baking sun. Each team member introduced themselves and their roles – one of which seemed to mainly involve wearing an outfit resembling leaves. He seemed a bit bashful – I don’t know if they have to draw straws or something to decide who gets this position. Getting in next to them for the photos I asked one of them whether his assault rifle was loaded. He nodded smiled and encouraged me to stand closer. When he turned his back I did quietly step back a step away from the muzzle whilst the pictures were taken.

Photos taken with the tank and then off to the shooting range where they’d discussed letting us shoot all manner of weapons making me really nervous. Having never been to a shooting range before I don’t really have a point of reference but I would say security was lax. Bearing in mind they’d checked no ID there were guns, unloaded but with bullets on the table ready for loading. One alarming moment was when one of the Rotarians we were with picked up an M4 and started pretending to fire. I’m going to pretend she was sure it wasn’t loaded but I’m not sure that’s true.

Having expressed an interest in shooting I decided a handgun was as far as I was going and after no instruction I was pointed towards a target by a guy dressed in gym kit and given 17 shots. After realising I wasn’t going to accidentally shoot myself or anyone else it was quite fun although better if you try not to think about what they’re actually used for.

A quick round of burgers and then back in with our policemen for a trip to an organic farm. One of them Robert, had been on a the return leg of the GSE to the UK and understood how we felt so after showing us some sights told us to get a much needed hours sleep on the drive. At the farm our second lunch was organic  and accompanied by some slightly dubious medical advice. Its common here to not really know what in your food but the fruit salad at the end of the meal had something very strange in it. Waiting for a break in conversation to ask about this new and ‘interesting’ fruit I tried to work out what it was until Dan piped up with ‘Is there cheese in this?’ to which our host replied ‘Yes its organic cheddar’ as if it was completely expected. Getting down to the bottom of the bowl there was something that looked suspiciously like squid. Deciding that might be too much of a surprise I waited to check it was coconut before eating it!

Then off to a local police station where again open access to photograph logs of reported crimes, their paperwork and people in the cells. You haven’t felt uncomfortable until you’ve stood in front of prisoners in cells whilst the custody officer tells you what they’ve done. Basically within touching distance I wasn’t sure how close to get and was picturing the scene in Silence of the Lambs when she’s grabbed through the bars of the cell.

Anyway on from that mixed day to a lovely meal with my amazing host family who I’ve had such a good time with. It makes such a difference being able to come home, chat and feel able to relax and I really appreciated the chance to do this at Jorjie’s house with her family. 

Close encounter with nature

Another amazing day out with Sally and Homer and their kids. This time we went for a more relaxing take on volcanic activity with a trip to the Hidden Valley Hot Springs. We were warned there would be a hike up to the waterfall but as Filipino style hiking goes this was along a signposted walkway and only about half a kilometre easily done in flip flops, or slippers as we've now all begun to call them.

As you can see from the photos the scenery was stunning and jungle like bar the lack of any nasty creepy crawlies. The waterfall was worth the walk and we made our way up to underneath rescuing stray flip flops a they cam off on the rocks and got washed downstream. At this point Richard left the group and after few minutes of playing 'Where's Richard?' it was agreed we he's probably wandered off rather than perishing in the foot deep slow moving water. On the return journey was a bit of an 'incident' and some shrieking from Harvey and Sharney. Startled by the sudden attack by nature there was much commotion and thrashing of bags to remove the killer cockroach from Sally's back. Water bottles went everywhere and sun cream flew off the bridge until Dan stepped in to remove the completely harmless insect with his hand. Following his success he saved the empty sun cream bottle from the wilds of the grassy ditch and we carried on along the path unscathed.

After this deeply traumatic expedition we were forced to spend the rest of the trip relaxing in the many pools nestled in the forest. Starting in the unexpectedly warm 'cold' pool we moved on to the 'soda' pools, which to Richard's disappointment didn't taste like Fanta (Thanks again to Dan our resident taste tester of water pools) and finally to the 'warm' pools where little plumes(?) of warm water rose through the volcanic gravel of the pool floor. If you've not experienced it its a little like someone's had a wee in the water. But nicer because you know there is good bathroom provision and this is not the case.

As always we were delighted to see salad at lunch and stocked up on vegetables - before a quick dip and then back to Quezon City. Returning home to my host family the statue of the Virgin Mary was being decorated in preparation for the 4am procession followed by my first Catholic Mass. Looking forward to dinner with the family, karaoke and hopefully an early night before the early start tomorrow!

An inspirational vist to a Rotary housing project

All housing today with a trip to see Brookside, a joint development with the Rotary and Kawad Kalinga. Worlds away from the estates we see in the UK the exotic plants and palms were carefully planted between brightly painted houses and people worked alongside children playing in the street.

Residents pay around 300 pesos (£6) for their property and the land is owned by a church group.  There are community facilities on site with a library and boards in the public space showing the photographs of the area before the construction, through the build and now.

Work with the residents is continuous and residents can be removed for ‘antisocial’ behaviour. From what I understand this is largely governed by the religious principles of the site and grounds for eviction would be activities such as drugs and prostitution.

The school overlooks a wooden chapel and basketball court in the main area and is well kept. I was shown around by the Grade 6 teacher who had a great passion for the children and the work of the school later breaking down when she described her gratitude to the Australian team for their solidarity in the problems faced in the school. A great emphasis was placed on getting the children a good standard of education and parents pay a reduced 50 pesos a month (£1) and help out with cleaning and the cooking the breakfasts provided to give the children a good start to the day.

In 2009 the area flood waters rose over the roofs of the houses and families came to the first floor of the school for shelter. But the water rose higher and reached that level and children had to be passed along a rope to the community centre up the hill where they were safe. Families belongings brought to the school for safe keeping and the schools books and records were all destroyed. I notice now there are no offices on the ground floor. The local Rotary club worked with a sister club in Singapore to provide food for families over the two or three days it took for the floodwater to subside.

The teacher was genuinely proud as she told me how the solid construction of the houses in this project had meant that there had been no deaths from the flooding as there had been in other areas.

Like in Bolton work is being done to provide employment opportunities and income for families on the project. Following the flooding the sister rotary club in Singapore was keen to do more and with RC Holy Spirit they developed a scheme where women in the project were provided with materials to do quilting, candle making and sewing and now produce items to be sold in Singapore. This is a fantastic example of what rotary is like in Manila.

Projects here are targeted to meet specific needs in local areas and inventive sustainable schemes allow the work they do to have great long term effects. In principle they focus on the basics as we do, education, training and employment to allow people to lift themselves out of poverty. When they walk through the estates they are greeted by workers and the residents recognise the badge demonstrating what looks like a really meaningful relationship with the communities and their beneficiaries. 

Links are also maintained with the children through the Rotaract club within the school which is partnered with the club that supports the project.

If anyone does want to know more about this my driver from the host club, Angel, has offered to answer any questions I might have about their work. 

Flag raising, meeting the major and Rotary Hour

Our first proper day began with a very early start. (although apparently 5am is normal to allow Filippinos to get through the traffic to begin work at 8). The flag raising ceremony at City Hall was attended by hundreds of workers in their purple shirt uniforms and we were ushered onto the stage as the mayors guests with our host families.

This ceremony takes place every Monday morning and included and address from the Chairperson on Women and Family Relations which I think was linked to women’s month being celebrated here at the moment. A documentary filmaker was awarded a scroll and the best performing TB task forces were presented with certificates. As the ceremony was almost entirely in Tagalog it wasn’t always that easy to understand the standing up / sitting down / applauding ettiquette but as we were on the second row I hope the crowd didn’t notice our confusion.

When the mayor arrived on stage I think he was slightly overlooked by the UK team who were expecting him to be older and more formally dressed. No suits, chain or minder here, just a youthful looking man in his early 40s happy to be sorting his own chair out for the signing of a paper on TB. Perhaps our mayors could pick up some tips here although perhaps it is representative of the younger demographic; 40% of the Quezon City are under 20.

After a short breakfast where I managed to knock the table and spill four cups of coffee simultaneously onto the white table cloth it was off for tours of the memorial and museum (I’ll get Dan to write something interesting about the architecture here as he completely outdid me on this)

A whirlwind tour with our host club South Triangle included a drive round the university where there was a student demonstration about tuition fees following the suicide of a student over this recently and lunch in a rice restarant where we has (I later discovered from my host) what basically is pork scratchings in blood. I’ll have to check the details on this but tasted good before I knew what it was!

It was then off to UNTV to film a segment for the ‘Rotary Hour’ programme. It was the first outing for our formal group uniforms (yes that is the blazers and no there are no pictures) and I think given that we weren’t given any advance warning of the questions I think it went pretty well. Dan the ‘media face’ of policing and Richard’s smooth policians answers definitely helped us out.

Final trip of the day was to the mall and for a type of exercise I seem to remember being described as ‘mall walking’ in Modern Family. The malls are endless and include every shop you would see on the British high street and I imagine every chain you’d find in the US as well. If you’re struggling on scale think of the Trafford Centre stacked over 5 floors with a fairground in the top.

Tomorrow a lie in for a 9am start and a cultutural tour. 

Meeting people in supermarkets

As it is now just over two weeks until we leave for Quezon City, Manila it might be a good time to explain how all this came about...

So...  in August I spent three days standing in the foyer of Morrisons collecting for the charity. If you've never done this before I can't explain how incredibly boring it is and how it saps your enthusiasm for both your cause and human kind simultaneously.

If you have done this you can imagine how nice it was to meet someone who had time to stop for a chat, and was both interested and interesting. Peter turned out to be a member of Bury Rotary club and as we stood in the way of people getting their trolleys he gave me some tips and shared experience from his time managing the Rotary shoebox scheme.

It was a few weeks later Peter got back in touch and introduced me to the Rotary Group Study Exchange. This is to quote the website 'a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity' a chance for people working under the loose remit of 'local government' to stay in Manila for a month, make visits to work places similar to their own and gain an understanding of a new working culture.

After completing the forms and Peter securing the sponsorship of Bury Rotary club for my application I was put forward, interviewed and accepted for the exchange in December.

There's been a lot to do since then, with minor panic around my having to apply for a new passport, then visa and only getting the visa through this week, and the departure date has really crept up quickly. Still I've had almost all the jabs I need, have put my shiny new passport in a safe place and am beginning to think about what it might actually be like.

Again through Peter I've been able to meet a lovely couple who have lived and worked in Manila and get tips on what I need to do and see along with advice about what to take with me which has been great. The vocational visits are lined up but with no social housing as such it will be interesting to see how it all works.

Visits include the Quezon City Urban Planning Department, National Housing Department housing projects and the International Red Cross along with UNTV for Rotary Hour.

Having never been that way before I'm not sure what to expect but I'm going with my normal plan of do no research and hope for the best. I have however been promised excellent 3G signal so am hoping I'll be tweeting and blogging throughout.

If anyone does have any 'must see's in Manila please let me know.

Off to the Philippines

I will admit there is something that has spurred me on in getting up and running on the whole blogging thing. In December I was accepted onto Rotary International's Group Study Exchange, a fantastic opportunity to spend a month in Manila learning about how people work out there.


More to come on this but for now thankyou very much to Bury Rotary club for sponsoring my application.