Day One

I work for the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO). The CSWDO is a part of City Hall and is situated therein. My Counter-Part is Vanessa, she's a giddy woman with two kids and a great attitude for our work. I didn't know what to expect from my first day at work but I knew I had to show up for a flag ceremony at 7:30am on Monday. No rest for a volunteer.

After a light breakfast of eggs and luncheon meat (spam) I tossed on my Monday uniform, white polo, and walked off to work. Flag ceremony is a big deal most everywhere and Cabanatuan certainly is no exception, all the city offices and public services were in attendance. I walked in past the local police force, fifty or so officers all at attention, and began searching for either my counter-part or my supervisor.

Congregated around the statue of Rizal were a hundred or so white-shirt wearing city workers. After a minute I asked a friendly looking face where the CSWDO people were, she told me she was one of the aforementioned. I can't remember all the faces and names of people I met today, it was a long series of light handshakes and “good mornings.” Eventually the flag ceremony happened, I met the mayor briefly to no fanfare, and we all filed into City Hall to start the work day. I finally had a chance to see my department and settle into my desk. I wasn't given much time though, the next thing I knew I was headed for the mayors office for a conference.

I just wanted to deliver a letter that essentially said “Austin is here” (the misspelled my last name though, Kinkaid, oh well). I also had an official paper that needed a signature from the mayor, I had my eye on the practical. I hadn't anticipated being present for a five hour meeting or making an impromptu speech about the Peace Corps and myself. Sure enough I had my council with the mayor and impressed a few higher ups in the room with my basic Tagalog and gave a quick rundown of Peace Corps as it currently is in the Philippines. I didn't ramble very long and when I was done my supervisor translated a majority of what I had said and added some strange extra information like how I can't ride motorcycles. I thought she was just making sure the wealthy attendees in attendance didn't get the wrong idea that I was being disrespectful when turning down future offers of rides on motorcycles. I didn't know that the whole of the conference was being broadcast live over radio and TV, internet too I think. Imagine my face when I got back to the office and people who hadn't been in the room began complimenting me on my speech. Thanks, let me know ahead of time next time.

The rest of my day was spent touring a couple satellite buildings holding a medical center and the C4 program that I'll be working with before long. I kept working on Peace Corps paperwork through the day as they loaded me up with a few homework projects regarding contact information and signatures.

I finished my shift with wedging myself into my counter-part's supplemental feeding program she's on the verge of implementing. It's a six month program where parents are taught how to cook one meal a day for their children. The kids eat one guaranteed meal a day and at the end of the program the parents receive a set of cookware. I caught my counter-part trying to figure out how to dole out ingredients for each day-care, and it looks complex.

I'll take another gander at that problem tomorrow, here it is the end of day one and I feel good.