Lessons in social media and community self sufficiency from MMDA

Back to 'reality'after our holiday and weekend off. Well the kind of reality where we get invited to meet the General Manager of the Metro Manila Development Agency in a room that looks more suited to a meeting of the UN. And a brass band meets us at the front door with some Katy Perry covers and Gangnam Style.

The scope of the MMDA (not to be confused with MDMA as this caused much amusement last night with my host family) is quite wide and includes seven key areas or mandates. However over all these areas the most interesting aspect for me is the use of social media. Here the matrix signs point motorists to a Twitter account for traffic updates and in a briefing on their work social media is discussed as a mainstream tool.

Like at Bolton at Home the comms strategy focuses in part on sharing the good work done by staff at the agency and communicating the key issues in a variety of ways to meet the needs of the younger audience As part of the drive to encourage good driver behaviour viral videos of road rage and bad driving are posted onto social media to show the public the kinds of situations the MMDA deal with every day.

In the control room a member of staff sits alongside the camera operators in the navigation sections to tweet congestion updates and suggest alternative routes in a truly integrated way of working. Response time is impressive with my thankyou tweet responded to within the hour and favourited shortly afterwards.

There is a lot of talk in housing about the need for management 'buy in' when implementing a social media strategy and this is more than evident here. During our briefing with some fairly high level operational staff social media was often raised as being key to their communication. Not only raised but discussed in the way that 'experts' do in the UK showing awareness of listening to customers and responding, engaging and responding promptly, creating conversations and trust and most of all having a sense of humour. If Bolton at Home directors could speak like this in a years time I'd be happy to have achieved something in my time there.

An example of the trust placed in the account is people tweeting crime and emergencies. Rather than telling the enquirer to go elsewhere their enquiry is instead passed to the relevant agency. This means they are seen as an authoritative source of information and raises their levels of repeat interactions. Perhaps something Bolton at Home could be looking at for their contact centre?

Not having had access to people anywhere near this high up in strategic development at home I guess I don't have a lot to compare the conversation to but it seemed that in this agency, as with others here in Manila, common sense ideas were implemented to provide cost effective solutions to the problems they face.

Their coding system for traffic is a great example. Faced with massively over populated and congested roads a solution is to ban 20% of the cars on each working day. So on Monday licence plates numbered 1 and 2 are not allowed to travel, on Tuesday 3 and 4 and so on. On Thursday the roads are particularly light as the Chinese population favour the plates with 7 and 8 on as lucky. This leads to increased demand for these and less traffic. (They estimate this is a 4% increase over the normal 20%)

I do have to say that almost every household I've stayed in has had a number of cars with different coding to avoid the ban. And many people I spoke to had ignored the ban and driven anyway. A great example of their Twitter skills though was given to me by my current host's daughter Reggie. Her friend had driven to work on a banned day and tweeted how happy she was to have made it through. MMDA replied saying they were glad she'd got to work on time but warning her she could be caught if she did it again.

Among other fascinating work one idea really stood out; the training of normal people in disaster response. We've already seen in communities children being taught to be first aid responders but this training extends further to cover how to deal with flooding, fire and earthquakes among other things. In a perfect example of the joined up thinking displayed here people who violate minor rules such as jay walking and cannot pay the fine are sent on this training instead.

As has been pointed out to me so many times we are lucky in the UK. We know we can call 999 and help will come. We know someone will be there to help if there is an emergency. But as we face further cuts to services maybe we should be looking further afield for how we can respond to this. Great initiatives such as this allow people to help themselves and their community and would work just as well in heavy snow or a power cut as they would in an earthquake.

Salubo at 4am and rice two ways for breakfast

Earliest start yet at 3.30am for my first Salubong (the encounter). 

Yesterday Virgin Mary was taken from the shrine next to the lounge at home and loaded onto a cart to be lit and beautifully decorated with fresh flowers before being safely stored away for her trip the next day. So after dinner and karaoke it was an ‘early’ night ready for the 3.30am start.

Which turned out to be more like a 3.50am start with just enough time to make myself look decent before meeting my host Jean and her daughters in the street to watch as the statue was slowly pushed up the street by the helpers as a few neighbours followed. My third cockroach passed in front of me but steeled by the previous day I stepped over and avoided a commotion.

The meeting place to ‘get behind’ Mary was the local Petron station where a larger crowd had gathered. Even at this ungodly hour (!) the butchers and veg stall was doing a roaring trade and trikes and vans were forced to manoeuvre their way around the cart. After my initial self-consciousness at being the token tourist I managed to get some bleary pictures (reflecting how I was feeling) and noted the irony as a member of the church carefully avoided stepping on a couple of homeless people sleeping on the street as he took pictures of the lavish float on his iPad.

At some unknown signal the cart was pushed off to meet the Jesus statue for the re-enactment of the resurrection. All I can say is that the service was in Tagalog, it was standing room only and it was 28 degrees at 5am.

On the way back there was some discussion around getting a trike for the 500m back to the house but after some jokes about Filipinos and walking we made the long walk home in time for breakfast of coloured rice cake and rice porridge in the street before home for a nap. 

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!

Planes, trucks, jeeps and boats

Off to Boracay for our mid tour ‘break’. Billed as paradise the reality was a long drive to the airport, an hour on the plane, an hour and a half driving and a boat ride to reach the island. This was followed by a cosy drive in a small van type minibus and a walk to the hotel. If you Google Boracay you’ll see what we were expecting and in reality the stunning scenery is set off by a strip of shops (including Starbucks and McDonalds) and music blaring from stalls along the front.

Children begging along the front remind you that you are still in a third world country and add that element of guilt at how privileged we are generally and to be here and treated so well by our hosts.

As with many of the things we do here there was a cloud of mystery around the plane / check in / airport protocol. The first checkpoint made sure you weren’t bringing guns into the airport. At check in it was decided we would not check bags and have two as hand luggage. A quick boarding pass check and we were in security. Where aerosols and liquids over 100ml were not allowed. Unless you had two aerosols in which case only one was confiscated or if you pleaded your case for being able to take shower gel and sun cream in which case you were told it wouldn’t be allowed next time.

I think we were all relieved at the plane being to quote the Aussie team ‘a proper size’ having heard some rumours about their airlines and talk of a ‘small plane’.

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. 

Hiking the Filipino way

Hiking in the Philippines involves getting up at 3am. After four hours sleep. A McDonalds McMuffin to give us some energy(!) and we’re off to Tagatay to the mountains. Having not really left Metro Manila before the trip up was great and the views down onto the lake spectacular.

Dan’s host family and their club had done a great job of planning every detail and leaving the car in a tiny village we set off with enough water for a few weeks and flip flops for the people living in the houses on the way up. It was pretty hot considering it was still only around 7am and our guide put us to shame as he ambled ahead over the rocks smoking.

By UK standards it wasn’t a hard walk although not good for the clumsy people with a fear of heights. The trek included 11 little peaks on the way to the final summit which did seem a bit daunting in the heat until we realised we’d skipped from 2 to 4 without noticing that we’d done 3!

Filipino climbing also involved a rest area about every half a kilometre in case you change your mind when you see the path presumably. There were some slightly hairy bits for those not accustomed to clambering over rocks although on the way back it emerged that there was actually another path. Perhaps our guide just fancied a laugh. On the way down he was seen miming someone falling over and laughing with his friends. As we’d all fallen at some point I won’t take that too personally.

I think the only way to describe the scenery is through the pictures below and to say that my photography skills don’t anywhere near do it justice.

By the bottom we were all covered in the orange dust, fingernails, legs, face and later discovered inside my socks. Dan’s host Sally had arranged for us to take a ‘bucket shower’ in the outhouse of a house in the village and we did our best to get looking respectable before lunch and the new host families.

Lunch overlooking the lake was another overwhelming feast of Filipino dishes although I think we are all getting better at taking very tiny amounts of food so you don’t have to refuse second, third or fourth helpings. And revitalised by our fresh air and exercise we even managed to work on our secret project for our presentation. All will be revealed (technology allowing) later. 

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.