where the moon shines

 I can’t remember when or how I first stumbled about this lady’s effort to help out the young school children of her hometown, but I knew from the get go that I wanted to help. What she described in her blog is something I have witnessed too – there really are kids who, even when they have no pencils to use or paper to write on, would still go to school because they so desire to learn. There are children who would launder their uniforms everyday after school because they only have one pair of blouse/polo and skirt/shorts that they could wear. And how many kids go to school barefoot because there’s just not enough money for slippers?

For sure, pencils will not solve their impoverished situation, but I agree that it will give the children another reason to hope and work for a better future.

How much does a pencil cost?  Surely less than ten pesos for the regular yellow ones (yes, I am referring to Mongols).  I intend to buy pencils (and a couple of sharpeners that the teachers can make available for the students) and send them over before the end of May.   I hope to get the boyfriend in on this project, and maybe encourage my team at work too.  I’ll ask mom and dad, my brother, and even all the kids here who take their own pencils for granted.  I won’t force anyone to donate with me but I don’t think it would be difficult to convince them to participate.  I mean seriously, how many pencils are the equivalent to the current costs of a pack of cigarettes? Or a can of coke?

The badge will take you to the Pens of Hope HQ so you can learn more about the project, it’s instigator (:)) and where you may send your donations to (all in kind).  And if you do decide to help, let me know too so I can thank you myself  :)

That’s what seems to be happening with the tragedy of Trina Etong’s death.  Trina is the wife of broadcaster and former congressman Ted Failon, she took her life a few days ago by gunshot.  Failon and their house helpers allegedly found Trina in the comfort room where she locked herself in, and they rushed her to a nearby hospital.  She was in the critical care unit for the next day, before she died.  Failon, his sister-in-law and a brother-in-law, along with their driver and house helpers were arrested by the police for allegedly obstructing justice.  The police basis? They cleaned up the scene of the crime, and the car they used to take Trina to the hospital, and they did not report the crime to the police.

My take?  Would any family really call the police to report a suicide attempt?  Most of the time, families would like to keep this hush-hush. And they don’t know whether their family member will pull through or if they’re losing her soon.  

It’s sad, the police are probably really just trying to do their job, but in the process they’ve caused another tragedy to the Etong/Failon family on top of the tragic loss of a loved one.  The theory is that the police is acting this way because they have a lot against Failon, and ABS-CBN. Like it’s payback time. I sincerely hope not. The Commission on Human Rights is reviewing clips of the Failon family arrests to make sure that their rights were not violated in the process.

Here’s a link to the latest updates on the story, there are related links at the end of the story that are worth checking out too.

I’ve been staring at this white space… staring and staring and staring…

Thoughts come fleeting into my head, but they never fully form enough to move my fingers to type.  Seriously, I’ve been like this all day (or all night rather).  I think this is what happens whenever I have big decisions to make.  As to what it’s about, I can’t say yet. No, not even on my own blog.  But soon enough, if it is indeed that important, it shall be revealed.

I don’t feel like taking a photo today.  Odd.

Use an AED on me to jumpstart my spirit, maybe that’s what I need to bring me back to life.

In my previous post I briefly mentioned sponsoring two of my nieces’ camp fee. Well, these are those two. Chicki and Shanti.  They were born a few days apart, with Shanti coming out in August 30, and Chicki on September 2nd.  But this is a scanned photo from many many moons ago.  I’m pretty sure I took this photo, it was back when we lived inside the Seminary compound and I spent a lot of time with both of them.

I hope they’re having a grand time at camp, and that they’re able to vent out their pent up emotions about their families.  Looking at their smiles here, don’t you just see all that they can become and all that they can achieve?  They’re in highschool now, already at an age where the decisions they make can determine the course of the rest of their lives.  

I hope that they remember how loved they are, and that they still feel that love, and be guided in their future decisions.

Anyway… I don’t believe I displayed my current desktop here yet.  The photos in the template by Heather Ann Designs are of my nephew Esban and my Dad, taken during his birthday celebration, March 31st, which was also his sister’s grade school graduation (she’s the one at the bottom picture):

My four nieces, ages 10 to 14, went away to camp this morning.  I sponsored two of them, Chiki and Shanti, although I originally only said yes to one.  I attended camps throughout my teen years and I know that this is something they can really learn from.  I hope it at least broadens their world view.  Now, about the sponsorship, what’s in it for me?  I asked the three older girls to maintain a journal of their stay and write down their learnings and maybe even feelings for the day’s activities. One entry for each, per day.  Now, I doubt they will actually do this, but let’s see.  They’ll be back on Friday.

So this camp that the girls are attending is more of a spiritual/religious one.  I was at a different kind of camp the previous weekend.  It was Asia ACTs’ Youth Camp for Children of Migrant Workers.  It’s the first of it’s kind that Asia ACTs, together with ILO and Save the Children-UK, sponsored.  The youth that attended camp had parents or significant adults who left home to work abroad.  The aim of the camp was to see how these children are faring, what their situation is, and mostly, how they’re coping.

The camp was held at Forest Camp, located in Barangay Puypuy, Bay, Laguna.

The first thing that caught my attention (aside from the trees) as soon as I set foot in Forest Club, were these flowers:

They have a lot of these in different flower combinations, I’ll try to show more later.

It was a fun three-day weekend.  I had terrible headaches every morning (was it because I had lots of sleep?), but they eventually went away and I sure wouldn’t let them rob me of that weekend.  I had to take a two-day leave from work just so I could join the camp as one of three documentors, I wouldn’t let headaches take it away from me. Besides, I was there to work, not to relax (no matter how beautiful our room was).

The weekend was a bit emotional for some of the children, but it was mostly fun for them. They got to build new friendships, learned about their inherent rights, and also gained a new perspective of their situation.  They also got to be a little adventurous with the canopy walk, two-rope bridge, log crossing, and the famous (and stinky) mud crawl!  I took pictures of the adventure of course, but I used Frankie because it was outdoors and a good opportunity to take her out.  There are some photos on my Kodak, snapped by Ate Reg, I’ll probably put those up.  I actually have lots of photos from throughout the weekend but I’m wary of posting them here because, well, just because. 

So how does it feel joining a workshop after almost four years in a different world?  It’s all the same.  Everything’s still goes the way I remember them.  Not much has changed.  Part of me wishes I could just go back and do it all over again. But there’s the part that doesn’t want the added baggage that sometimes comes along with it.  The biggest pull factor is just being with young people and seeing them blossom.  

It wasn’t too long ago when I was just like them. Discovering myself, and learning about others.  What’s most important though, is seeing them realize that they can do something to change a situation that they don’t like, be it their’s or someone else’s. The best part is when you see one or two or three of them be empowered to take control of their situation.  That’s what I miss being a part of.

Anyway, I’m not sure this post turned out the way I had thought it would, but what the heck.

Here are random photos: