Fiesta at a housing project and gangnam style the Filipino way

A slightly hungover start to Saturday with another early start. At breakfast in Jollybee (Filipino McDonalds) I knocked over two juices, a coffee and my pancakes. A promising start to the day as we discussed the traditional games we’d be playing later. I hoped they wouldn’t require too much coordination!

Today’s activity was a fiesta at a housing project on a relocation site in San Matteo outside the city. The informal settlers are encouraged the leave the city slum areas and are provided with a house in return for 500 hours labour. Schools and community spaces are built and a livelihood provided in the form of a mango grove. With mains electricity not available in the local area power is provided through solar panels on the roofs of the homes.

Getting out of the car the second thing you notice after the scorching heat is the stunning panoramic view of Metro Manila. Our guide told us that next to the site millionaires pay above the odds for the privilege of having this view.

Workers from one of the partner organisations Christians for Christ mix easily with the families who welcomed us into their houses to show off their carefully put together interiors. Constructed of concrete blocks and Styrofoam the units come finished with a  white painted cement interior and brightly painted outside in a terrace formation. Each consists of one room and a small kitchen area and bathroom to the back.

One owner, a carpenter, had, in his spare time, constructed an intricate shelving system that wouldn’t be out of place in an English country kitchen and the living area had been painted bright blue to match the exterior. All the properties were immaculately kept and tide. Richard, off meeting the voters had made a friend whose mother was providing the rich rice cakes for the fiesta and the whole room was covered in wide plates containing the carefully decorated cakes.

The development is not a government one and is a partnership project with Rotary, ANCORP (I’ll try and remember what that stands for) and Couples for Christ.

After a minor panic from our team leader when we once again lost Richard (he was of course in someone’s house chatting) the fiesta kicked off with a brief introduction to the project and thanks to all the partners involved. Some traditional Filipino dancing was performed by students from a local school and included one that involved balancing on an upright piece of bamboo – not exactly easy on the uneven ground but they persevered and didn’t let it get out of time.

The majorettes performed what we at first thought to be local music played on drums but later we recognised Katy Perry’s ‘Fireworks’ and the Gangnam Style dancing. Dan went down well with the female dancers although was oblivious to the attention he was getting!

I was lucky enough to be able to go with my hosts to their daughter, Ella’s graduation – at three! It was a wonderful experience although the logistics of lining up small children on the stage and getting them to follow direction looked challenging to say the least. The graduation ceremony as we would expect, complete with caps and gowns, was followed by some musical numbers recognisable as the end of term play we’d see at home. Although with it being ‘more fun in the Philippines’ there was a great emphasis on the fun and a fantastic showing from the parents with the retro dancing.

Afterwards some more photos and then off for a ride in a Kalasa (apologies on spelling) with Kassie. It’s so good that the girls have finally started to open up to me, my knowledge of Disney princesses is much improved, and its such a shame that I have to leave so soon.

My final meal with my hosts where unfortunately I was dropping off slightly on the energy levels and worrying about my 3am start was a great finale. Going to the fish market, selecting the fresh fish from the stalls, choosing your cooking method and eating in a canteen style restaurant was fantastic. The food was amazing and as always there were vast amounts with the leftovers taken home for tomorrow. On the way home it was maybe the tiredness or I just genuinely couldn’t believe that after the amount of food anyone would want to go for ice cream. But this is Manila so we did.

As I packed to go to my next host I was further overwhelmed by receiving gifts from hosts that have already been so generous. The hospitality I have had this week has been amazing. I would like to say a massive thankyou to my wonderful hosts for the first week for making me feel so at home and welcome in their home. It was sad to leave and I am already looking forward to seeing them again at the district conference.