Back safely

So yes, we are back safely. It was really sad to leave, and we all are wishing we could go back next summer. We (the Campbells) took a week of vacation, and are now back planning our next school year. Thanks for reading the blog, we'll probably make one more post to wrap things up. The stories of the twins and man-man need to be finished, as well as some ways our lives were changed, as well as the students lives.

check back soon.

A Day in the Life of Jason

Jason, a senior with Med-school in his future, has had a great opportunity to work with Doctor Nelson at his free clinic three days a week. Unfortunately we didn't get any videos of that. But we got lots of great footage from other things he did. Jason took advantage of every adventure he could and got the most out of his time here. He also stocked the clinic that will be starting here in our own village with everything a future doctor could use!

Jason spent time playing with the neighborhood kids:


He also got in on their more interesting games, like spider fighting!


We then decided to invent our own games... with cockroaches:


On our last night here, we learned a game that evolved from a method of catching long-legged birds:


Thanks Jason!

A Day in the Life of Ashley

Ashley, a very scheduled person, has had to adapt to a culture that never runs according to schedule. She was our anchor, to make sure we accomplished our tasks and did them well. We put her in charge of running VBS the first few weeks with no preparation whatsoever (they had confused us with another group) and she came up with some great stuff! We have had many laughs about the craziness here in the Philippines! This first video is Ashley attempting one of the scariest things here:






Thanks Ashley!

A Day in the Life of Dan Kim

Dan Kim's parents live in Korea, he lives in the U.S., and he spent his summer in the Philippines. That is a cross-cultural experience! Dan spent a lot of time at a clinic run by a Filipina doctor, and she told us she really enjoyed having him there, and that he served her well. He also taught Phys. Ed. occasionally, hung out with young men in our neighborhood, and led a Bible study.



Thank you Dan!

A Day in the Life of Lauren

Lauren has been a hard worker on this trip, and has spent so much of her time with little kids. She always plays with the kids in the neighborhood as well, and every day they yell in the window "Tita Lauren! Tita Lauren" until she comes out. She was also the food coordinator, and saved a lot of money from the food budget that we were able to put towards the medical budget. The first video is Lauren helping in school:





Thanks Lauren!

A Day in the Life of Jessie

Jessie, married to Dan Andreson, has brought such energy and fun to this trip that wouldn't be there without her. She has spent so much time with the children, just giving lots of attention and delighting in all their little accomplishments.



Jessie, we love you!

A Day in the Life of Dan Andreson

Dan has just graduated from Tufts University and him and Jessie got married just about 3 weeks before we all left for the Philippines! They have been anchors for this trip in their maturity and dependability. Their commitment and sacrificial giving is such a picture to us of what they will give to each other in marriage.



Thanks so much for coming with us!

A Day in the Life of Jeff

Here's Jeff!

Holding the Twins

The twins are still in the hospital but are out of the incubator. Jeff Long's wife, Colleen got to hold them! They are breathing on their own and gaining weight. One of them weighs 1.1 Kilo and the other weighs 1.3 Kilo (2.2 lbs per Kilo). They will be released from the hospital when they are 1.7 Kilo. They are still being fed by tube so they'll have to learn to drink from a bottle soon. But we had a breast milk donor come through, so thery are getting proper nutrition! Thanks for all of your prayers!



Rose and her husband have not decided whether they will give the twins up but even if they keep them, they will need lots of help. Their house has two rooms that are each about the size of a large closet. She has no running water, refridgerator, stove... Needless to say, it'll be difficult. There are bigger problems overall in these communities than we could fix in this short of a time or even have the expertise to know how to help. Maybe birth control education, microlending, or something of that sort could help... Keep praying.

A Day in the Life of Lindsay

Lindsay is a junior at Quinsigamond Community College. She has been a big part of many of the exciting things that have happened here! She was overseeing Man-Man's surgery and she happened to be the one who caught the danger signs in Rose. She was also here at the children's home when Baby Andrew got dropped off! She was the only student on our team who was not from UMass and therefore had to jump right in with all of us who knew each other. We have been so impressed with her ability to open up to all of us and let us into her life!



Thanks Lindsay!!!

A Day in the Life of Joel

Joel Lee will be a senior at UMass this year. He has been a friend of ours for most of his time in school. He has done an excellent job of getting to know people in the community and has especially loved working in the preschool. We really commend him for being people oriented instead of task-oriented. He is very flexible so he gets along well in this culture. Here's a little peek at a typical day for Joel:




Thanks Joel for all your hard work!!!

New Faith Family Children's Home

The Children's Home has 26 children ranging from ages 2months to 13 years. The are brought to the Home by the DSDW (social workers organization). It was started 2 years ago by Jeff Long when his daughter asked him why they couldn't do more for the street kids. Jeff Long works at Faith Academy, a boarding high school for children of missionaries (many are doing work in places where there is no good place for education). Him and his family are from the US but now consider the Philippines to be their permanent home.

The home has not been able to get through the paperwork of making the home a place where you can adopt children yet. But they hope it will soon be approved for that. In the meantime, it is a home and the children seem to love it here. Often on Saturdays "Uncle Jeff" picks all the kids up and brings them to play in a soccer tournament, or to the movies, or to his son's college basketball game.

Jeff Long also started a school in the community for the kids to go to and also invited more kids from the community. He has a ten year plan to transform the community around the Home. He put in a sink and shower for anyone to use (they often re-use bathwater several times) and he hopes to get a well built so they can have clean drinking water. The clinic we helped stock, with a dentist and doctor is part of that plan, too.

Maricel

Maricel is a very giggly 12 year old. She doesn't speak much but can get her meaning across.

She is in the picture on the left covering her mouth and laughing. Maricel was found by a concerned citizen in 2005 and brought to authorities. She was not in distress, and obeyed commands, but would not maintain eye contact. She could not utter a single word. Her left shoulder was also dislocated. After being brought to the Children's Home, she was asked to choose her name by nodding when they said one she liked. She chose Maricel. She has been happy to join in on most activities but remains afraid of a few. She can say short phrases now but mostly chooses not to speak. She likes to sing a little and always has a huge smile!

Pagsanjan Falls

Here are some pictures of our trip to Pagsanjan Falls. We rode in canoes with two guides up the river to the falls and then back down. We were really in the jungle! We even saw a monkey someone had captured and kept as a pet! At the falls, they put us on a raft and took us right under the falls! And we jumped off the raft and swam around. You have to click on some of the pictures to enlarge them! It's beautiful!

Benji

Benji is an 8 year old boy who came to the Children's Home last year. Benji had never been to school until he came here so he started in preeschool and has now progressed to Kindergarten. Dan Andreson has been tutoring him one-on-one. He seems intellegent but has trouble focusing. But he is SO sweet. At church the other day, he sat at Macy's (my daughter) feet, took off her shoes and started cleaning all the dirt off her feet and out of her shoes with his little fingers. Macy just watched him in awe. Then he carefully put her shoes back on.

His last name and birthday are unknown. Benji showed up at a police station and no one could figure out where he belonged. He stayed there at the station for 1 and a half months, being fed by the officers and given small jobs such as escorting prisoners to their cells. After many conversations with him, all they could determine was that he had no parents, his sister left him at a neighbor's house, and that neighbor abused him. He ran away and after being homeless for a while, got himself to the police station. He either doesn't know anything else or has experienced some trauma.

In this pic we took Benji and the other boys to a basketball game - Jeff Long (the founder of the Home) has a son in college who is considered one of the best players in the league!

Baby Andrew

When it rains it pours! You have heard about the twins that may come to the Children's Home. Then we heard about two more babies that may be coming through a medical clinic we have been helping out at. Then on Sunday night, when Lindsay was going to be spending the night at the Children's home to keep an ear out for the girls, a mom showed up at the gates of the Home wanting to give up her baby. Her husband is in jail and she has other children as well. But her baby was not getting enough to eat and so she spent all her money to travel here to drop him off. Someone drove her back to her home but it is still unclear whether he will be here permanantly or just for a while. But Linsay had her first experience that night with night feedings and diaper changes!

We've been taking care of him ever since from 8AM to 8PM (mostly Jessie and Lauren have been switching off). But of course we all want to get a chance to hold baby Andrew (even Shane)!

Man-man's surgery pics

Man-man had his surgery on Friday. We have a few pictures of him being prepped, hugged a lot, and then his hand is bandaged and Jason and Lindsay took him out for ice cream. His bandage comes off and we help him start rehab on Tuesday.


By the way, the twins are still healthy, and Glenda was sent home. We are monitoring her in her home (she's on detox medication and painkillers.) It seems like they are on their way up, but the twins are still in the hospital.

Happy Birthday Lindsay's Dad

Lindsay talks to her dad every day at home, and today's his birthday, so I wanted to give her a chance to say hi to him. Happy Birthday Paul!

Questions from Mary's mom

Mary's mom emailed some questions to us, and we thought you might all like to hear the answers.

Do the kids there get sick from insect bites? They can get dengue fever if the mosquito bites someone else with it. But it’s not common.

Do they get malaria? Not here, but in the rural parts, they do and maybe by the city dump where it’s really dirty. We probably won’t end up going there because they said the health risks are too high.

I can't visualize what the days are like as far as what people are doing. We are getting up and eating breakfast at 7. (Two people get up and go to the home earlier to get the kids to school. We rotate that job.) Then we head out to work at the school or play with the kids at the home. Some people go and work at other clinics on various days to observe and help and learn. We switch off lots so it’s very confusing. We have learned to expect anything to change at any time with no notice! And this week there was no school, they had a break and had vacation bible school for the kids in the home and all the kids in the community that wanted to come(it can be like 500 kids). Another team came to do that. And hopefully our own clinic will be open next week so some of us will staff that. There will be a dentist, too next week or so and we have learned to assist her.

What is the children's home like? Are they separated by age? They are all together in a house like a very big family. They have two girls bedrooms and three boys bedrooms. And they are pretty much with kids their own age. But they all eat together and play together. Then they split up for school. They all seem like siblings and have fights like siblings, but they are really very good.

Are Siblings kept together? Yes. Not many are adoptable (in fact, since the home started two years ago, none have been adopted)because they are not free of family ties. Only five are adoptable I think.

How do they get food and clothing? Jeff Long, who started the home (and is starting another one in Mindinao) goes to the US pretty often and raises money for all the needs they have. They have their own clothes and then hand them down to the next person when they grow out of them. Jeff Long hires full time Philippino staff to cook, care for, and teach the kids at school.

Do the babies have pampers and pull-ups? ;) yup, but you see a lot of naked kids running around in the street outside the children’s home. Or taking a bath in a little round tub outside. Their houses are small and the weather always nice, so they spend most time outside. And it is lawful for men to pee anywhere they want here, so sometimes you see that (they are pretty discreet)!

So I take it that the screens (or lack of) was just an example of how
poor the people are. I mean, that is not the only house without screens. Right? It’s kind of hard to figure out what’s going on here. They all just built houses on someone else’s land and work in factories that either illegally pay below a living wage ($3 a day) or will only hire them for 5 months (after 6 months they have to be given benefits). They have enough to live day to day because they only have to pay for water, electricity, and food. Some even have cell phones. But there is no way to get heath care because transportation is impossible here and no good way to become educated, so they are just stuck at this level of living. They improve in some areas, but without education… People just die if they get sick. Even if they could get to a hospital, they wouldn’t get in unless they had cash.

Do they have fabric stores? Do they have any interesting fabrics?
Yes, in the mall, I haven’t been there yet, but I’ll check!

How did you fund the clinic? Did Navs have funds for it or was it all
funded by your little group or what? When you leave who is going to be
running the clinic? We got donations of medical equipment to bring and we raised extra money as part of the cost of our trip. Our money is worth more here so it goes a long way. We’ve been able to pay for two people to go to the hospital already.

How do you find the people there? Are they nice toward you? I guess I
am so used to the stand-offish nature of New Englanders that I just have
to ask. Do they ask you lots of questions about life in the US? They are soooo friendly. People wave and say hi to you as you walk down the street and tell you that you are beautiful or handsome. They love for you to stop and talk. They all assume we are super rich and sometimes ask for the clothes off our backs! But then some are so generous – a woman from the squatter village that we knew ended up on a trike with us and paid for our whole family. I think it depends on their state of mind. Some are satisfied with their life and work hard and try to stay healthy. Some are despairing and fall into drinking and not taking care of themselves or their families. Most people though are kind, very intelligent, loving people. It’s funny how little things surprise you and you realize you thought they were so different but they are not. A mom was playing with her little one year old at the clinic, just the way I play with Macy. She would gently poke her mom in the eyes and her mom would pretend to cry and she’d kiss her mom’s eyes and laugh. The mom caught me watching her and smiling, and she smiled at me and laughed and looked embarrassed.

Happy Birthday Dad!

In my family, birthdays are like Christmas, and this is the first time I think I have missed anyone's birthday. My dad's birthday is today, so say happy birthday if you see him. Here's some video greetings. By the way his birthday present cost 65 pisos, which is about $1.30. It would have cost 1,900 pisos to mail to the US, which is about $38. So I didn't mail it.