March & April: Silliness & Busyness

My apologies for this very delayed blog update. It was a very busy past semester (as usual) and I didn’t have much time to collect my thoughts. I’ll add a funny story to this March & April update to compensate. : )

A Silly Story
I haven't shared too many anecdotes from my time here, but a number of funny things do happen to me in the Philippines. This particular event happened at the end of March and I somehow ended up being an instant nanay ("mother" in Tagalog). It was Sunday evening, and I had to pull an all nighter in order to complete a proposal and application for my thesis project so that I could send it to an ethics board in the States for approval; receiving approval would allow me to begin my research (I have been approved since then! Praise the Lord). The previous week had been really crazy as Erika and I were working on our applications and running around, trying to get things translated, printed, scanned, and signed to include in the application by the deadline.

The awkward picture that resulted from that morning...
(Note the sagging boutonniere) 

I had already planned on going to the elementary school graduation for Andrea, one of the girls from my church/community, and was aware that it was on Monday morning at 7am (I don't know if you're thinking the same thing I was...What graduation starts at 7am?!). I had been working with Erika at her place, which is about an hour from where I live. So at 5:30am I leave Erika's place and am rushing to get back home so I can bathe and be on time for this graduation. I get to my house at about 6:45am and hurriedly take my bucket bath and get ready.

As soon as I walk up to the basketball court at 7am where the graduation is held, I don't see Andrea or her mother, and am not really sure what's happening. Normally Filipino events start late, but I'm surprised that I already see a line of students entering the court, one by one, and they each have a parent beside them as they enter. This one boy from my community who I've met a couple times isn't accompanied by a parent like all of the other kids are. I see my host dad's mom and she tells me Kawawa talaga, wala siyang kasama (How sad, he doesn't have a companion). She urges me to get in line beside him so that he'll have someone beside him as he walks in the ceremony. I'm hesitant to walk beside him in the line since (1) I'm dressed very casually, (2) I don't have a special "parent ribbon" like all the other parents in line do, (3) I don't know this boy very well, and most importantly (4) I don't what's happening. I'm so tired and not sure if this is the best decision, but I feel bad so I get in line beside him. 

As we start walking towards the court, some vendors are really pushy and trying to sell orchid boutonnieres for 20 pesos (about 45 cents). We're a minute or two from entering the basketball court, but I see that almost everyone else has a flower on their gown, so I buy one for the boy. We're almost to the front of the procession at the entrance of the court, and I'm hurriedly trying to pin this boutonnière on the boy's graduation gown as we're walking. I recall that I couldn't even do this at my own prom in high school and had to ask my mom to pin it onto my date's tux. I'm sleep deprived and trying to stick the needle through the boutonniere as we're walking. I'm doing my best not to stab the boy. Hand-eye coordination isn't so great when you're running on zero hours of sleep. I don't succeed and the flower is pinned on his gown, but not well, so it turns upside down and sags. : ( 

We end up getting to the entrance of the court, where there's a man with a camera taking pictures of the student and parent duos. We both feel super awkward, but can't prevent the picture-taking from happening. I end up sitting with the other parents and the boy, Ivan, ends up sitting in a different area with his classmates. The graduation lasts about 2.5 hours (complete with Filipino songs, speeches from some local politicians, and award ceremonies) and it gets pretty hot halfway through. I never found Andrea's mom (the parents of boys sat on one side and parents of girls sat on the other), but was able to see Andrea when she walked on stage to get her certificate. Turns out that there wasn't any space inside the court aside from the one parent allowed, so everyone else had to watch from outside the fence. They looked like prisoners as people peeked from between the metal wires : ( I'm grateful I had a seat. Standing in the hot sun for 2.5 hours is rough.

The end. : )

Spring Semester School Things 
So I’ve just completed the first week of my sixth and FINAL semester of the MATUL program. I can’t believe it. I am always so surprised when I reach the end of a semester, and I can only attribute each semester’s completion to the grace of God. To recap this past Spring Semester: 

For our Entrepreneurship project, Erika and I ended up working with Banaba House Ministries again (as opposed to working with the rice business that I mentioned a few months ago). We helped develop a funding proposal for a small business (a piggery) that the BHM youth would run. It would help provide some supplementary funds for the ministry, as well as develop leadership skills and responsibility among the youth. Pork is big in the Philippines and one of the youth used to run his own piggery so he has the expertise to lead the business. Our proposal for the piggery even got funded by a donor connected with the ministry! : ) In the course we expanded more on the theology of entrepreneurship and this course added on our theology of economics course that we took last year. Our God is a God of creativity, innovation, and resourcefulness, and it was neat to see how this fits in the urban poor context. 

Teacher Kim (in purple), Catie, and I, with the ALS students after a class

Our Education internship was also under Banaba House Ministries, and we assisted and shadowed with the ministry’s Alternative Learning System program. Erika and I attended classes on different days and throughout the semester, I interned with the English class on Thursday afternoons. It was interesting to learn more about the challenges of this non-formal education program in the Philippines. For most ALS site,s there is no tuition fee for the students, but this means that there is less accountability; student retention is a big challenge that this ALS site faces. In addition to teaching a few classes, I really enjoyed being able to get to know the students and hearing their stories. In this education course, we explored public & private schools, vocational schooling, and faith & non-faith based schooling. Education is an important thing in ending cycles of poverty, but accessibility is a tricky thing for the poor. Many students in the Philippines drop out early due to family issues or the need to work to help out their families. 

For my thesis project, I ended up deciding to research Environmental Stewardship among urban poor Filipinos. Issues of creation care and a connection with the land are very near and dear to my heart. I feel that nowadays we're more disconnected with our natural environment as our living spaces become increasingly urban. I'm still not sure what creation care looks like in the urban poor context, and so I wanted to explore it further. I believe that it's important to honor the Lord by caring for the Earth, but am aware that for the urban poor, they are more concerned with survival than sustainability. A part of me is very insecure about my topic as it seems like other students' topics on sex trafficked women, refugees, education, and grassroots pastors training are more important. But I know that environmental justice is a part of the Kingdom too; it not only involves reconciliation with us and God, but with others, and with the land. 

Other Happenings...
In April, My host sister, Hadassah, turned 7! There was a simple birthday celebration at the church and a whole bunch of kids from the community came for the food. There weren't any activities or presents, but it was still a joyous and blessed time to celebrate her day of birth. 

On the far left, you will see hot dogs & marshmallows on sticks, a favorite of the kids

Our friend from the previous cohort, Jake, along with two girls from the Delhi, India MATUL site, Valerie and Emily, came to visit at the end of April! We had the privilege of showing the girls our communities and giving them a taste of our lives in the Philippines. It was such a sweet reunion to see Val & Em since I hadn't seen them since our semester in Los Angeles at the end of 2013 before going into the field. Even though our countries' contexts are very different, there's a special bond between MATUL students; we have similar hearts for justice, the gospel, and the poor, and we also understand how hard it is to do school while living in an urban poor community.

A birthday lunch to celebrate Jake's 25th at his former home stay

Some boats at sunset at El Nido, Palawan

During the one-week semester break, we went to Palawan, an island in the Philippines that is a common place for foreigners to visit when they come to the country. Erika and I went with Jake, the Delhi girls, and Stephanie, our fellow Manila classmate from the new cohort. It wasn’t a very pricey or fancy trip, but we were just glad for the opportunity to get some fresh air and to get out of the city.

Las Cabanas, a beach that was a 10 minute tricycle ride from where we stayed

Unfortunately, none of us were done with our assignments for the semester and were trapped in the hotel room for the majority of the week as we struggled to finish up our late projects. It was definitely challenging to keep working throughout this brief semester break, especially since I knew that another semester of work was waiting around the corner for me. We were all exhausted, but were very grateful to be together as we suffered and pushed on. On the final day, we all made it out to the beach before heading back to the city. I would definitely love to go back to Palawan some day (without the school assignments of course).

As I embark upon my last semester of MATUL, I'm nervous about a number of things. I still have no idea what I'm doing when I finish the program in August. I'm exhausted. I have no idea how I'm going to complete my thesis (i.e. make appointments to set up the interviews, complete a couple dozen interviews in Tagalog, synthesize and analyze research, etc.). I need to set up and start an internship for this semester's Advocacy and Land Rights course. I'm afraid of how busy this semester will get and how stressed out I'll become. But I know that the Lord is good and gracious and somehow everything will get done. May He be glorified in all that I am and all that I do.

As always, thank you for all of your prayers, love, and support. <3