Converted to Blue

One of the things that Westerners living in or visiting poorer countries tend to comment on is how pristine school children look dressed in their uniforms coming out of areas which look like it should be impossible to keep anything clean and that running water is not something to be relied upon or taken for granted. I remember the shock I first felt seeing school children in some areas of Guyana and it is no different in Nicaragua or the Philippines. Each day as I'm driven to work we pass very poor communities with children coming out in beautiful white shirts and even going home looking as pristine, or as a friend put in his blog recently looking cleaner than his kids did when they left for school in the morning (Krish's impressions of Haiti).

In Guyana many of my local friends used "blue" a laundry soap which you'll be amazed to hear is coloured blue! However coming from a land of washing machines I felt it must be much better to use laundry powder to wash my clothes even by hand than a bar of soap. Of course I should have known better: that it's normally worth following the local way of doing things as there is a reason why it's done that way, but I never ventured to try. That was over ten years ago.

On moving to Malaysia a couple of months ago and not having yet found my well hidden washing machine in the apartment I thought I'd have to resort to hand washing again and stumbled across "blue" in the supermarket so I thought I'd give it a try. I have a great propensity for spilling things on my clothes or getting mess and oil stains from work and I've never found a good way to get the stains out, not long soaks or scrubbing nor Vanish, so I finally decided to try "blue" and so easily the stains scrubbed out. I am converted and could have been over 10 years ago if only I hadn't subconsciously felt my ways from mechanised, developed countries must be best.

Value of education 2

The church I am attending CCF Ortigas is in the process of finishing building a new nearby complex including a worship centre and school in Pasig (a municipality of Metro Manila) just up the road from the existing location in Ortigas, which will mean that sometime next year it will probably be moving from its current location on the top two floors of a local shopping mall. I was impressed a couple of weeks ago when a new programme was explained that the church are encouraging all its members to get involved with some how.

CCF leadership had met with the local government of Pasig and asked them what they felt were the most pressing needs of the area and how they could be involved in trying to help with these needs. The councillors advised that the greatest concern was the quantity of out-of-school youth - apparently around 60% of Filipino youth do not graduate from High School. In a nation of 92 million people and where according to UN statistics more than 33% of the population (ie about 30 million people) is between the ages of 0 and 14 that is an awful lot of under-educated young people.

The church in conjunction with the local government has set up the Uplift Pilipinas Movement (God of this City - Uplift Pilipinas Movement video)   to H.E.L.P in the areas of Health and nutrition, Education and values formation, Livelihood and jobs and finally Peace and cleanliness. The immediate goal is to set up a programme for 1200 Out-of-School youth to enable them to achieve a High School Diploma equivalent through an Alternative Learning System (ALS video) and members of the church are being asked to sponsor around US$10 a month towards the costs of running this programme.

Having been involved in a small church of mostly foreigners in Nicaragua it has been a change to be attending a massive church made up almost exclusively of Filipinos here in Manila, but I am thrilled to see the local church under local leadership so involved in trying to address the many needs in their nation in such a constructive and collaborative way.

CPS Test

Last Sunday the speaker at church introduced us to the CPS Test as a way of evaluating our Christian lives. It sounded like a complex model such as the Briggs-Meyer test but actually turned out to be very simple, simple if you understood Tagalog at least.

The CPS test stood for "Christian pala sya!" which by listening to the context, explanation and then looking in the dictionary all confirmed this was whether someone who knew you would be surprised if they learnt from someone else that you were a Christian "S/he's a Christian, really?!" I thought "pala" just meant spade like in Spanish and it is one of the words that is the same in Spanish and Tagalog in that definition but "pala" also means "an expression of surprise"

The question was would anyone notice that you had faith in a living, loving and holy God as you lived your life day to day? Or would they only know if they saw you "playing" religion at certain hours on a Sunday. Not a false, superior, holier than thou, religious speak faith but a real one that effects every part of our lives.

Value of education

I've lived in other countries where a significant number of people either aspire to migrate and work overseas or depend on other family members who have done this, however in the Philippines there is a whole industry built around this - at immigration there are three lines, one for Filipinos, one for foreigners and one for OFW Overseas Filipino Workers (Filipinos who work overseas).

Apparently almost 100,000 women head overseas from the Philippines to work as domestic workers each year, most from poorer backgrounds and many from rural areas. As a result the government has instituted a one month compulsory course called Domestic Duties 101 so that the women can be trained in the use of different types of vacuum cleaners, washing machines, how to clean air conditioning units and other tasks and cultural domestic norms and cuisines they may meet in their new jobs. The two most frequent destinations are Singapore and Hong Kong where they are likely to earn US$400 per month. As in many other parts of the world people are willing to work hard and live far from their family in order to send money home for their loved ones in a hope for a better life for them. As one women interviewed in the article I read in The Philippine Star said,

I want to help my mother and younger sister. They need me to support them adding that her mother had no work and her sister earned US$2.70 a day as a waitress.

 However the part of the article which really struck me was the 25-year old domestic worker trainee, Janet Quiron who had a college degree and was a trained teacher but had decided to apply as a domestic worker overseas as she only earned about US$120 a month as a teacher.

It is painful to have a college degree and then apply as a domestic helper. But I think about my family. I am the one sending my brother and sister to school.

How does the situation exist where it is better to be separated from loved ones to be a domestic worker overseas than to teach the young generation in your own country? Sadly this is not unique to the Philippines.

Having recently visited Hong Kong, even with my relatively untrained eye to the racial differences between Far East Asian countries, it was easy to spot the overwhelming number of Filipinas there. It was most obvious on Sunday when being such a sociable people they congregated in public areas for picnics and social time together on their one day off and with no home that they could invite people back to.

Day of rest for foreign workers, Hong Kong

Given the number of Filipinos in Hong Kong I was pleased to see that St John's Cathedral had services in Tagalog/Pilipino as well as English, Mandarin and Cantonese. I was also pleased but saddened to see that as part of the church's outreach to their community they run Helpers for Domestic Helpers and Mission for Migrant Workers to help the foreign domestic workers in cases of abuse to which they are open. Working abroad as a domestic worker does open some financial doors but at a great cost but it also incurs many risks and this is not just limited to work in Hong Kong and yet it seems the best option for one trained school teacher from the Philippines.

Filipino Street Life

I took these video clips yesterday afternoon on the road close to work Payatas Rd, Quezon City. Obviously not all of Manila is like this, there are also several very plush areas but these clips represent many peoples lives, especially close to where I work.

Time for some Tagalog

Magandag umaga: Good morning

Since so many people speak English in Manila, ranging from functional to perfect, I am struggling to find any need to learn Tagalog or Filipino. It seems PC to call it Filipino but no-one I have spoken to in Manila who is from here calls it anything but Tagalog. When I went out to lunch with some of my colleagues a few weeks ago they tried to teach me a few things but I wasn't a very brilliant student. What I did learn was that Spanish would get me a little further on some things that I would have expected, no where close to understanding but enough to recognise a few words and more words than I would have expected - numbers I can do in Spanish, almost all the days of the week and months and they will be understood as Tagalog.

So now for your test in Tagalog - 10 words and phrases to see how you do. Those who speak Spanish will have a good head start in most of the words I've selected

Tagalog
1. Basura
2. Pasahero
3.Yelo
4. Elektrisidad
5. Turista
6. Oo (po), siyempre
7. Hindi (po)
8. Salamat
9. Anong oras?
10. Kumusta!
11. Ebanghelyo (a bonus one, I know 11 isn't 10!)

Answers below - gap left to try and avoid inadvertent cheating - those who really want to cheat will do so even if I put this on a separate page!!


English and Spanish equivalents
1. Rubbish/trash (En) or Basura (Sp)
2. Passenger (En) or Pasajero (Sp)
3. Ice (En) or Hielo (Sp)
4. Electricity or Electricidad
5. Tourist or Turista
6. Yes, of course or Si, claro
7. No
8. Thankyou or Gracias - OK no similarities in English and Spanish it's simply my first Tagalog word
9.What time? o A que hora?
10. Hello or Hola but you can see the Como esta? How are you link? If you just say the word.
11. Gospel or Evangelio

It seems Tagalog doesn't have the multiple forms of you but if you want to show respect to someone, especially if they are older than you, you add "po" to the phrase. However I was warned this can cause offence if someone isn't enough older than you as they might think you are saying they are old, one of those things you decide as a foreigner if you try and get it wrong you hope the other person gives you lots of grace in your execution as a ignorant Banyaga (foreigner).

Map reading

I love maps and as such it has become a pleasure to be living in a country where good quality maps are easily available. I have enjoyed accumulating a number of different maps over the last few weeks - street maps of Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, national political and economic maps of the Philippines and Asia.

Perhaps it is strange that someone who has always been interested in other countries dropped studying geography as early as the UK school system would allow (aged 13). Maps give me a sense of bearing of knowing where I am relative to other places and whilst they can't really tell you what to visit or where to go they do tell you how to get there once you've decided where to go and give me plenty of ideas on new places to research. Having lived in Nicaragua for 5 years simply the existence of street names with street signs is exciting and gives a sense of ease. GPS is amazing when you are driving and need immediate directions but having a map in hand allows me to explore without actually going anywhere.

The maps of the Philippines designed mainly for students I guess that I have bought for about 25 pence (35 US cents) in the local bookstores have also taught me a lot more than simple geographic location, with information on local economics and other statistical data I am starting to understand a little more that helps me when I read the newspaper. Mindanao one of the largest and most troubled zones of the Philippines, the heartland of the rebels and religious based conflict (as I mentioned in a post a couple of days ago) is also the home to most of the mineral wealth of the Philippines - gold, silver, copper and chromite, sadly something that often seems to be a factor in conflict zones in a country.

It also needs to be remembered that whilst we as westerners see Christianity as the older religion, and of course historically that is true, in the Philippines Christianity in the form of Catholicism arrived in 1565 but the Islamic faith had already been moving through the southern islands such as Mindanao and Sulu  for more than two hundred years. The Spanish Christianisation by dispelling Jews and Muslims "Moros" worked in the other islands of the Philippines but never in Mindanao or Sulu during their 300 years of rule. Then under American rule even the "Moro Wars" did not totally overcome or pacify the Muslims. It is not therefore a surprise that conflict and strong feelings still are very prevalent in this region. The current President of the Philippines wisely refuses to be drawn into all out war and seems to be trying to seek a more peaceful settlement which I guess is part of the reason that Eid ul-Adha last week was given as a national holiday even though the percentage of Muslims in the whole of the Philippines is quiet small.

What are we waiting for?

As I walked by a public art display of scenes from the ferries in Hong Kong by Lewis Lau my eye was drawn to the following painting. I was struck by its title "Waiting for Nothing".

Most of us don't like waiting and I am certainly no different. Some waiting comes with eager anticipation: for a gift to arrive, for a special holiday, to see a loved one after time apart, for the long winter nights to end and the summer to come, for Christmas morning as a child.

Other waiting comes with anxiety: the results of important exams, feedback on whether you've got that much needed new job, the doctor's diagnosis after medical tests.

Waiting can also be frustrating: for a flight after weather causes mayhem, being stuck in a traffic jam not knowing when it will end, being put on hold on the phone whilst a recorded message tells you, "Please hold the line, your call is very important to us, we apologise for the delay due to an unusually high volume of calls." over and over and over.

So what are we waiting for? It sounds like a call to action rather than inaction, as if waiting is just a waste and sometimes it can be that, waiting can just be procrastination and an excuse not to face our fears or change. We can always be waiting for the "right time" whilst secretly hoping it never arrives.

However waiting is not all bad, some waiting is even beneficial. Waiting at a red stop light not only is the safe and correct thing to do, but at a busy junction actually gets everyone through faster than if everyone tries to go in all directions at the same time. For those of you, especially in Nicaragua, who've ever experienced traffic lights without their power supply connected you'll know exactly what I mean - chaos prevails and you long for the red light that eventually turns green or the arrival of the traffic police.

But what if we are waiting for nothing?

Books fight guns

With a sister and brother-in-law who are professional librarians and with a personal interest in what unites and divides Muslims and Christians the following article caught my attention in The Philippine Star on Thursday. Mindanao is one of the southernmost islands of the Philippines where there is still areas where “rebel” activity is frequent against the population and particularly the army, much is based around the desire for an autonomous Muslim state.

The following is a shortened and slightly modified version of the article.

Teen cited for fighting gun culture in South with books

Amid the fighting in Mindanao, the National Commission for the Culture and Arts (NCCA) and the National Library of the Philippines (NLP) has awarded a 17-year old freshman at the University of the Philippines and Oblation scholar for building libraries and countering the culture of guns with books and education in southern Philippines.

In a ceremony marking the 21^st Library and Information Services Month, the NCAA’s National Committee on Library and Information Services (NCLIS) awarded Arizza Ann Sahi Nocum, administrator of the Kristiyano-Islam (Kris) Peace Library, “for her exemplary and invaluable contributions in the field of library and information services by building libraries, distributing books and promoting reading to under-served children.”

The Philippine Librarians Association Inc (PLAI) joined the NCAA-NCLIS and the NLP in giving the certificate of recognition to Nocum for playing a key role in her Christian-Muslim parents’ advocacy to distribute books, grant scholarships, provide free use of computers and build libraries in conflict areas of Mindanao since 2001.

In presenting the award, NLP director Antonio Santos noted how three of the five Kris Peace libraries are built in conflict areas in Moro Islamic Liberation Front strongholds in Zamboanga Sibugay. “Young Arizza is not a professional librarian, but she is a role-model for all librarians,” Santos said, recalling a picture he saw at the Kris Library website www.krislibrary.com where Nocum was shown giving a speech to kids during a book-donation program when she was seven years old.

In her acceptance speech Nocum said, “This event has been an eye-opener. What the youth needs today is to hear something like this. To hear that libraries are important, that books are important; that reading, that learning is essential to progress.”  

Hungry anyone?

Found food in Hong Kong last weekend very photogenic but not very appetising. Tried one meal but was unable to finish the vegetable curry and faro dumplings, the taste of the dumpling was all wrong as was the texture of the curry. Then I really struggled with the concept of picking my fresh seafood from an on site aquarium.

Food is often one of the biggest challenges and can be one of the greatest pleasures in living in a new country. Not only are you confronted by all sorts of new foods and simply trying to figure out what they are, how to eat them and whether you like them or think your taste buds can adapt to them, there is also the challenge of working out how to buy the raw ingredients, what they are and how to cook them. I remember cooking revolting calaloo before I learnt you had to cut the stem out or appalling a friend in Guyana when I cooked squash without peeling it first. Of course western style supermarkets in Manila mean I can choose to stay with only the known foodstuffs but that doesn't seem very adventurous.

I do think that adjusting to Chinese cuisine and cooking would be a real challenge for the Westerner, it's perhaps the hardest cuisine to get enthusiastic about. Meanwhile, I get a desire for gallo pinto or nacatamales (Nicaragua) or chicken curry and roti or salt fish and bake (Guyana) about as often as I crave fish and chips or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding (England) showing the ability to adapt.

A long way from....

Buddha at Ngong Ping, Hong Kong is a long way from.....

The Sly Company of People Who Care

One of the questions you are asked fairly often when you have lived in multiple countries is "Which was your favourite?". Even I am guilty of asking others despite the fact I always feel incapable of truly answering it justly myself. Each place is different and the place that is easiest to live might not always feel like the favourite.

What is my answer? Well so far (there's always room for changes in the future) the answer, after a pause for thought, has always remained the same: Guyana.  I apologise to my Nicaraguan and Nicaragua based friends I have a very special place in my heart for Nicaragua too.

Why Guyana? There is no doubt many more comforts in life or places to visit were available in other locations. The reason is simple, it's emotional, not intellectual, Guyana was the first place where slowly I was allowed to be an insider even though I was an outsider. I started to understand some of the jokes, the satire, the sayings. I was included. Guyana and the Guyanese made me realise I would never again be 100% at home in my homeland. That's unsettling but it's also a blessing.

Like most people with a connection to Guyana it is a land that gives me much joy and delight and much frustration and despair. I am reading a brilliant book from the eyes of a twenty-six year old Indian who went to spend a year in Guyana, the write up describes "The Sly Company of People Who Care" as an "ambitious debut novel, Raul Bhattacharya has created a story that follows the shape and rhythms of life." The words novel and story imply fiction to me but the book includes so much facts and truth that I have no difficulty believing it is all true - all be it perhaps it seems fanciful to those who've not lived in Guyana. It makes me smile to read the Creole and the characters, I makes me melancholy and a little "homesick" to read of  places I know and it makes me sad to read of the racism, violence and sense of despair underlying the day to day amusements.

Like Bhattacharya I am an outsider, right now in a new country and I can relate to his observation,

Everything is linked. Every day you transacted with the world around you, and every day people you met in it knew something you didn't. Looking at smithereens of a bank window on tarmac they knew things I didn't. It could be debilitating, mystifying, desperate; I wanted to scratch my way in.

I know given time, openness and the graciousness of the host country it is possible to scratch one's way in. I've done it before, more than once. But there is no doubt each time can be debilitating and mystifying, another set of unspoken rules, knowledge and assumptions of which my past gives me no experience. However there is a sense of deep satisfaction when you make progress and understand a phrase or a joke that would have meant nothing months before.

Philippine-British Friendship Day

I never knew that 20th October was Philippine-British Friendship Day. The British Embassy had a 4 page supplement in the national paper here in the Philippines advocating our similarity as outward-facing islands as well as highlighting British investment and involvement in the Philippines.

I suspect the day is an invention of the British Embassy and I am not quite sure what I should do to celebrate..hug a Filipino?!

According to statistics in 2009 there were more than 100,000 Filipinos in the UK, more than double the amount there had been 10 years earlier, many there to fill vacancies in the NHS (National Health Service). Yet with recession and cut-backs there is perhaps less of a welcome and friendships are perhaps harder to form. See the following article in The Guardian earlier this year Nursing Dream Fades for Filipinos. Being here in Manila there are billboards advertising schools and colleges where you can "Study and Migrate".