We did hire a house helper, Rhea; she cleans, does a bit of laundry, and cooks - my favorite part is the cooking! We pay her almost twice the going wage, that would anger many folks we know here on the island, we are supposed to keep the status quo. Rhea's kids live on Mindanao with her parents, her kids are 8 and 10 years old. I can't imagine our two youngest living on a different island from us, an island that is very far from here. Rhea is hoping to bring her family here at the end of the school year so if we can help her save away some money to help with that, then that's awesome. We pay her 500 pesos a day for about a 9 hour workday. That equals about $11, she comes twice each week.
Many of my students have parents who live off island or out of the country, they have not seen their mom or dad for years. Remittances are huge in the Philippines. Remittances are those dollars made by overseas Filipino workers and sent via wire transfer to remittance offices here in the Philippines - they exceed $15 BILLION every year! This country totally depends on remittances, it's as if it is part of the plan to keep the county afloat without actually having to generate jobs. But what is the cost?
What happens to the family structure when it is so fractured? and what are the long term and short term effects on community? From living here I can tell you it is not healthy. I don't know if what I am doing at Agape school will make any difference. Even if some of my kids go to high school (it's likely only half of the 16 will get to go to high school, grades 7-10, or will even want to) there are no jobs for them. I frequently have to remind myself that even if we are here to help just one, it is worth it. If we change one life, it's worth it. But when we examine our relationships here I can see that we do more than that, not that we cause amazing shocking changes, but we do have important influence. The missionary dads like Man who spend hours playing with their kids in a culture where most dad's don't hang out with kids - that is a good thing. A teacher at school who is due to have a baby has shared much of her private life with me and I am honored, and prayerful. Anyway, there is more than just one and it is worth counting the cost.
Our dear friends the R family moved to Panay Island to be closer to their calling, the Ati village at Carla.
A church getting a makeover. See how the front part is just a facade? The church is just the bottom level. I find that much here is just for appearances sake, it does not matter what is inside so long as the outside looks good.
Argh! Did that poodle say left at the fried chicken stand or right....
The house that remittances built.
The house where remittances ran out.
A church that did not stick. For a "Christian" nation, there are very few Christ followers here. In a country where a large bottle of rum only costs about $2 US, Rum is worshiped.
Our puppy, Gizmo. He is a super puppy by my standards. Or maybe it is his nanny that makes him such a good puppy. Shadow, the black dog, comes over every day and plays with Gizmo, disciplines him and makes him sleep all night! The best puppy is a sleeping puppy.
More of a statement than a warning.
Man and boys just returned from having all you can eat at Mongolian Grill with our mission group guys. We've had a great day. Spent the morning at Diniwid beach, amazing snorkeling. I hope some of you can come visit us, it is really God's beauty in a tiny nutshell, and man's weakness in full display. Quite the conundrum.
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