Tutorials

Maupay Nga Aga!

Good morning from the Philippines - it's a beautiful Saturday, the sun is shining and I ate three burgers for breakfast!

This weekend my plans are fairly relaxed. Today I'm going to visit the gym. Shortly afterwards, Matt is coming over from Ormoc and him, myself and James are thinking of checking out a cock fight. Now I know it sounds barbaric to spectate and bet money on two cockerels trying to kill each other but part of my travels is embracing the cultures I'm submersed in. Cock fighting is a regular weekend event in the Philippines so I feel I should experience it atleast once. This evening will probably include a trip to the Astrodome, the local bar scene we regularly visit in the evenings. It's basically a large complex with a number of karaoke spots and clubs playing different kinds of music.

Tomorrow is the Pacquiao Vs Maragrito boxing match for the WBC Light Middleweight title. Manny Pacquiao is undoubtedly the most famous Philippino in existence right now, least not for being the greatest pound-for-pound boxer around but also for all the additional philanthropic and governmental work that he does in his home country. Whenever a Pacquiao contest comes about, the country pretty much goes into national holiday mode! So tomorrow morning will mainly be spent watching the fight while it's live in Texas. Tomorrow afternoon, James and I have plans to take Alecs and Melly to the cinema to watch Mega Mind. I figured they might enjoy a visit to the shopping centre to see a movie and eat some junk food!

So the other thing I wanted to talk about in this blog entry are the tutorials that I run. I've previously mentioned that I tutor a group of 2nd and 3rd graders but I haven't yet got round to elaborating on this further. One of the projects that VFV offer is the Sponsored Child Programme. This is where a number of donors from the Western World fund the schooling of various local children, whose families would otherwise be unable to pay for their education. There are no free schools in the Philippines and with the high level of poverty, many children simply miss out on having an education. This project helps to put these children through school to improve their future prospects. Part of the project includes additional tutorials to further support the childrens' schooling and help them catch up on any material that they may have missed.

Every weekday at 4:30pm I teach a group of 8-9 year olds. I usually get 4 young girls, with whom I cover subjects such as Maths, English, Geography, Verbal Reasoning and General Knowledge. It's become one of my afternoon highlights since the girls are adorable and so eager to learn and being able to witness their progress over the weeks is really fulfilling. We even have a secret high-five ritual - but I'm not authorised to go into any more detail on this!

Well it's been nice blogging as always. What do I have coming up? Well tuesday is another national holday, so Hazel, myself and a few other volunteers have plans to visit Calicoan Island, situated off Eastern Samar. From what I've read, it has some of the most beautiful white beaches around and although it's relatively untouched, it's becoming a bit of a surfers' paradise - and I'd definitely love to get some surfing in here!

Much love

Sam