Christmas, Pilipino-style

Christmas is a bit different here. The main celebration happens on the night of Christmas eve. People stay up to the early hours, spending time with family and close friends. This is when the party’s and food and gift giving happens in the evening of Dec24. Christmas day itself is more of a relaxing day with family.

New year is much the same as it is in England with the celebration at midnight. But they have a fun tradition here that at midnight, everyone has to be as noisy as they can. It does get very loud, but its great fun.

I will be spending Christmas with Shiela and her family, then New Year at the safe home with all the kids.

Mudfish dinner

Jun Jun is proudly holding a Dalag mudfish... soon to become dinner. 

The mudfish come from the muddy wet rice fields – this one was caught when the rice was being harvested. In the dry season the rice fields a completely dry, but after the first heavy rain there are suddenly mudfish in the rice fields again. The locals tell me at the start of the dry season they bury themselves deep in the mud and when there is water in the rice fields again they dig their way up. 

Right now there are loads of them in the rice fields and are easily caught by hand – especially when we're working in the rice fields and they are disturbed.

They are very tasty fish to eat, especially when fried or barbequed, and make a nice addition to the next meal. The kids love catching them and, of course, they end up pretty muddy themselves!

Rice Dance (sort of)

It’s that time again here on Palawan when the rice is being harvested. Once cut, the rice has to be separated from the plant. This is often done with a big thresher machine, but we decided to do it a bit differently this year – and what you see in the picture is the traditional way to thresh the rice, called a Giikan (pronounced ge-ik-an). 

Years ago this would have been a common sight, now it's not done much. We decided to give it a go and let the kids (and all of us) try the traditional way, which is still remembered by a lot of locals. It is a raised platform about seven feet above the ground, made of a wooden frame and bamboo slats with gaps between to allow the rice to fall below. This is to allow airflow, as the wind helps to sort the rice. The rice hull with rice in is heavier and falls straight to the ground bellow. The rice hull without rice inside is lighter and is blown to the side.

The process starts with the rice (still attached to the plant) being lifted up on to the platform. There, the work is done by foot... the rice plant is stamped on, twisted and squashed under and between the feet to separate the rice from the plant. It all looks like some kind of strange dance on a high stage but it is great fun and a good team exercise! The rice is then sieved to remove any other parts of the plant that may have fallen down as well. 

Before it’s ready to cook, it just needs to be dried and ground to remove the rice hull. Then it is ready to be enjoyed by everyone three times a day – because rice is the staple diet here and comes with every meal.

To see more pictures, click here!

A smell of street life

One of my smaller work responsibilities is the Kalakal – recycling rubbish.

Unlike in England there is no government recycling here on Palawan. Instead, rubbish is sorted and suitable materials can then be sold to companies that can use it or sell it on to recycling plants.

This is also the main activity of street kids... begging is illegal here; that doesn’t always stop them but when the police are about they take to the rubbish. 

If ever I am unsure of what can be recycled, I just ask the kids here at the safe home, they are experts because when they were alone on the streets it was the only way they could survive. Nim has told me of how he and other kids would spend all night going through the rubbish so they could eat a small simple meal with rice at a cheap road side canteen. Then finding any kind of shelter to sleep, once they slept under a stage in a park after an event, sleeping on only cardboard. 

Lots of people can be seen going through rubbish during the day but street kids tend to do it at night when they are less likely they will be caught. It is a difficult way to make a little amount of money as the rubbish is not worth very much. It’s a smelly dirty job, but I don’t mind doing it as I get an idea of how difficult life is for those on the streets, especially for the poor kids that a forced into it by desperation. Thanks to God, the kids with us no longer have to live like that.

The bridge: nearly finished

Our building project – a safe walkway through the over-water Badjao village on stilts – is nearly finished!

Badjao men are doing most of the work, with help from our team, under the leadership of Kuya Dong from KNA as project leader. The Badjao guys all live in the village with houses along the bridge. They are incredibly hard-working and want to see the bridge made safe for their community and their families. 

One of guys helping Kuya Joali told me how happy he is it see the bridge replaced, and he is happy to help because he knows it will make life for his son easier and safer. He says when the bridge is complete, it will make it easier to improve his own house and living standard as there will be a safe path to the house. 

The upright posts are stood in the water then sledge-hammered though the layer of mud to rest on the layer of rock bellow. Then they are sawn to the correct length, support braces attached and walk-boards fixed on top. The posts and braces are hidden from above. 

Walking on the new bridge, all you see is a flat platform of walk-boards – much wider than the old bridge and safer as it has no gaps like the old one! We are extending the bridge beyond the length of the old bridge; this is to make space for the KNA centre that we will build there. This however makes it much harder as there is no longer an old bridge that can be used as scaffolding. Instead we are using small boats or floating scaffolding to stand on while putting new posts in place in the deep water. 

It is great working in the village, and all the people are so friendly and grateful. Especially those with children, who were most at risk of falling off the old bridge. It is hard but happy and rewarding work for everyone.

To see more pictures, click here

The bridge... building begins

Building the new bridge has begun. The exciting work has finally started. I am very happy to see the wood which has taken months of preparation, being put in place and forming a strong, sturdy, wide bridge though the village over the sea. 

During our frequent storms, waves come over the old bridge which was built lower than the houses. We are building the new bridge higher, so that the waves won’t reach it. It also makes it easier for the people that often had to climb up into their houses; the new bridge is now level with most of the houses. 

You'll see in the pictures, We use the old bridge as scaffolding to build the new. This can be done because the new bridge is wider than the old. Then the old bridge is removed from underneath and many supporting braces are fix in place to make the new bridge strong and steady. It will not move from the traffic of people moving on the bridge, but also must flexible enough to withstand tropical storms. 

Progress is pretty quick at the moment as we are still in the shallow area, but each day as we progress along the bridge it becomes deeper, so the posts become larger and longer and the distance to carry becomes further. But it’s going well and great to be in the Badjao village... working with local people and seeing the difference it's making in their lives. To see more pictures, click here...

Load the trucks

Phase one of our project to replace the Badjao village walkway (bridge) is finished... all the wood we have cut down is complete, treated and ready to go. Everything that can be done at the farm is over and we're ready to start phase two, the actual building of the bridge! 

Three huge trucks came here to the farm where the safe home is based, and with the help of a group of Badjao men we have loaded everything on to the trucks. It was a huge task and heavy work loading everything on the three trucks. The trucks then transported all the wood to the Badjao village where it was all unloaded and the local government provided a guard for all the wood. 

It was great to see the wood arriving at the village after months of work. Everyone was excited to see it, knowing that work on their bridge would soon begin. Many of the locals helped with the unloading of the trucks at their village – it was good to see the teamwork and joy on everyone’s faces. I was given the

task of counting and checking all the wood was loaded and unloaded safely and that it all made it to its destination.

Back soon with the start of the construction work! To see more pics, click here

Time with the kids

Living on the farm, being with the kids a lot of the time is a major part - not only of the work here - but also my life, as we have created a family environment needed to show them love.

We do a lot of activities for the kids, which is great time spent with them. Education of course is important and time is given to that most days. Some work gives them pocket money as well as teaching them skills and they all love helping with the animals. 

But weekends and evenings are family time when I focus even more on the kids. Sometimes there are guy times river swimming or fishing with the boys while the girls do more girlie things. On other occasions there will be art and crafts... dance night is popular with all the kids... and plenty of sports and games are great bonding times. 

It all helps them to feel they belong and to show them the love they had been so deprived of before we took them in. It’s not always easy as they have faced terrible rejection and pain in their pasts, but we can see huge improvement in them all. I always love time spent with the kids.

Using the right tool

Kuya Dhong is smoothing off the bamboo banister with his chosen tool, a large knife - every guy on Palawan has an Itak or Bolow a machete or large knife tool like in the photo. 

Whenever we go into jungle overgrown areas we always take a machete for clearing a path, or if must, protection from snakes. An Itak has an endless amount of uses, not just hacking a path and chopping firewood... in skilled hands such as Kuya Dhong's, amazing results can be achieved with wood and bamboo for a wide range of jobs. 

Often they will chose to use this over other tools doing it in a more traditional way but with beautiful results. Machetes are a must-have tool and a favourite of all guys living in the Palawan countryside.

I had one made for myself, it’s longer than the average Itak, but that’s because my arms are longer than most Filipinos and its been made for my size.

Watch that car…

Teaching the guys on the team to drive.

Driving in the Philippines can be a crazy experience… the traffic weaves in and out… stops or changes directions without warning... and traffic lights and signs are seen more as suggestions then strict rules. Most of the people have no proper driving. 

I have both a Filipino and a UK driving license and the test is far easier here than the UK test; as far as I can tell, if you make it round the block without crashing you pass. And many drive without a license, 

At KNA we are regularly transporting kids and team around and so we must have a higher standard, therefore one of my jobs is driving instructor! I have taught several of the guys on the team to drive and there have been no accidents. Three point turns, emergency stops and other manoeuvres are in the lessons as well as vehicle control. So now we are all good safe drivers!

Where I sleep

Here you can see I share a room with all the boys... it’s a bit of a squeeze but fun. Not much privacy but it’s great - most of the time - sharing with the boys.

That's Richard on the top bunk, but most people in the house (and across the island) sleep on bedrolls on the floor. Richard has special needs and cannot talk more than a few simple words. Before he came to us, he used to spend all his time going though rubbish, finding anything recyclable (which can be sold in the Philippines to recycling companies).

I am the room leader as I am the adult and keep an eye on all the boys. There are always between four and seven of us sleeping in the room.

Our room is in the lower house  (see left of picture). The girls and married couples on the team are in the larger house that is built up on stilts.

Between the two houses is this meeting area where we all eat meals together, do church, social activities and education. It is a very close family atmosphere and the kids need that security and love after their terrible starts in life.

Working Together

We're getting closer to rebuilding a safe main walkway through the village of the Badjao people, built on stilts over the sea at nearby Puerto Princessa. 

A group of Badjao regularly come to the farm to help with the huge amount of work in turning trees into cut planks and posts. Dong and I are busy everyday felling, chopping and slicing trees into planks and posts, but it is a lot of work. Things speed up when the Badjao come and help with the heavy work and I enjoy seeing how everyone works together and the area becoming a hive of activity.

Leftover posts and offcut slabs are very useful to use here on the farm, as well as smaller branches which we can use as cooking wood. Leaves go to the compost. We also collect up the sawdust which will be used for growing edible mushrooms. Larger logs that cannot be used are kept to one side and can be used to make charcoal... none of the wood is wasted!

Around 1,000 planks of various sizes are need to become walkboards and braces for the bridge. Bark has been removed from more than 100 posts and finally all the finished wood is treated before it is ready for use on the bridge. It is a massive project to help the Badjao people and it is great that we can work together on it.

Lots has been completed over the last couple of months and I have finished all the felling and chopping of the trees and most of the slicing, but it will take another one or two months to get everything ready to be moved to their village in one go in several large trucks.

To see lots more pictures, click here

Lock-up... to fun swimming day!

It was a special day for kids from the city refuge when we gave them a fun day out at a local swimming pool. 

This is another part of our ministry here on Palawan – regular activities for the kids from the Bantay Bata, the City Refuge where the government locks up street kids when they get caught. Or they may be orphans... or been abandoned or given up by families that can’t cope... or they have been removed from abusive families. 

It is a sad place – every one of the rejected kids is there because of some terrible past, a range of horrible reasons that led to them being at the Bantay Bata. Each rejected, neglected, abandoned or abused. While at the centre they are always locked in, because some will try to return to the streets, although for others it's to keep abusive families locked out and them kept safe. Either way, it's hard for the kids to have no freedom and always be kept indoors. 

The staff there do their best and are good, but are understaffed to handle what is normally about 30 kids. KNA works with the Bantay Bata with a weekly outreach visit and most of our kids here at the farm have come from there. 

I have been busy recently with the Badjao side of the ministry and can’t get there every week, but Shiela is on the team that goes in every week to do activities. From time-to-time we have a special day out for the kids like this one at the swimming pool, before that they have been here at the farm or we've taken them to a beach. 

It was wonderful to see them so happy enjoying swimming. On top of that we organised lots of games, activities and party nosh to give them a day full of fun and good food. It was a great day for everyone and I loved being a part of it.

This is my work

It's a very busy here at KNA – Kanlungan Ng Ama (The Father’s Shelter) on Palawan. We've had loads of events and outreaches and it's been school summer holidays, so I've been busy doing lots with the kids.

I help with organizing and planning events as well as everyday needs. I am part of the small management team here, with the official title of transport and procurement manager. In that role I handle logistics of everyday life and events, but I have other responsibilities including practical, physical work, and I am one of the house parents caring for the kids. 

We are coming to the end of the hot season and the last few months have been very hot and dry. We are fortunate to be close to the mountains and have a continuous water supply, despite long periods of no rain. The stream that runs through the farm has clean cool water and the kids love to swim and play there as often as possible. 

A busy time but very happy. I love being a part of this work, living at the Children’s safe home and being involved in all the parts of the ministry here.

Camp KNA

Lots of fun and games at our Camp on the Beach, where in the tropical heat it's not cold to jump in the sea!

It's been school holidays here in the Philippine – and we've been busy with plenty of activities to keep the kids busy and happy! Some of the older ones joined clubs for swimming and dancing lessons and there has been other activities for the others, but the main event was a three-day camp by the sea. 

We were able to use a large pavilion right on the beach. It was in an area called Tag Kawayan – not far from the farm – but to get there means travelling on a rough difficult road, on the far side of the island from the main highway. But it's a beautiful big sandy beach with clean, clear, cool ocean... and there is nobody else there. The pavilion was built to attract people to the area, but with the road not yet made it is pretty deserted.

It made a great place to have our camp. There were lots of games and sports for the kids, and of course loads of swimming time. Some of the boys made a long line with lots of hooks and were very successful in catching fish – which made a nice fresh dinner. There was also beach walks, volleyball and different kinds of games, plus times of home church and talent nights in the evenings. It was a very enjoyable time for us all and a highlight of the school holidays. And a delight to spend time in such a beautiful place.

New start for at-danger Edna

Meet little Edna, the newest child here at KNA, with Shiela (my fiance) who's had a slight change in her work and is now the main carer for Edna.

Just two years old, she is settling in amazingly well – and already looking much healthier. She has put on weight as she was malnourished and in poor physical condition when she arrived. 

Edan is the younger sister of Anna, another one of the children here. We tried to help their family about a year ago when their house was in very bad condition. Some of us guys went to fix their house, even making new walls for it. But the next day the father got drunk, as he often does, tore down the new walls and burned them. 

Edna was about to be taken by the Government as all their other children have been, because the parents are unable to care for the children – but they agreed instead to hand her over to KNA to be with her older sister. 

She has recovered from her first shock and nervousness of being brought here and has become a very smiley, happy and cute little girl. She is doing well and has a bright future. She's safe because of Duncan’s prompt communication with the social workers and his willingness to take on a new child with very little warning. Also, I think, because God’s got plans for her.

Timber-r-r-r-r-r-r

The felling and cutting up of trees is now in full swing to produce all the timber we need to replace the walkway that runs through the middle of the Badjao village, built on stilts over the sea.

The sound of the farm animals has been replaced by the roar of a chainsaw and crash of falling trees. You can see me here working with Dong to cut down a total of about 60 trees over about a six week period. Because we have many children and animals here on the farm, we don’t want to cut all the trees in one go leaving mountains of wood and branches – which would also make it hard to move between then to prepare the wood.

So at the start of each week I fell around ten trees and remove all the branches. I have a chainsaw licence and relevant experience, so I am doing all the chainsaw work. Then the long trunks can be measured and marked for me to cut into the correct log lengths. 

After that, the clearing team (some of us from the team with some Badjao) chops up and tidies away all the branches and moves all the wood to its correct stacks... large wood, posts, wood for cooking on and compost etc. Every part of the tree can be used and is not wasted; what is not used for the Badjao project can be used on the farm or for cooking. 

Then we slice up the large wood into slabs and planks, much of which uses the chainsaw and takes the most time. It’s then ready to be treated and used on the Badjao bridge. Once the area has been cleared, I fell the next batch of trees and the process starts again.

Much of my time here on the farm at the moment is working on this project, other than when I’m helping care for the kids. It is tiring work, but very rewarding and I am enjoying it and know it is for a good purpose.

Attitudes are changing

We’ve been welly-deep in rubbish, mud and human waste under and around the houses at the Badjao village. It’s preparation time for our bridge-building project here at the village and have been clearing several times over the last few weeks. 

Our focus is clearing around the rotting, broken bridge walkways which we will be soon replace with new wood. Removing the rubbish will make it easier to work in the area building the bridges. It is hard, smelly work cramped under the houses and walkways – because they have no toilets or sewerage systems, just holes in the floor that lead directly to the mud and sea bellow. 

Despite all the difficulties, I enjoyed my time in the rubbish. I loved the way we were there working side-by-side with the local people, helping them to clean and improve their village. We went in as a small team with all the gear and lots of the locals joined us and received the help happily – eager to improve their living conditions. 

Until now all of their waste and rubbish was thrown straight into the sea below, but we hope that way of thinking is starting to change – now that many of them helped us clean up. Already of the elders came along and said to those helping and watching that they should start to put rubbish in the bin not the sea – that others should not have to clean up their rubbish. 

For us, as preparation for the main project of rebuilding the village main walkway, it was a way to get closer to the community and give a small example of God’s love for them… and how Jesus can clean away all the rubbish from their lives.

Click here to see lots more pictures.

Harvesting rice

This is Jun, our farm manager, showing me the latest rice crop that we have just harvested.

On the farm we have our own rice fields that allow us to grow our own rice. Most of the rice we eat here comes from what we grow. There is a three-month dry season when rice won’t grow, so we use that time to grow other crops in the fields. We are not yet 100% fully sustainable but are moving well towards that with most of our foods and we plan to keep increasing that in the future.

The farm is organic for more healthy produce. Here you can see the rice still on the plant, which then needs to be threshed to separate it from the plant. The plant stems become a straw for the animals. The rice then needs to be ground to remove its hull; the hull can be used for cooking on or ground to powder as an organic animal feed. Once the rice is removed from its hull, it is ready for cooking and looks like it does in the shops.

What is left of the plant left in the field will gradually rot down and help fertilise the next crop, supported by lots of our own compost and animal manure which will be added and ploughed in before the next crop is planted.

Jungle party

It was a day of jungle life to celebrate Duncan's birthday! 

Duncan, with his wife Sara, started KNA and are directors of the organisation. They help the whole group in many ways, not only fostering the kids here on the farm but they are always happy to help and offer advice. So his birthday was a big celebration! 

So, a day of jungle activities meant that our lunch was only what we could catch, hunt or gather. We built jungle huts using only natural materials, dressed and danced like the tribal people. And we made fire with no match or lighter. It was also a way for the kids to learn jungle skills, while having a lot of fun, and they loved it. 

There are many different tribes here on Palawan; some in the mountains have maintained their traditional cultures and lifestyle for hundreds of years. We were split into four tribal groups on the island for our games and it was great to see a little of how the tribes used to live and how some still chose to live. 

It is amazing that even though it is quite a small island it still has several very distinct people groups or tribes. There is also several different languages over the island. Tagalog has become the national language of the Philippines, so most can understand each other now, but before it was difficult as the native languages were so different they couldn’t understand each other. Most Filipino people today still speak their native tribal language as well as Tagalog.

Engagement Pamahikan

Big news... well, for me! I am very happy to say that I am now engaged to the beautiful Shiela May Carmaran, who also works at KNA. 

Here in the Philippines culture there is an important meeting of the two families that is an important part of getting engaged. This is called a Pamahikan. My Mum and Dad have just been out here to visit me, so an important date while they were here was our Pamahikan. It involves the two families, especially both sets of parents and the engaged couple. It's a discussion about the wedding and the life of the couple after they are married, it is important in the culture here that this happens for the two families to be happy with the engagement.

After the discussion there is a feast for all family and friends so I met more of Shiela’s family and we all had a great time. It is the responsibility of the guy to provide the feast for the event... I had a pig on the farm for that purpose although it almost escaped while transporting it. But thanks to the guys at the farm, after much chasing around it was caught and moved with no problem. I had my pig spit roasted for the event and that made the centre piece of the feast. 

It was a great day and we are now very happily engaged.

Shiela and I met when I first arrived on Palawan as she was already working for Duncan and Sara. The first year we were just friends and we have been courting for almost two years before the engagement.