Good Morning!
I left my cousin's house at 7am on Saturday 9th October 2010. My journey from there consisted of: Walking from his house to Gardiner train station, taking a train to Southern Cross station, catching a shuttle bus to Melbourne airport, flying to Singapore airport, transferring and flying to Manila airport, catching a shuttle bus to the domestic terminal of Manila airport. By then it was 9pm on the same day. I slept for a few hours on a metal bench before checking in at 3am for my flight to Tacloban City which was at 5:30am.
Manila is the capital city of The Philippines and from what I saw of it, it's a typical city: Industrialised, full of sky scrapers and with a well developed infrastructure. Tacloban City however, was far different. I arrived into a small terminal where their version of a conveyer belt was a man lifting the suitcases off of a big trolley and walking them into the terminal building. As soon as I walked outside, the first thing I noticed was the extreme humidity and heat. I was met by dozens of men trying to offer me transport in taxis and buses. I was somewhat confused and disoriented by the lack of sleep I had received in Manila airport but fortunately I noticed Devina, my volunteer coordinator, who was holding a piece of paper with my name written on it. She took me to Bliss, the settlement where all the volunteers live with their homestay families. Bliss is also where the Volunteer For The Visayas office is located. I arrived and met my host family, including Nanay Pering (my Mother for the next 8 weeks). She showed me to my room and later made me breakfast.
That day I got to meet the other volunteers who are all here for differing periods of time. Some are here for a few weeks, while others remain for up to 6-months. At present there are 6 of us, all from the UK, USA or Australia. I spent the majority of my first day with James (who is staying in the same homestay as me) and Matt who lives a few doors down. They showed me a few of the local spots which I'll go into more detail on now.
Firstly we visited the private hospital, where one of our fellow volunteers, Hazel, is staying for a few days having had an appendectomy. The walk to the hospital was the first I saw of the local streets. The streets here are very typical of a third world country: No road markings, lots of litter and full of people selling products from the road side.
We next visited the Astrodome, which is a small complex located a short bus ride away. However, there are no buses in Tacloban. The common mode of transport are Jeepneys, which are large and rusty yet colourful vehicles which would ordinarily hold about 8 people on two parallel benches, however here, they squeeze about 25 people into these things! You jump on the back of the Jeepney wherever convenient and at some point during your journey, you're expected to pay the driver 6 pesos (10 pence)! At the Astrodome, Matt and James showed me the local fitness centre, which I've signed up with for the next two months. The hope is that I can spend some of my free time here getting in shape for the many phsical challenges ahead of me: Karate training in Japan, climbing Everest and running a marathon.
We next visited downtown Tacloban, where again we hopped on a Jeepney. It was here that I started to realise just how much of a novelty I would be here. There are no white people in this part of The Philippines, so walking down any street, it's common to have people stare at you constantly. This is something I'll get used to but what I'm not sure I'll ever become accustomed to are the living conditions for some of the people around here. Downtown is a busy area with many shops and cheap roadside stalls, but what it also brings are many people who are living on the streets and spending their days begging. The vast number of underfed and dirty children that I saw lying on the street floors, with barely any clothes on really got to me. It was probably the biggest culture shock I've encountered. None the less, we have been told not to give money to beggars as the sad reality is that many of these people will not use it to buy food, but instead will buy cigarettes or drugs. When you come to a poor area, such as this it's hard to not feel helpless because there are just so many problems that exist here. However, I feel that if I keep reminding myself that the voluntary work I am here for is worthwhile and will make a small difference then perhaps this will help me get over this notion of helplessness.
The final place we visited was Robinson's shopping centre, which is a rather Western looking shopping mall and as a result, looks rather out of place in the middle of Tacloban. I took this time to buy a few essentials for my stay here such as a cell phone, some tank tops, an umbrella and some laundry detergent - nothing too exciting!
That was pretty much my first day. I arrived back at the homestay, ate dinner and went to bed to catch up on some well needed sleep. The next day I met Devina at the VFV office and spent the day receiving an orientation. This involved learning a bit about the Philippino culture, visiting downtown Tacloban again and getting a health check at the hospital in order to receive a medical certificate to show that I'm eligible to take part in my placement.
Tomorrow I will be visiting my placement centre for the first time and I will look forward to telling you more about it in my next post. What I can tell you in the meantime is that I will be placed at the RCY, (Rehabilitation Centre for Youth). This is a centre which houses around 60 young men aged 15-23. All of these young men have been in trouble with the law. Common crimes include theft, assault and drug taking. The purpose of the RCY is to help steer these men in the right direction and provide them with the skills, confidence and discipline to lead a crime free life. My role is to provide some recreational activities and by the sounds of things, I have a free reign to bring in whatever ideas I have. The only constraint is that I must purchase whatever resources I require - which isn't so terrible considering how cheap everything is out here!
This has been a long blog update but I'll end it with a few basic first impressions of life out here. Firstly, the people are friendly yet a little shy - but if you take the initiative to talk to them, they will happily open-up and show a great deal of hospitality. They like to eat - regularly - I'm talking 5 meals a day - their lives revolve around food! For fun, well they enjoy playing basketball but the thing that seems consistent amongst all families here is a love of karaoke. It is common to walk past a home and hear someone singing particularly loudly to a music track with the entire extended family sat listening and cheering as an audience. Aside from that, life here is about surviving and getting by - as sombre as it sounds.
Much love!
Sam
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