EduK Update and My Bathroom Woes

First off, the eduK project is still moving forward and is closer now to completion than before. Being the linchpin in a project is difficult and especially so as a one-person team. There are better and more efficient ways of doing business and finishing tasks and my experience and ability to only absorb so much best-practices hamstrings my efforts to do the project right.

Currently the video is in production. I think cinematography gets written off as a non-art because it seems so easy: point the camera at what you want and film. I can say as an outsider of the art, and it is an art, that things only look easy thanks to all the well produced movies and television programs we have access to all the time. When you actually lay hands on a camera and start fiddling around you quickly find yourself looking a replay of an unwatchable mess. At least, that's my experience with filming and editing.

Thankfully my cousin, Brenden, has stepped up to the task and is going to help me out from overseas. All I had to do was film and record the parts and get the pieces to him. The parts are all there and he's working his magic as we speak. You'll be hearing more about this soon!

Nothing Wrong Here. Shiny Floor, Hmm... What's In The Bathroom?

On an different and interesting note, I've been battling periodic, but reliable, flooding in my apartment. If you don't care for stories about human refuse or the triumph of the human spirit, give the rest of this post a skip. This is not your garden variety flooding either, this is sewage flooding. Here's the deal: Every now and again the pipes would go on the fritz. This meant my toilet would stop flushing in any meaningful way and the floor-grate would back up water from somewhere else. This back up water was likely a combination of my waste and neighbors, it certainly wasn't all me. I don't know what caused this fritzy issue but a call to the landlady would bring some friendly guys over who would fix the issue for me, at least for a little while.

Oh... Oh no.

Before I go on, let me tell you what “fixing” means. The lowest tier of “fixing” in my bathroom saga is basically plunging the toilet. The plunging was done by one guy who didn't have a plunger, so he would make do with what god gave him. I watched this guy “plunge” my toilet with his barefoot, then send his hand in for good measure. Eventually in these plunging sessions the guy would avail of some neighbors plunger, never early enough though, and would stand in my bathroom plunging the floor-grate and so on. He wore no shoes, sandals, gloves, or really any protective gear for that matter.

After awhile, the backing up issue seemed to no longer be an issue. Then I had new neighbors move in. I can't say with any certainty that they are the cause of all my ills but their arrival is correlated with the worst of my flooding issues. As we all know correlation is not causation and therefore, it's just as likely that my flooding caused my neighbors to move in, or that they're unrelated. All perfectly reasonable ideas.

Anyway, the flooding before was always short lived, small, and always confined to the bathroom. The flooding couldn't get out of the bathroom thanks to the small amount of back-up and that my bathroom floor is bout 2 ½ inches deep, under the height of my kitchen. This new breed of flooding took flooding to new levels when it filled the whole of the bathroom to the brim with sewage. I had a visit from Kaiti when the flooding hit it's worst level and she had to endure the following with me: Poopocolypse 2012.

The flooding reached it's new found level one evening and I was sure it would subside before long. Come the next morning I found my new roommate, floody-buddy, was still hanging out just as high as it was before, if not higher. Moments after walking down my stairs and surveying the mess, it came over the edge, straight into my kitchen and beyond. A trickle that only increased in intensity. I had a more apathetic feeling towards the issue, I figured it would stop soon and Kaiti and I could leave it befor awhile since it was out of our hands. Kaiti took a more reasonable and ultimately intelligent stance of standing, wading, and fighting the flood. After flip-flopping between running or staying, I donned my boots and stepped up.

A Slippery Step For Mankind

Stepping up meant wading right into the fray of sewage and straight into the pool in my bathroom. With the door finally open (I closed it to keep the larger ”bits” from flowing in) I could see it was only flowing in more. If you've ever placed a garden hose underwater while it was turned on and aimed the flow of water in the hose at the surface, causing a hill of moving water to appear, you can imagine what I saw in my bathroom, sewage flowing in with some force.

Again with some helpful counsel from Kaiti I decided bailing the bathroom out was our best choice of action. I started filling two buckets, one after the other, and handing each one when full to kaiti to empty on the street. Our initial efforts seems to only make room for more sewage and didn't seem to be of any help. After several buckets I decided to plug the floor grate with something and figured a plastic bag full of other plastic bags would do the trick. With the flow significantly reduced, our bailing efforts started to really show some results.

After filling and emptying more than twenty 5-gallon buckets and twenty 3ish-gallon buckets, we had reduced the problem to only a giant mess instead of a nightmare. In this whole event my landlady saw the flooding and was making preparations for fixes in the near future. She also walked barefoot through the sewage water for some reason, maybe she thought I was foolin'. Kaiti took charge of sweeping the sewage from my apartment-proper into the bathroom before we left to get replacement cleaning materials.

Welcome Home, Ace

You might think that professionals were promptly called in by my landlady and this horrible situation was cleared up in a jif. Think again! The landlady called in the plunger boys again and they worked thier magic but this time it didn't stick long enough for them to leave saying “it's alright!” The problem was standing its ground and was more than the plunger-man could handle.

At this point I had to leave site and wasn't going to be home for anymore work to be done. They needed me there in the house since I'm the only one with a key, so the flooding returned while I was gone over the weekend, a week after the first bad flood. Coming home to sewage is a bummer. My cat Laguna was thankfully watched by my local American friend Kathryn while I was gone. I went back to bailing my bathroom out.

After a couple more days of this bad flooding, I felt that my landlady wasn't appreciating how lame other peoples (and my own) poop all over my apartment was. The best way I could illustrate how bad it was, other than having her move in, was dump the sewage outside my front door. You might think that I'm just going to have to tread through that water too and I'm not really helping, but I had sewage in my kitchen, so things could get no more disgusting. After countless trips back and forth from my bathroom to my door, dumping the contents far and wide, I had emptied my bathroom as much as I could. Throughout this work detail I could see neighbors staring at me and eventually my landlady asked me why I was doing it, and a curt explanation that the flooding was back like before. She said she would call in another crew to replace the plumbing, and said to stop dumping.

Finally, several days later, the crew that was going to replace the plumbing showed up and they set to work tearing my bathroom apart. They dug down and tore the big pipe out that connected to the toilet and floor-grate and replaced it with almost a carbon copy but one with an extra reservoir-looking attachment. They then covered that over and brought the floor up from it's depth, to just below the plane of my kitchen floor. Having the level higher looks nicer but it costs me in that if/when it floods again, my bathroom wont be able to hold as much water/sewage as before. Everything seemed to be working when they finished.

The flooding came back. More sweeping sewage into my bathroom. The landlady called in another new crew and said she dropped 12k pesos to have the canal the sewage ran into cleaned out. The canal was certainly cleaned out and I bet everyone else is over the moon about how well their bathrooms work now, but mine stayed just as backed up as before. This time though, flooding only happens thanks to me alone (I think). Nothing is being forced into my bathroom, but barely anything is getting through the pipes. I theorized that the canal-cleaners forced something/s into my pipe inadvertently, or it was already there and they couldn't get to it. Anyway, still an nonfunctional bathroom.

Still Didn't Fix It.

Why didn't I just leave immediately? I paid first and last months rent. Unless the landlady can help resolve the issue, I'll be moving on to less soiled pastures. As of today, there is a new crew probably tearing the ground out in front of my front door, where the pipe from my bathroom leads. This is a last ditch effort. I couldn't imagine what else could fix this problem. If it's not fixed I'll move along.

For the readers delight, imagine the following:

I mean it, really imagine this paragraph, close your eyes and get that imagination working.

It's hot and sunny outside and you don't have air-conditioning to look forward to at home. You ride a bicycle home and work up a light sweat that only gets worse when you stop riding because you don't have wind in your face. You go into your apartment and find raw sewage in your apartment, everywhere on the floor. You're hot and the air is ripe. Turn on a fan and you only get concentrated sewage air in your face but you may as well since you live here and will be cleaning soon enough. It's the fourth week you've dealt with this.

Now think about what you actually come home to. I bet you feel great

When I wrote most of this, I was hoping to have this issue put to rest. Sadly, after a few days of better draining and no backing up, my house flooded again. This was after a handy-man was poking around. I don't know if his efforts contributed but he certainly didn't do anything to help in a significant manner. He came into my apartment in the early morning and splashed some water around, confirmed the toilet flushes never, and the drain has drain-problems. The drain did drain though, so all seemed well. After awhile he left, assuming his work done. While I was busily breaking apart a fortress built by Bad Piggies with some upset avian, I suddenly recognized an old smell. I turned around to find, to my over-used dismay, sewage creeping across my floor.

I popped outside to get the handy-man and told him about the problem. He said “it's okay” at first, but after a few gestures and me not leaving, he tagged along to see what I was whining about. After a surprised exclamation at seeing the sewage there he started in immediately to clear it away. His method lacked what I would call “reasonable finesse”, as far as the idea of cleaning is concerned. He grabbed a rough hand broom and directed his strokes toward the back door. The handy-man played hard and fast with his sweeping and was decorating my walls as much as he was moving toward the exit. He was also shuffling things of mine, things caught in the sewage flood, around in the sewage, rather than moving them from the actual pool. I watched him topple my full-trash can onto its top, spilling the contents, in one depressingly hilarious stroke of his broom. He set it back up, in the pool of sewage, and carried on. At this point I should consider fumigating my apartment with Purell since I cannot guess what all has been splashed with feces at this point.

I should just cut bait and start full blown bonfires in my living room and consider opening a vomitorium in my bedroom. What do I have to lose? Sewage is certainly way up there in the “do not want” category of what could be in your home, anything else is either an improvement or simply a lateral move.

I do admit, this bad situation is funny. My laugh-it-off resolve is taking a battering, but I'm not broken yet. Send me your plumbing prayers.

Siquijor Vacation (Old Story)

A while back, I took my first trip deep into the Visayan Islands here in the Philippines. I took the trip with Kaiti and boy did we get some serious vacationing in. We visited three different islands: Bohol, Siquijor, and Negros.

We left from Manila by plane for Tagbilaran, Bohol first. We only were going to be there for one day so we tried to get in as much sightseeing as we could. We were able to travel inland for an hour and a half to catch sight of one of the Philippines bigger bragging points, the Chocolate Hills. The hills are half interesting and half unremarkable. Kaiti and I were both unsure why the Philippines hoists the hills so high as a sight-to-see, there's are other interesting things around that aren't so far away. After the hills we traveled back by open-air bus just in time to get dinner at the Bohol Bee Farm.

Sweating and Eating Fish Chips

The bee farm is one of the more impressive places I've eaten at here in the Philippines. The food is all grown on the on-site farm and the food was all delightful, although a premium was paid. Kaiti and I were on the losing end of a bad trike driver who was actively trying to dance away with more than his fair share for the trip there and back. The price started at PHP400 (for comparison, one plane ticket to Bohol was PHP1000), I knew this price was wildly inflated but we needed the driver to take us back to the city after dinner, the price dropped to 300 after a short haggle session. During the dinner we learned the typical trike fare to the restaurant is around 25PHP, after learning this I was determined to make renegotiate the price. We walked away from the trike driver only paying PHP200, neither party involved was happy.

Roosters In Bags On The Boat, They're Alive

We left the next morning for Siquijor but had to take a detour through Dumaguete first. We went by boat and enjoyed a 2 hour boat trip, had some lunch, and loaded onto our next boat. We made it to Siquijor by around 2pm, after leaving Bohol at 8:30am.

Waiting For Our Boat To Siquijor

Our Sea Chariot, Leak Included

The Island of Siquijor is beautiful. Just stepping off the boat it was striking how blue the water is here. All the beaches surrounding the island are white so the shallow water truly pops, especially so at the port.

We were greeted by our PCV friend Ginna who lives on Siquijor. She was able to help us get a decent price for the tricycle going to our home-stay on the other side of the island. We were dropped off at Lorna's At The End Of The World and settled into our spartan room overlooking azure water. Lorna's is a house that butts up directly to the water, and for only PHP400 a night we were sold before we even got to the island, reserving a room in advance. The building was a two story house-repurposed-home-stay, The second story looked rickety but the rooms were nice and comfortable. There was even a deck on top of the building itself but the homemade steps leading to the top creaked too much and had more "give" than I liked, we stayed away.

Lorna's was a place of curiosities. It had the beautiful scenery in spades but the cast and crew of the places was what really made it unique. First, there was Lorna and her husband Herb. Lorna was a very pretty 30-something Filipina and Herb a older (60ish) Englishman with advanced degrees in Psychology, including a PHD from UCSF. Both were very friendly, Herb was mainly interested in building the new addition next to the current house, Lorna helped out and kept an eye on the house in general. Lorna had at least one daughter in the house and Herb had one as well that was older, in her twenties. There was also Herb's cousin who had some back-related injury that caused him to walk around hunched over at the waist, leaning forward to a steep degree. There was also the old woman (perhaps Lorna's mother) who couldn't speak words but could make vocal sounds, and possibly not hear, but did seem aware enough to help us out a few times in our stay. The mother would often talk to us but it was difficult to understand her, we relied on her hand gestures mainly to understand. Finally there were several animals at Lorna's. There was the goofy big dog that would try to bowl us over every time one of us got near enough. There was also a pack of cats, mainly kittens, that would get everywhere and one of them had a bad case of diarrhea, pooping loudly and without warning, spraying whatever was behind it. All these fun people and animals were what greeted us at Lorna's.

Our time spent on the island included the following in this order:

Resting

Walking along the beautiful white-sanded beach

Eating a whole chicken with our hands

Dining at a great local restaurant (JJ's burger was the best I had at this point in my stay in the Philippines)

Briefly seeing a big waterfall

Resting

Caving

Taking a rickety boat from Lorna's out for a little paddling and promptly sinking

Pushing the boat back in-land

Stepping on sea-urchins

Snorkeling

Resting

Dining at an extra-fancy resort with Ginna

Resting

Moved Around A Lot

Strange Sand Creations

Physical Humor, Quick Thinking

The island of Siquijor is beautiful. The whole place is so small and packs so much to see in such a small area. There is fresh fish caught everyday and brought to the shore and sold along the roadside. I feel like I made a major mistake by not buying any of the fish there. I assumed it was expensive but in hindsight realize, it would have almost been free food and the experience of eating such fine fish that fresh would be worth the price. There is even REAL milk on Siquijor. Way over in a distant Barangay Kaiti and I found the milk producer and were able to buy a liter of frozen milk to enjoy at Lorna's. The milk was exquisite after already going a year without real milk. UHP milk does not stack up to fresh milk.

I should talk about the caving experience since it was something else. Kaiti and I had to travel far up into the island to get to a tiny village that mainly deals in one thing: the Cantabon Cave tour. The people were typically friendly and they had quite the cave to brag about. This caving experience was intense. I'm used to caving in tight and dry areas, but this one went the wet route. Almost immediately, we were walking in an underground river after we got into the cave. The tour guides we had seemed to have an important meeting, and found we could keep up, so they moved the tour along as fast as they really could. It was about thirty minutes of quick paced walking, wading, ducking, hitting my head, ducking some more, and capering over slippery-edged gaps. We had to make a special effort to get over a pool of water that looked awfully deep. Being to difficult to explain via text, just rest assured it was a difficult task to cross over the top of this pool once, and then again from the other direction. Thirty minutes of water-hiking-caving brought us to the end where we enjoyed the sight of rock formations for about 2 seconds before our guides started us back to the opening. So far, this caving experience ranks as my favorite in the ~3 I've enjoyed.

The day we left Siquijor we were able to meet another PCV that lives on the island, Dan, and enjoyed some local pizza and NBA playoffs while waiting for our ferry to arrive. We finally loaded up onto our ship and set course back to Dumaguete on Negros.

We only had a single day in Dumaguete but thankfully we got there early enough to enjoy our time there. Going along with the theme of great places in the Visayas, Dumaguete was a big hit in my opinion. It has great restaurants, cafes with good coffee, sidewalks(!), and a large enough population of foreigners that Kaiti and I hardly noticed any “Hey, Joe!” or stares aimed at us. We stayed at the PCV-famous Harold's Mansion, a grand and uniquely well run dorm/hotel. Our time spent in Dumaguete was short but jam-packed, I would love to go back and enjoy it some more.

The Escalade Of Trikes

If you ever get the chance to visit the Philippines, make some time for Bohol, Siquijor, or Dumaguete, if not all three if you can. Delightful people in beautiful places. They also have the best tricycles.

Mobile Classroom Update: Our Logo Is Complete

After several weeks of asking/pleading for help with designing a logo, then debating and fighting for a design decision, we have a logo.

There is a lot of symbolism you can read into this logo, where to begin? The focal point of the rainbow conjures the feeling of future possibilities. The placement of the rainbow over the "edu" shows where you can find these future possibilities, in education. The "K" is separate from the rainbow and "edu" in a subtle way to highlight Kabataan (children). If you follow "edu" you can expect joy.

The red letters in the subtext "edukasyon" (education spelled in Tagalog) show the mobile side of our project, with the "D" and "O" acting as wheels to the whole design.

The logo carries a blend of childish form without harming the message or being displeasing to the eye. I can't wait to have a shirt with this logo emblazoned front and center.

I want to thank my friends and family that offered help with designing a logo for this project. A special thanks goes out to  Wayne Rhodes who did the final design and suffered my teams' incisiveness and strong will. You can find more of his work at his website: http://www.waynerhodes.com/

The process continues on to the video filming and editing.

Why A Bike Might Be A Good Idea + Respectful Update

Old Photo, Those Gears Are Gone

*This article is aimed at new Peace Corps Volunteers. If you aren't one of them, you still might like this.*

Update: Since writing this I've been told that PCVs will no longer receive PHP 12,000 allowance for a bike and will instead have to make due with PHP 6,000. This is unfortunate considering how little compensation we (I) had for a bicycle with the 12k and how useful a bike is here in the Philippines. As I've noted below in my original blog post, I spent a sizable sum over the 12k to allow for a quality bike with the necessary attachments to keep me dry. Without my bicycle I would have had to rely on tricycle rides (base riding rate of PHP 20 one direction) or walked (10 minutes from work, 30 from the supermarket), both of these are not reasonable solutions considering I treasure both my time and the little money I have. This is why, even with only 6k of wind under your wings, you should buy an expensive bike (12k+).

If you were to stay within the 6k allowance, what could 6k of bicycle get you? Almost certainly nothing of substantial quality. Quality is king in regards to bicycles; bicycles are a not just simple machines, but a chain of parts reliant on the last to put the wheels in motion. Cheap tires = popped tires. Cheap frame = warping. Cheap gears = chain derailment, missed gears, and jams. Any one issue with a bike can immobilize you and with no resources to keep your bike going (you will not receive funding for tune-ups or tubes, let alone anything serious) it seems likely many a future cheap bikes will be abandoned. This will waste Peace Corps money (for the broken cheap bike), your money (for fixes, or for alternative transportation), and time on both sides.

I don't think this new change in PC funding was volitional. I don't think the complex workings of bikes enters the periphery of PC staff often and when it does it's likely only in the context of budget (and how it has to be tightened). The sum may be lower, but you should still go higher in quality (and price out of your pocket).

Assuming enough people are interested in changing the current system/sum allotted, we can: Contact our local VAC member to bring the issue before the PC staff at the next VAC meeting, Personally send an Email to our director for a reconsideration of the current allowance sum or system, Or banding together and collectively (politely and respectfully) asking for a reconsideration through both the prior methods while providing possible alternative solutions. We are not "entitled" to a bike allowance as I've come to find. PC Philippines is one of a small group of PC countries that makes such allowance for bike purchases. This means we are lucky! Although, we can still discuss alternative ways and solutions for each person to avail of the bike funds. Emphasis on doing so politely, in an un-entitled manner.

If budget is the main concern there could be a restructuring of how bike allowances are given. For example, the current system allots each person 6k for a bike, even if one doesn't ask for a bike they have that money waiting there for them. If there was a needs assessment-application done by site requesting a bike, the sum could be increased, depending on need. There are sites and PCVs who don't want or need a bike, if PCVs who don't want a bike were to rescind their claim for a bicycle, there could be more money to go around to those who want/need a bike. Even better, I think, would be an opt-in program to get a bicycle, rather than the current no-opt.

If you are interested in working for a change in how we get bikes, please either contact me or each other. I understand quality-bicycle-acquisition is not some unquestionable and unalienable right. But, they sure are useful.

End Update, Original post below.

You may be aware that PC gives you money for a bike but maybe you don't know why you'd want one. I'd like to let you know about some reasons you would like one and give you some important information to get on to the right bike track.

I have had my Peace Corps bicycle almost for a year. I kept track of my bike rides around and I've calculated that over ten months I've saved over PHP12,000 by riding my bicycle instead utilizing the local tricycles (the main form of transportation at PHP20 per ride, The low end price). This means I've already rode a defense into owning my bike and from here on I'll be earning back my investment over the PHP13,600 Peace Corps gave me. In total I spent just under PHP20,000 for my bike and its accoutrements.

Peace Corps will give you PHP13,600 for a bike and helmet. PHP12,000 goes to the bike itself and the other PHP1,600 goes to your helmet. I recommend you go above this amount (out of your own pocket) to further ensure your biking enjoyment and eventual monetary savings. Why? Quality, durability and there are hidden costs to be aware of.

I bought a 2012 Giant Revel for PHP16,200, it was marked down 20% thanks to me buying from a registered dealer (more on this later). This was an entry level mountain bike with knobby tires and a fancy paint job, its quality and durability came with the price-tag. While the bike was brand new it was bare by my Washington State Drizzle-City standards and certainly by Philippines The-Sky-Falling Rain-Town standards. I also bought fenders to keep the rain from splashing up my front and back, toe-cages for pedal grip, a bike pump(!), and a gaudy helmet. These are the hidden (except for the helmet) costs around biking in the Philippines.

So, what you need to bike:

A Quality bike (Brand name from a registered bike dealer)

Fenders (Front and Back)

Rain Jacket (as long as it covers your back-pack, you're good)

A helmet that fits

• How do I find a quality bike?

I found mine by searching dealers of Specialized bike through their website, but it appears they took this function down for the philippines. In it's place you can use the: http://biketayo.com/bike-shop-directory/

Just contact your preferred dealer by text to see if they 1) still exist and 2) have what you're looking for.

If you don't have a legit bike shop nearby, don't worry because it's a cinch to get a bike to site using buses and boats. Buses wont charge for your throwing your bike in the storage below and boats are the same (from what I understand). It's worth the one-time hassle.

• Don't forget the fenders and helmet!

Fenders allow you to ride both in and after rain. Puddles will paint your back brown without the fenders. The helmet is both Peace Corps required and sensibly required. Head injuries are no joke and even slight concussions can have life-long effects: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_head_injury

I wear my helmet every time I ride my bike and I look like a sack of tools. Whatever, I'm also sweating like a spigot and smell funky, who cares? Seriously, I want everyone alive, helmets are important.

If you have any questions, send them along. I can go on and on about my bike. About how I removed the gears and ride it single-speed, how “vulcanizing” works, and why you don't have to worry about traffic since it moves so slow. If you don't know, I might be able to help.

Get that bike.

Mobile Classroom Update

Hello everyone. Thanks to the help of interested parties we have started making the first steps towards bringing a mobile classroom to Cabanatuan City.

Through the last blog post and with a mass plea through Facebook, the logo for this project is being cobbled together. There were questions over the vision for the logo and what the actual name of the mobile classroom would be, we have some answers.

The name of the program is currently: EduK (A Mobile Classroom)

Edukasyon is the spelling of education in Tagalog. Obviously it came from the English form. The reason the "K" is to apply to words such as kabataan (Children, Pronounced: kah-bah-tah-ahn) and knowledge. There were other words in Tagalog but I wasn't able to keep up with the stream of suggestions. It's a short name and it looks and sounds nice.

The "(A Mobile Classroom)" portion acts as an emergency descriptor for people who don't know what EduK is. Also, it makes it sound like a classy perfume or cologne.

The actual image is still undecided but I know I have at least one person currently working on it. I gave suggestions of using a transportation theme (wheels, cars, trikes, etc) and gave a short list of pride items from my city. We love to brag about all the trikes we have and we grow rice like no other here, both are trotted out as bragging rights in conversation in other cities.

The logo is a big deal and when it is finalized I expect to really get moving. I'll have my eyes set on making a trailer for our project for potential donors and I'll need to start coming up with ideas for donor incentives. A large project for sure but taken piecemeal will ease my load.

Thanks for the support and interest and I hope to update you soon on more progress.

A Inquiry for Help

Hello Friends and Family!

I'm writing you all in an effort to make a large and important project actually get off the ground. I'm currently proposing a plan for an all inclusive mobile classroom for the Street Children of Cabanatuan City.

In the city where I live and work, Cabanatuan City, there is a large population of street children. Currently there we reach out to 50 Street Children but my estimates put the actual population over 600 Street Children. These are children who often live on the street, work very basic jobs instead of going to school, or are simply unsupervised a majority of the day. The severity of their poverty is astounding by my American standards. Often I see Street Children in my market without sandals on their feet,

begging for money or food from passerbys.

In an effort to provide some form of education to these Street Children, my city has assigned me the task of building a mobile classroom. Thankfully this type of endeavor has been been proven multiple times before to be worth the effort. CNN awarded the 2009 CNN Hero Award to Efren Peñaflorida (Philippines) for his groundbreaking efforts in mobile education, dubbed “Mobile Kariton.” This last week, July 9th-13^th, I attended a Street Education training and shadowing. This training was performed by Bahay Tuluyan, a Manila based non-profit that directly supports Street Children and their families. The purpose of the training was multifaceted; training for Cabanatuan City's only two Street Educators, appraisal of a successful program, and for inspection of design of their mobile classroom. There was even two days dedicated to in-depth review of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This training showed us how a successful operation works with street education.

The plan now is to start our own mobile classroom here in Cabanatuan City to reach the Street Children. The mobile classroom would teach more than the usual educational fare found in typical schools but will also cover life-skills. Life-skills is a broad category that includes everything from hand-washing, nutrition, conflict resolution, to livelihood skills like jewelry making. This synthesis of basic education and life-skills is to give the forgotten street children a chance to grow and work towards a life off the streets.

The planning for a mobile classroom is simple enough but getting to the finish line presents a more difficult task when reviewing the price tag. With efforts to design an all inclusive mobile classroom that covers the price of the vehicle, renovations, materials, and even a one year spartan salary for a dedicated Street Educator my estimates come to around $7,500 US.

This price is large for one person but if we can get a large number of people to donate small amounts, I think we can reach this number quickly and easily. Here's where I need help:

Indiegogo.com is a website for crowd-sourcing funds for varied projects and endeavors. This is where I propose to start the ball rolling (after this letter) for making street education a reality in Cabanatuan City.

Even before asking for your money, I need help with marketing materials, this includes:

• Mobile Classroom logo design
• Video editing of web video
• suggestions for donor gifts (Indiegogo projects often give tokens to donors, I want the same)

This is a pre-call for help. I lack the professional ability to create a logo, edit a web video, and I don't know what a group of compassionate people would like in return for their donation towards Street Children education.

Do you know a graphic artist (or are one) that can do charity work? Or maybe your neighbor makes great YouTube videos weekly for her Vlog and is willing to edit for us? How about Wade, the guy who works at the YMCA, didn't he say he loved making logos? Could you ask if they are willing to help?

I'm hoping this is only the beginning of a grand collaboration that brings education to the Street Children of Cabanatuan City.

Thanks for reading. Please share with people who might be able to help. If you have any questions please contact me.

Email: aokincaid@gmail.com

Padayon

Oh, boy. Over the last week, I was involved with a group effort to run a camp. This was quite the experience since it was my first camp I'd ever planned and set into motion. It was a ambitious camp to boot. I'm still resting and catching up on work this weekend so I'll just let you read my summary of the camp below. This summary was sent to my superiors in Peace Corps. If you have any questions please post them!

Padayon Summary

What is Padayon? Padayon is a Visayan word that means “to continue,” in Tagalog the equivalent is Pagpapatuloy. The idea for the Padayon camp is to teach a selected group of participants how to run a two day camp for Street Children (with minimal assistance) as a lesson for them to see how it is to be in charge of a event that has the chance to change the lives of those who live in their community.

Padayons come in all shapes and sizes and mine is unique to my city. My camp ran five days, starting on a Monday and ending on Friday. The first two days were dedicated to training the PYAP Youth in working with each other, learning to be facilitators, and planning camp activities. Day 3 and 4 was when the youth had to pull together to run a camp for local Street Children, 43 children in all. On day 5 the participants were given the opportunity to create their own community project proposal. After helping them through the whole process, the PYAP participants were congratulated and given a sheet to fill out for meeting with me and my counter-part.

The meetings have yet to begin but will shortly. The purpose of the meetings is to further assist the PYAP volunteers in their own Barangay projects. Each Barangay has its own issue to address and these newly trained PYAP participants can go back to their community and PYAP organization to start the planning process. If the PYAP participants want advice or assistance in planning, my counter-part and I will be ready.

The Padayon was only a tool to show how much effect the youth can have on their own community. While the Street Children they worked with were most likely not from their own Barangay, the PYAP participants could see how happy the children were to have a whole event dedicated to their having fun. My hope is that they can find their own project to take home and show their community how they're also contributing to improvements.

CSWDO Staff Training

Day -1: CSWDO training with the four CSWDO staff who would be facilitators in Padayon. Trainees included: Joey, Luchie, Janet, and Marlon. The training was a complete run through of the first two days activities and games. I thankfully had Emily (nearby PCV) help out. We performed each activity and game as best we could and for the ones we didn't have supplies for (candy bags) we were able to imagine. This was my effort to show the CSWDO staff from my office that they would be in charge of running the camp. The training seemed successful.

The PCVs (minus Bob, he was on the bus still)

Day 0: PCVs arrive in Cabanatuan City. The PCVs who were invited were Bob, Amy, Matt, Emily, and Anna, . It was Anna's birthday. I stocked up on food for the visiting PCVs since I was able to request funds for the cause.

The PCV Facilitators

Day 1: Since the camp wasn't scheduled to have any activities start til around 10am, the PCVs and I went to my office before going to the camp grounds. After introducing the PCVs to my staff and after Matt was finished impressing everyone with his Ilocano speaking skills, we left for the camp grounds.

The camp was held at a local resort in Barangay Pagas in Cabanatuan City. The resort itself was very nice and all the volunteers were impressed. It was simple and modest but had the amenities we needed to be comfortable for the whole week (multiple oscillating ceiling fans). There was even a pool the Padayon participants could use after sessions.

The Padayon participants slowly started trickling in around 9:30am. The participants were all selected PYAP (Pag-Asa Youth Association of the Philippines) members, most of the twenty invitees were from different Barangays. The mix of boys and girls was mostly even with slightly more boys and ages ranged from 15-23 years old. All of the participants were amassed by 11:00am.

There was confusion on when the camp would actually begin. I had planned on started around 10am but in the official schedule printed up by my counter-part, the morning activities had been axed unbeknownst to me. Since I had neglected to proof the final schedule this mistake went through and the camp didn't officially start til 1:00pm.

The PYAP participants were split into four groups. The teams were allowed to participate in several team-building activities and even one large activity that brought all the staff and participants together to play (Cross-Hand Pass). After the team-building sessions I had my other counter-part Vanessa speak with the PYAP participants about the current situation of Street Children in Cabanatuan City. After the talk about the Street Children the camp closed for the day due to time constrictions. We decided to push the facilitation skills session into the next day.

Playing Evolution

There were some bumps here and there in the facilitation thanks to misunderstandings of game rules and activities going on far longer than expected/desired. Despite the bumps we were able to start connecting with the youth.

Day 2: Thankfully the camp was able to start on time this day and we picked up right where we left off with facilitation skills. The facilitation of the CSWDO finally started hitting a stride and finding a groove, mainly thanks to Joey.

One of the best sessions of the day was the gender awareness activity. The activity allowed the participants to free sort photos of different items. Some went by men and women and some by objects. The most eye opening part was when the participants sorted situation cards like “I own a successful business” and “I like to draw and paint.” The latter situation was adamantly defended as man's domain and the former was a toss up since so many woman own successful businesses.

Due to the scheduling conflict from the day before we had to axe one session completely, mentoring. Mentoring was chosen because I felt it wasn't necessary for either the camp of the project design at the end of the camp. I understand mentoring skills are important but as it was, it was the weakest link in my curriculum.

The day's planned activities wrapped up early to give the PYAP participants a chance to start planning for the camp. There were many games pitched and lists were quickly drawn up. The PCVs worried the PYAP participants weren't preparing completely; there was a lack of communication between groups about repeat games, scheduling, and how they should split the Street Children up (if at all). After several attempts to address the concerns the PCVs had to accept the outcome for what it would be in the following days.

Day 3: the Street Children arrived in two van loads. There were a total of 43 Street Children mainly from two Barangays surrounding the Cabanatuan City Bus Terminal. The Street Children ranged from 4-13 years old. Some of the Street Children were bajau (transplanted indigenous group).

The PYAP participants began rushing to get the supplies in order as soon as the Children arrived. By the time the second load of Street Children arrived the PYAP participants were mostly prepared.

The games were many and diverse. Some lasted hours while others were very short. The Street Children appeared very pleased. Lunch and snacks were provided for all of the Street Children.

The Street Children were taken home at the end of the day.

Day 4: The Street Children arrived a little late due to the van running behind schedule. The Street Children enjoyed just as many great games as the day before.

The PCVs prepared thank-you cards for each Street Child, each one personalized and custom-made. The CSWDO provided a simple gift set for each child full of school supplies. After lunch there was a gift giving ceremony from the PYAP participants (facilitators) to the Street Children.

After the Street Children went home (around 2pm), the PYAP participants were given an opportunity to process the camp. The main feeling was of deep happiness to have been given the chance to show the Street Children a good time. There were many PYAP participants who shared their joy at seeing the smiles on the Street Children's faces. The day finished with the PYAP participants being told to start thinking of what they can bring back to their Barangay for a project proposal.

Day 5: Finally, the day the whole camp was leading up to. The day started late but materials were prepared so the activities started strong. The PYAP followed a modified PDM format:

Community Mapping (PACA styled)

Community Needs Assessment

Community Resources

Vision

Goals

Tasks

Budget

Monitoring and evaluations were cut because I felt they would only extend and confuse the situation. I added in a follow-up component where I would begin calling in each PYAP participant for personal one-on-one interviews about starting a community project in their community.

The planning went smoothly for the most part. Only one team needed extra assistance and that assistance was provided by other PYAP participants. The PYAP Participants received a round of applause on completing their proposals.

The camp ended with an awards ceremony and photo-op. Impromptu evaluations were collected.

Comments

Food Lesson:

I wrote a menu for the PCVs who were to attend. I excluded myself from the budget. I wish I had included myself and figured in more food purchases from restaurants. The funds only lasted to Wednesday Night.

What needs to change and improve: 

I was wildly overwhelmed in the beginning scrambling to gather materials. I was able to keep up but there were seemingly close calls. Next time I need to give myself more materials to begin with and stay on top of them as I go.

Some included materials and activities were too far reaching. I had to exclude a full lesson and did away completely with end of the day writing in journals. I would expect to exclude those activities next time.

There was one theft of a PCV's phone from that PCV's bag. It wasn't discovered missing until two days after the camp ended.

In closing:

My Padayon was a major success. It may not have run perfectly but it still went on. I was given the chance to work a project with both of my target populations and combined them to help each other. I hope to have this project lead into several more projects to be done in several Barangays throughout my city.

I want to thank all the people that helped out, I couldn't have done it without these people:

Anna (PCV)
Amy (PCV)
Bob (PCV)
Emily (PCV)
Janet (CSWDO)
Joey (CSWDO)
Luchie (CSWDO)
Marlon (CSWDO
Matt (PCV)
Odet (Street Educator)
Susan (Street Educator)

Vanessa (CSWDO)

And the PYAP for their hardwork

Congratulations