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Philippines 1999
“Bridgebuilders” will be continued in the next Passport. Monday, March 29 - I awaken early to the sound of street noises. Somewhere a rooster is crowing. It is not quite 5 am and the streets in the old section of Santa Ana, Manila, are alive with the roar of motorcycles and cars that almost obliterate the softer sounds of shuffling feet and the whisk of brooms cleaning the sidewalks. Our €rst stop today is to meet Mayor Atienza. As the group alights from our vans, we hear a military band playing a Sousa march. Someone very important must be arriving. WOW! It’s playing for us! We are shepherded into a large mahogany paneled reception room to await the mayor. He greets each of us with a handshake and addresses our group with words of thanks for our efforts during the JCWP ‘99. Barbara returns his greeting. As she calls out the name of our states, we step forward to present greetings and gifts from our local of€cials. There is a time for a group photo with the mayor before we return to the courtyard and another serenade by the band. Our day continues with visits to Intramuros, Fort Santiago, San Agustin Church, Manila Cathedral, and Rizal Park. After a long ride to Quezon City, we arrive at Cataban restaurant for a buffet of Filipino food. Although the names are unfamiliar and we are uncertain of the ingredients, everyone enjoys the food. Following lunch, we drive to the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial where 17,206 WWII dead are buried and where the names of 36,279 of our missing are inscribed. So many names, so many crosses and Stars of David, so many families who have grieved. I wish that I could touch or place a kiss on each name to let them know that they are still remembered and to thank them for the sacri€ce that they made for our freedom. Returning to the Philippine Women’s University in Manila, our group disperses and we end our scheduled activities and start a new adventure with our host families. [Anne, PA] Tuesday, March 30- Linda (incoming ED) had scheduled a day trip of sightseeing. Barb and I started out being tardy for the arrival of the van- due to a clock which was lagging by 15 minutes, oops! More delay developed when we found Linda still in her housecoat due to a plethora of telephone calls. So-o-o, we moved on to pick up the Wagners. There Barb & I met their host family where the dad, "Boy," has an outstanding family, wife and daughters, of female doctors. He is an entrepreneur of beautiful metal castings. Departure from there came with Linda’s all clear phonecall. McDonald’s was the next stop where three Japanese ladies also joined us (they had a homestay after the FF conference). Break time was at the superhighway McDonald’s which surpassed any that I know of back home. The rest of the trip to Lake Taal was through rural area with typical tropical vegetation, horticultural farm sections, and a few industrial plants, including a Toyota facility. Our destination, was a site with a stunning view of the lake with a volcanic crater in the middle. A morning shower ended shortly before our arrival at the viewing spots. Pappy made several balloon animals for children while there. Linda arranged for another excellent meal of Filipino cuisine at Josephine’s. Rain which lasted throughout the afternoon began as we started our return. A stop at one of the many roadside produce vendors revealed a wide variety of fresh, familiar and new products. Next stop was the Orchard Valley Club, a private golf course and clubhouse where a group of pre-school to 5th/6th grade students were celebrating graduates, some even in caps and gowns. The course facilities were as beautiful and equal to any I know of at home. We managed to leave Jim stranded there as the rest of us switched vans to travel to hosts of Barb & Allen. Our hostess, Baby, served an impromptu dinner for our van load of ten at their plush home. With some sleuthing by Linda & Barb, Jim was found at the Manila Hotel where arrangements were made for his rescue. (He reported the next day that he had enjoyed the opportunity even though they wouldn’t let him take a "jeepney" and made the most of it!) [Allen, NE] Wednesday, March 31- We met at Philippine Women’s University to travel by two vans to Baguio City, site of the summer capitol in the mountains. The route took us past Mt. Pinatubo and through beautiful agricultural land. We saw a few people from time to time carrying wooden crosses and a few flogging themselves. It was Holy Week and acting out some of scriptures seems quite important in the countryside. It started raining late in the day which made driving in the mountains a challenge for our driver. We arrived at the home of Friendship Force members who had prepared a wonderful dinner for us. After dinner and conversation, we were escorted to our home for the next two nights. There was plenty of room for the nine of us to sleep but bathing/shaving with one bathroom will be interesting as we get ready to meet Friendship Force members for breakfast! (We did it with time to spare!) [Barb, NE] Thursday, April 1- On this morning as day was breaking and the roosters were crowing in the Woodsville neighborhood in Baguio, nine people were beginning to stir from the much needed sleep. Through the Manila ED and a few gracious FF members who showed us their city, we had a great time. We started with breakfast at Camp John Hay, followed by visiting the Philippine Military Academy and Baguio Cathedral. We shopped in the Mines View Park and several other stores featuring wood carving, weaving, paper making, etc. We had lunch at the "Jolly Bee," sort of a Philippine version of McDonald’s and the like. After lunch we viewed "The Mansion" or summer palace for the president and staff; a park with wood carvings and €nally a brief shopping stop for essentials, like toilet paper, etc. In the evening, the FF members took us back to Camp John Hay for a Mongolian buffet dinner! It goes without saying, "what a wonderful show of friendship--Thank you!" What royal treatment we received. It was not hard to be flexible with the treatment showered upon us today and throughout our stay in the Philippines. Salamat! (that’s thank you in Tagalog, the main language here in the northern Philippines along with English) [Lee Roy, WI] Friday, April 2- Today we packed up and left Baguio for Manila. The trip down the mountain was impressive. Near the base of the mountain is a painted rock formation resembling a lion’s head (sponsored by the Lion’s Clubs of the province). We stopped to take pictures. The trip back to Manila took approximately 4 hours - no traf€c since Good Friday is a national holiday with many people fasting. Even Manila was quiet with little traf€c. By 2 PM we were back with our host families. Since my host family left Manila for Easter weekend, I opted for the Philippine Village Hotel. It’s easily accessible to the airport and our departure on Saturday morning. It felt unusual to take a shower again. I did need to steam clean my body! Even though most of the city was shut down, I was able to €nd a restaurant which was open in Makati, the business area. That evening I prepared for the trip back to the U.S. and chilled. [Jim, GA] Saturday, April 3- As requested by the airlines, we were all at the airport three hours before departure, or 7 am. Since our last night was Good Friday, we didn’t have a farewell gathering and most weren’t up late. Linda had reserved the VIP lounge so that hosts and ambassadors could have a comfy spot to visit and share refreshments before going to the departure gate. She even had a huge supply of dried mango and Jim bought most of it. The fruits in season had been superb! Before we were admitted through various gates, we had been through several scanners and been body searched at least three times. That’s the most security checks most of us had ever had. Some of it seems to stem from the €ghting in Yugoslavia. But no one is really complaining. Our flight took us to Osaka where this time we had a couple of hours in the terminal instead of racing to the next plane as for the flight to Manila. With westerly winds and additional tail winds, our trip was considerably shorter than before. Once we arrived in L.A., we said our farewells and attempted to garner earlier flights where possible. Delta Airlines would not let Allen & I to do so without our luggage which was in Northwest’s possession. This was apparently due to the NATO bombing in Yugoslavia. So we had a 6-7 hour delay before we were rerouted to Atlanta due to severe storms in Dallas-Fort Worth. Once again we had great tail winds but by then we were numb-- our day was now much longer than 24 hours! We arrived at our house at 2:30 am Easter Sunday morning and then advanced the clock for daylight saving time (or a 35 hour day!). Yes, we came home exhausted but also jubilant. What an incredible two weeks we all had had!!! [Barb, NE] I’d add that the food (rice, vegetables, fruits) and flowers (hibiscus, oleander, mimosa trees, bird of paradise, ginger and especially the many different colors of bougainvillea) were just magnificent. Traffic in Manila is something to behold but always seemed courteous. Even the tooting of horns was kind and gentle. Perhaps it stems out of the character of her people: very warm, friendly and hospitable. |
©2008 Friendship Force of Lincoln. All Rights Reserved. |
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o doubt you have received your May/June issue of "Friendship" featuring "Bridgebuilders to Manila" with the cover picture and pages 4-5 dedicated to our adventure. Our team consisted of 14 ambassadors, including Chip, the Carter’s son (he’s the one on the cover, row 3, 4th from right with sunglasses); house leader, Stan, from Florida (rear left, red shirt); and we represented 9 states. Unfortunately three wonderful Canadians that we built with didn’t get in the picture. Between us, we built two houses, the blue one in the cover picture for Cornelio (front row, 2nd from right, #31, father of €ve sons) where we hung a plaque in honor of Rosalynn Carter; and Sonia (front row 3rd from right, mother of 4 sons and 4 daughters whose husband left her after the birth of the last child) lives next door (#32, pink house in the background). Numerous volunteers from within the Philippines and Bill from Idaho (3rd row, orange/white shirt) are also pictured. It was a marvelous week in spite of the heat! To have constructed two houses by our team and 119 in a new village, Isiahville, in €ve days was a miracle! There were six sites in the country with 293 homes built that week. Working together, Friendship & Habitat are indeed "a new Force for Humanity!"