Celebrating Calabarzon!

Calamba City, Laguna --- I am grateful for all those who visited this blog for the past years! Kindly visit my new blog, Your Calabarzon Connection, on this site: yourcalabarzonconnection.blogspot.com. 

Photo credits: Department of Tourism Region IV-A

It has been my joy to share with you Cebu and Bacolod for the past 15 years --- Bacolod: the Good Life, and the Queen City of the South, Cebu. 

Now, I hope to bring you fresh news of events in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) region, as well as events in the country and around the globe. 

Meaningful Partnerships: USAID Philippines Awards BCPD Another Grant for Female OSY

Cebu City --- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded another grant to the Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD) last February 16, 2023, Thursday, to train 110  more marginalized youth and to prepare them for new jobs, businesses, or higher-level education. BCPD, a project of the Foundation for Professional Training, Inc. (FPTI), is a technical-vocational school committed to women-in-development programs and has been a partner of the USAID in furthering education and work opportunities for the poor and marginalized in Cebu City for two years now. Shown in the photo above are Mrs. Beth Lopez, BCPD School Director (middle), Mr. Ryan Washburn (right), Mission Director of USAID Philippines, and Dr. Maria Theresa C. Mokamad (left), Deputy Chief of Party for Technical Programs, USAID Opportunity 2.0. 

On their first year of partnership, BCPD had a hundred scholars, all female out-of-school youths (OSY) who reside in Cebu City. The school is happy to note that everyone is gainfully employed now in different restaurants, cafes, and hotels in the city after receiving ample training in cookery, bread and pasrty production, and food and beverage service.

This year, the USAID will be giving another set of 110 female  in Cebu City an opportunity to improve their economic condition through the Grant for Work Readiness and Continuing Education Training Program for Out-of-School Youth under the USAID Opportunity 2.0 Program.

USAID, a leading international development agency, has awarded grants to enable youth-serving organizations, higher education institutions, and training service providers across the Philippines to serve OSY in their communities better.

BCPD Graduates its First Batch of Badjao Women Scholars

Cebu City --- The Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD), a technical-vocational school for girls  committed to helping the poor in the region through free education, recently graduated a unique group of students, the Badjao tribe, one of our country's indigenous peoples (IP), whose culture and livelihood are tied to the sea. This highlights BCPD's commitment to serve women from all walks of life.

Through the training provided by AusAid Reledev Australia, twenty-five (25) Badjao women, mostly married, came in their colorful traditional garb to attend their simple yet special graduation ceremony held inside BCPD's building in the afternoon of January 11, 2023, Wednesday. Gracing the event were the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary led by Sr. Victoria Embata, the director of the Badjao Integrated Development Progam, Ms. Edwina Martel Quialquial, their program coordinator, and Ms. Angelina Paghubasan of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII. BCPD's IP graduates are program beneficiaries of the Presentation Sisters who help the Badjao get educational scholarships such as the one they received from BCPD.

The Badjao graduates' training in Baking and Bread and Pastry Production ran from September 20 to December 3, 2022. Their skills assessment was scheduled in two batches, i.e., December 11 and 18, 2022,  which they all passed satisfactorily. 

Aida, one of the Badjao women-graduates, recounted in her gratitude speech that she never thought they will still be given the opportunity to study again. She said that after high school and after getting married, she thought her life would only revolve around raising children and taking care of her family. But, thanks to schools like BCPD, they were led to see that they can still do more, happily discovering that there's still so much potential in them. Aida acknowledged the Nano Nagle Child Care and Learning Center, Inc. based in Ireland, and the AusAid Reledev Australia for their generous and invaluable support.

The highlight of the graduation was the cultural dance performance of the graduates as a testimony of their joy and gratitude to the school and to all their benefactors. Wearing their beautiful and colorful clothes, often made by hand from the traditional dastar fabric, the graduates delighted everyone with their gracious movements, as they encouraged the management and school staff to dance with them. This first batch of Badjao graduates will be helped by Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. to set up their own bakery located in Mambaling, Cebu City.

BCPD, a project of the Foundation for Professional Training, Inc. (FPTI), is set to accept its second batch of Badjao women scholars this school year 2023-2024. BCPD is a social project for underprivileged women inspired by the pastoral visit of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo to Cebu City in January 1987. Blessed Alvaro was the first successor of St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei. 

The Day We Ran for Fun: The KALFIT Race to Fitness in Cebu

Cebu City --- We had a memorable experience organizing the KALFIT Race to Fitness Fun Run in Cebu last December 4, 2022, Sunday. It was a journey we will always be grateful to look back on.

KALFIT was a fundraiser launched by the Kalinangan Youth Foundation, Inc. (KALFI) in mid-June of 2022, with the idea of supporting its project centers around the country which included our study center, Banilad, the only KALFI center in the Visayas. It sought to promote the value of physical fitness and advocate a healthy lifestyle. Six months out, with December 4 set as our race day, the fun run was a good way to celebrate our 40th year. It would allow us to reach out to all those who have passed through the center over the years, to thank them, and to reignite connections. Besides, KALFIT is more than just a fundraiser, it is also a "friendraiser." With that thought neatly tied together, we set out to form the KALFIT Cebu working committee.

Jeanne Haosen (seated in the middle, as shown in right photo), one of the ladies supporting our study center, headed the fun run committee and brought in her friends, Nerie (rightmost, as shown in the photo) and Ivy (seated at Jeanne's left). Back in 2018, Jeanne was among those who organized a mini-fun run for some 25-30 kiddie clubbers held at the city's sports center with an oval track, and so, had an experience with how this kind of activity works. But by the time we had our second KALFIT Cebu meeting in July, the fun run preparation landscape changed. The venue of the race would be inside Cebu Business Park, a busy private property home to several buildings, and not an oval track. What is more, we were led to look at 3,000 runners to join the fun run, and not just 25-30.   

With the help of Mr. and Mrs. Sigmund and Nerie Estreba, optimistic friends of our center who are also sports enthusiasts, we embarked on a daring move to say yes to the challenge of embracing the fun run as our special project for the year. We looked at KALFIT to help us get a van for the needs of the center, especially when we have to move around for outreach work. Our center has organized service projects not just in Cebu's mountain barangays, but in nearby islands and neighboring provinces like Bohol, Dumaguete in Negros Oriental, Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon in Mindanao.

The technical aspect of KALFIT was taken care of by Mr. Joel Juarez, a friend of the Estrebas. He met with our team and gave a picture of how the event will look like on race day. KALFIT will run on 4 race routes within the Cebu Business Park, covering 10km, 5km, 3km, and 1km, this last distance being the route for our special category, the Family Run. Registration was only P500 across all race categories. On race day, there will be water stations. Mr. Juarez will provide us with 40 marshals, race clocks, sirens, and ambulance vans, and will facilitate securing all needed permits from the city concerning road closures. His main concern would be everything technical that will lie within the identified race routes. Whatever happens outside will be our responsibility: event marketing and promotion, sponsorships, registration, prizes, and program proper. With this last detail, looking at our resources by mid-September, we knew we needed more support. Overwhelming as it looked, we continued what we have begun.

Beth, our project manager

As we realized early on, KALFIT was our chance to reignite connections and renew friendships. And so, in early October, we sought the help of one of Banilad's long-time friends, Beth Santos, to join the KALFIT Cebu team as our project manager. Through her, we got the collaboration of more of Banilad's friends, Therese Sabarre and June Rabin. Therese became our online registration head, while June became our emcee for the KALFIT presscon and race day program. Therese also helped us soft launch KALFIT through a talk on nature's remarkable machine, the human body. Our team of ladies from Project Sampaguita, our fundraising arm in Cebu pre-pandemic, Cathy Cheung and Au-Au Qui, also lent us support by connecting us with big sponsors for the fun run. 

All of us in the working committee went full blast with marketing and the search for sponsorships as early as August. We racked our brains for names of companies to approach, to ask freebies and prizes from, just to make   the fun run "fun." By October, we gained ground somehow when we received the endorsement of KALFIT as a city-sponsored event from the city mayor. After the KALFIT press conference in mid-November, graced by KALFI President Monet Pablo (seated in the middle, as shown in right photo) with 15 media professionals helping us amplify the event through social media, the number of registrants grew. We were feeling the pressure because our goal was to get 3,000 runners, and we were not even hitting 500 in early November. 

Note: Also shown in the photo with Monet are Tilda (left), Banilad's director, and Kaye (right), a KALFI Lead alumna.

We rallied for runners as we had the fun run shirts made, along with the race bibs and medals. We continued looking for sponsors for prizes, even as we were nearing race day. 

We were receiving in-kind donations little by little, as well as monetary donations that came in trickles. In marketing parlance, it seemed that KALFIT was a slow-moving product to sell. Despite the efforts that we have put into its promotion, we weren't still getting our "3,000."

Note: Photo on the left shows fun run volunteers at Banilad's booth.

When we were feeling the punch of all the preps, especially when faced
with marketing challenges, we had a pep talk in one of our meetings. One of our friends said that we have always promoted spiritual development. But if we are amiss in promoting activities that give value to the body, to advocate its wellness, then there would be a great disconnect to everything we have been doing. It all went down to either believing the good that physical activity (the fun run) brings --- especially since almost everyone was just cooped up at home during the pandemic, perhaps close to doing nothing ---or not believing in our event at all. So, if we want to get that van, we must work harder, unfazed by the challenges that come our way. And so, we never stopped. We were meeting twice a week in November, and met daily come December. We only had 3 days to meet when December came, because the fun run was set to happen on the 4th.

The highlights of the fun run include the assembly line of sorts which we set up in the center, putting in the race bibs, and the donated skipping ropes inside the transparent plastic bags together with the fun run shirt. The distribution or release of race kits also happened in our center.

We had the chance to ask several registrants how they got to know about KALFIT and why they would like to join it. Open to men, women, and children, one registrant said he saw the advertisement posted on a Facebook page dedicated to fun runs in Cebu. Cebu is fast becoming a hub for fun runs, with several sites conducive to marathons or simple running events like ours. A dad, who's a retired policeman said he joined because the fun run is a good way to bond with his son because they can talk while they run. We invited groups of young professionals to join, students, teachers, children with their parents, all enthusing them to run for physical fitness. Our project manager, Beth, invited 2 platoons from the Philippine Army, those stationed in nearby central command headquarters at Camp Lapu-Lapu, to support and join KALFIT. It was a good way for us to recognize our soldiers, both men and women, and to see them as our co-advocates for physical fitness.

December 4 finally came, and with or without sleep, we all showed up at the entrance of Banilad Study Center at call time. It was 1:30 am. The afternoon before it, Beth told us, "This is it, ladies. Rain or shine, KALFIT will happen. The people who will show up tomorrow will count on your energy." So, excited as we all were, we know we have been warned. If the energy will come from each one of us, then to be a sleepyhead means to be out of place on fun run day. We have all been waiting for this, and we know we must give it our all.

Thanks to our sponsors, the start/finish race arch was put up along with the booths that made the fun run site festive. There were tents and booths for coffee and juices, and a sports shop sold items at a discounted price. KALFI and Banilad had their respective booths which had our promotional materials. There was a photo booth with the KALFIT tarp, and an area for the prizes which were in-kind donations from generous sponsors. The stage, LED wall, lights, and sound system, courtesy of our friends from our barangay, Barangay Luz, were set up well around midnight. Everything was ready.

People started arriving as early as 3:00 am, with June prepping up the people together with one of our KALFI Leaders, Therese Napuli, who worked as an assistant program emcee.

There was Zumba before and after the run, with the girls who come to our center lending energy with the warm-up and cool-down dance. We continued receiving registrants and sold fun run shirts. 

Gun Start for 10km was at 5:00 am, 5km at 5:15, and 3km at 5:25, and 1km (Family Run Category) at 5:35. In between, the Philippine Army ran and did their drills, doing the 5km route. All the race finishers had hot taho (silken tofu with sago pearls and brown sugar syrup) waiting for them, courtesy of our food sponsors. We were happy to see everyone having fun!

A PAREF Springdale dad  with his 2 young sons won the 1km family run category, and a teacher from CITE won our special award, the Highest Friendraiser, because he invited many of his students to join KALFIT. Several schools sent in their students and teachers to participate, sponsored by big-hearted donors: technical-vocational schools like the Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD), CITE, and SKILLS. Our sponsors also sent their employees to run for fitness.  

We are grateful to have the support of our KALFI Vice-President, Mimie Huang, and KALFI member of the board of trustees, Mags Valdez, who joined us on race day and helped in the awarding of prizes. Some 3 weeks earlier, KALFI President, Monet Pablo, also flew from Manila to support us during the KALFIT press conference.

We are grateful to the following sponsors of KALFIT: 8990 Housing Development Corporation, Cebu City Government, MILO, Cebu Landmasters, Inc., J. Nitton Development Corporation, AB Soberano Holdings Corp., SKYGO, TMAX Construkt, Inc., Archiglobal, Inc., Cebu Business Park, Giyapay, Contempo Property Holdings, Paramount Life and General Insurance Corporation, AXA, Anjo World, Nature's Spring, King's Quality Foods, BELO, Ford Talisay Cebu, Runnr, Ayala Center Cebu, ECYY, Figaro, MR Events and Twinbee Print Ads, Napintas Logistics and Distribution Corp., Nestle, Nutribar, RDAK Motors, Vicsal Foundation, IPI, Cebu Parklane International Hotel, Cebu Premiere Real Estate and Development, Inc., Largata Travel and Tours, Harley Davidson, Lucky Tableware, Cebu Oversea Trading, and a lot more. We are likewise very grateful to all the individuals and companies who sponsored groups of runners for the fun run.  

We saw over a thousand run for the KALFIT Race to Fitness Fun Run last December 4, a far cry from our 3,000, but a good enough number that brightened the atmosphere and gave a warm, family vibe to the area we occupied at the Cebu Business Park. Light rain gave us a scare when we left the center early that morning, but we were blessed with clear skies throughout the fun run. As to the van, we are grateful that we managed to raise a sizeable amount that will serve as our first batch of savings to hopefully purchase one soon. What was consoling was to see the value of in-kind donations we received given such a short period --- it exceeded all our expectations. We cannot ask for more.

There are more colorful stories left to tell about our KALFIT experience. None of us from the working committee ran on race day because we were all in our respective stations, even if we were curious to try the racecourse. But just the same, we all ran our way to the finish line by jumping over the hurdles that tried to knock us off the path.

It has been more than two months now after KALFIT. We are left with the challenge of reaching out in the future to more than a thousand registrants. Until the next fun run, we don't know how many more sponsors we will discover, groups of people to enthuse, and friendships we hope to strike or revive through a fun run. One thing seems clear, KALFIT is one worthwhile activity that has sought to bring out the best in each one of us.

You may watch the KALFIT Cebu video here.

Launching a Generation of Thrivers

Cebu City --- Revisiting the key messages of the online youth conference attended by the girls who frequent our study center is a welcome and engaging task. We are not just talking here about the 68 participants from Cebu, Bohol, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Compostela Valley and Bacolod who signed up under Banilad Study Center, but close to a thousand registrants all over the Philippines, Indonesia and the rest of Asia-Pacific who made their strong presence felt virtually in the very first online youth conference organized by the Kalinangan Youth Foundation, Inc. (KALFI) dubbed as Generation Thrivers. This took place last July 31, 2021, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm.

This was our study center's second time to work closely with the Ways and Means Committee headed by KALFI's Vice-President Mrs. Mimie Huang, together with core group members Mags Valdez, Ellen Soriano, Viory Janeo and Meg Agner. The first time was last Christmas 2020, when an online Christmas Caroling fundraising event kicked-off, gathering financial support for the study centers under KALFI like Balanghai, Banilad, Daniw, Iraya, Tahilan, and Tipolo, to name a few. It was memorable because the online caroling happened on our study center's 38th Anniversary, December 19. It is moving to note that people contributed and sent their donations while we are still battling our way through this pandemic, to support leadership programs and community development initiatives of various KALFI study centers.

Generation Thrivers, with PLDT and Smart Foundation as its major sponsor, was one big affair that must have made an unprecedented impact in the lives of so many young people this year. Since KALFI centers cater to girls, one of the question marks we hurdled during the preparatory meetings was how to treat the registration of interested male attendees. It was a good thing that the smart retort from one of the core group members resolved the matter. We acknowledged the fact that we cannot control who will watch the livestreaming. So, for purposes of our internal records, girls may freely register on behalf of possible male participants. This must have amplified the reach of the event because we learned later that for each registered attendee, there were about 5 or more people attending with them. Talk about the multiplier effect.

The new KALFI logo

This online youth conference is considered an offshoot of an earlier online event organized by the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) last April 2021 which featured international speaker Dr. Michele Borba, a renowned American educational psychologist. Dr. Borba highlighted the value of resilience in this conference entitled, Thrivers: Raising Mentally-Healthy Kids During Troubled Times. Getting its inspiration somehow from all the learnings taken from that conference, KALFI took it as a timely sign to promote the seven character strengths that it is committed to instill in the minds and hearts of all the girls who come to our centers. Timely because KALFI is launching its new logo. With Mrs. Monet Pablo, KALFI's President, and the support of former KALFI head, Mrs. Nits Sandejas, our foundation is establishing itself more stably as a good and reliable non-government organization. The 7 character strengths embodying the new KALFI logo are: Integrity, Empathy, Curiosity, Self-Confidence, Optimism, Self-Control and Perseverance. Influential speakers were tapped to bring to life what these virtues could awaken in our youth.

Our roster of speakers for Generation Thrivers shared their own powerful stories that encouraged our youth to dream big and to be fearless in cultivating a big heart.

Judge Rowena Tan, a regional trial court judge working in Samar province, shed light on how the character strength of Integrity is lived in the judiciary. Her personal experience from the time she was a young student of basic education up to the time she studied law, eventually working as a lawyer, and moving up towards becoming a government-appointed judge in her beloved province of Samar, surely left a mark in the minds of those who listened to what she went through. Amid all the obstacles, giving and providing justice to the marginalized in her hometown, and uplifting the way her profession is viewed is truly one for the books. But the story must not end there. What she achieved needs to be replicated in the lives of so many others, not just among students who study law, but in everyone's life.

Engr. Winchester Lemen, President and Owner of Envirotech Waste Recycling, Inc, opened our eyes to what Curiosity can do and empower in us. Engr. Lemen is a Filipino mechanical engineer who showed us how to turn plastic garbage into chairs! You may call it magic, but he piqued our interest to do something magically concrete to help the environment. His start-up company, Envirotech, has as its slogan, "We Reuse your Refuse." They are committed to promote proper segregation of recyclable plastic waste among the different communities they work with, foremost of which are public schools who benefit from what they produce from waste: plastic chairs and benches. As a result, among those who attended Generation Thrivers, we learned that some already got the contact details of Engr. Lemen to possibly collaborate with him and his company for community projects that can tackle recycling seriously.

Cebuana artist and educator, Mrs. Mary Rose Villacastin-Maghuyop, talked to us about Self-confidence. We must say that when her turn came to speak, the virtue she was tasked to magnify was tested to its core. Perhaps owing to weak internet connection and low bandwidth, she had to restart her talk more than twice, until KALFI's tech team finally had to stop the livestreaming all together to fix the technical glitch. When livestreaming resumed, our tech team worked doubly hard to save the day by taking over the presentation that Ms. Mary Rose was doing with the help of her daughter. So, finally, things fell into place. In her talk, Ms. Mary Rose gave us an acronym to remember: the word SELF. S is for See, E for Exposure, Experience and Expertise, L for Learned, and F for Faith. Alongside these are action words that can guide us in developing the confidence we need to face life. Recognize what we see around us. Rehearse and imbibe what we may experience or expose ourselves to. Reflect on what we learn, and rely on the help of God in whatever we are engaged in. Several attendees took to the Facebook comment button to say that our speaker on Self-confidence brought home the point by showing us in real time how it is to have grace under pressure. 

Generation Thrivers was fortunate to have three public servants as speakers: our Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, and Vice-President Leni Robredo.

Sec. Berna Romulo-Puyat talked about Optimism. She related her journey as a public servant while performing her duties as a mother and wife. What was remarkable in her story was when she related the time she got widowed, raising her kids as a hands-on single parent while being committed to her duties in public office, just like her father, politician and diplomat, Hon. Alberto Romulo. Optimism played a key role in her life which propelled her to be where she is now. She presently leads us all to Dream and Wake Up in the Philippines, the DOT's campaign to thrive during this pandemic.

Mayor Vico Sotto gave us a keynote address that was more than just inspiring --- it was life-changing. His involvement in the conference was confirmed at a later stage, but his presence in the event had something like a booster effect on us. Fresh from his vaccination that day, he faced all of us giving the best of himself. Highlighting Integrity in public service, he recounted events in his life that challenged the practice of the virtue. He bravely bared his personal principles and work ethics that must have left everyone in awe. It was inspiring to have to listen to this young leader before us.

Vice-President Leni Robredo gave us lessons on Self-Control and Perseverance. Her work being the second highest ranking official in government is no easy task as we can all see, but her mature and calm demeanor as a female leader more than makes up for what some news about her capacity feeds us with. Far from seeing the event as a political platform, we were all edified to note that she, together with the other two government leaders, bears the marks of of what a true public servant ought to embody: self-effacing, people-centered and God-fearing. We must be proud to have them around. 

In a nutshell, we can say that we all went home from that conference so full and fired up to put all of KALFI's 7 character strengths to work in our lives. We were happy to receive so many kind words from the girls who attended the event, so grateful that they got to know about it, or were invited to it. They didn't mind the technical glitch that happened saying that even onsite events have them, thereby saying, what more can we expect from an online activity. How gracious they are.

While we wish to see how this online youth conference truly made a striking effect in the lives of all the attendees, we know that only time can tell. What puts a smile on our faces now is the fact that we have already started in our goal towards nurturing a generation of thrivers among the girls we have reached through this conference. 

Generation Thrivers has created a safe space in cyberspace for those who want to prepare themselves for a fruitful future ahead, bringing with them the marks of a true thriver --- strong in resilience, empathy, and sense of responsibility. 

The Jingdou Language Centre in Macau

Macau --- I am very grateful for the opportunity to see nearby Macau, almost a year ago, to get to know more about the Jingdou Language Centre. Managed by the Far Eastern Education Association (FEEA), the language center caters mainly to Macau locals who wish to improve their English proficiency. They are also offering Mandarin and Cantonese classes, programs aimed at expatriates and foreign nationals residing in Macau. Thanks to SKILLS, the technical-vocational school of Primary Structures Educational Foundation, Inc., I was given the chance to benchmark the English as a Second Language (ESL) Course being offered at Jingdou, in the light of the upcoming ESL Program to be launched in SKILLS sometime this year.   

Macau is about three hours away by plane from Manila. It is an autonomous region on the south coast of China, across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong. A Portuguese territory until 1999, it reflects a mix of cultural influences. 

I left Manila at 7:30 AM and arrived in Macau a little before 12:00 NN. I was met at the airport by May Chan, one of Jingdou's coordinators. She was so kind enough to bring me to Wahn Tihng Study Center where I stayed while I was there. We met Mary Anne of the Administration, and Iris, the director of the center. I was so happy to be there!

This is how the houses along the sidewalks in Macau look like.

After settling down and doing a bit of unpacking, May said we'll just walk going to a nearby Chinese restaurant where we'll have lunch. So we did. It was a pleasant walk, and I didn't mind the humid air while going through the streets of Macau. Doing so reminded me a bit of an area in Binondo, Manila where many Chinese nationals are residing, living in buildings where they operate their own businesses. What I find so nice are the quaint houses, vertical condominiums, government buildings still breathing the beauty of Portuguese architecture. As you may know, Macau was a colony of Portugal for more than a hundred years or so. The way the street signs are put up, plus the lamp posts and the flowers in each of them, make the streets of Macau a pretty sight to behold.

In the Chinese restaurant, we waited a bit for Joan Wallace to arrive. Joan is a British national living in Macau for quite some time now, and is handling drama classes for young students at Jingdou. The impression I got while having lunch was that the Chinese are really a healthy race, because of the abundance of green leafy vegetables in the menu selections. Plus the bottomless hot green tea served in all the meals. We enjoyed a hearty lunch. I was grateful to May and Joan for making me feel welcome in their country.

After lunch, we then headed for Jingdou, again, walking! May explained to me that since most of the areas here are walkable, it is more convenient to do so than taking the bus. I really didn't mind because by just looking at their buildings, I was already enjoying myself, holding in awe what a rich culture Macau has.

With May (left) and Marilou (center) at Jingdou

Finally, when we reached a certain intersection, May pointed out to me the building where Jingdou is located. We crossed the street and entered a not-so-new building, and just took the stairs up the second floor where we rang the doorbell. A smiling lady greeted us, and talked to May in Mandarin. I had a warm welcome from Jingdou's professors. I was really moved. She introduced me to Marilou Ygoa who used to live here in our study center in Cebu. And then to the rest of the team composed of Americans and British expats. Joan brought me around and let me observe in her drama class. She has 6 young students, who really look so cute with their chinky eyes. I was hoping I could have a photo opportunity with them, but it seems that it is not encouraged among the visitors. After the drama class, I was brought to the high school English conversation class of Kenneth. It was fun because he made me part of the discussion. He had about 8 boys and 8 girls in his class. I must say that most of the students could already speak in English satisfactorily. They could describe what happened to them in clear English, and they also got to use complex verbs and adjectives. After this class, May brought me back to their office where she gave me a sample course curriculum of the ESL program they run. She explained to me that the way they do it is really heavy on demonstration, promoting activity-based learning. Not so much relying just on books and pure lecture. I thanked her for being very accommodating, and for sharing with me details of their language program offerings.

At Coloane with May, Adalina and Veronica 

I was so glad to have met the other ones from Wahn Tihng: Emily and Peggy. And I also got to meet Monica from Hong Kong, who was in Macau at that time for business reasons.  May also brought me around: we saw the beautiful parks in the city where we rode the cable car, visiting The Ruins of St. Paul's, and the trip to the quaint town of Coloane, where we had excursion together with Adalina, a Portuguese, and Veronica, a Macanese. We ate in a Portuguese restaurant there, took the famous egg tart dessert at Lord Stow's Bakery, and visited the conference center in Hac Sa. It was Monica who invited us to see Hac Sa Conference Center where a seminar which she was assisting was going on. I never thought I'd see Our Lady of Macau up close. I am ever grateful for that gift.

Going up Penha Hill during the May 13 procession 

The highlight of this trip, I must say, was the opportunity to see Macau's Our Lady of Fatima at the Se Cathedral, around 2 kilometers from Wahn Tihng. It was really a memorable experience for me to attend the solemn mass at the cathedral, join the May 13 procession and go up Penha Hill, till we reached the Chapel of Our Lady of Penha where you have a beautiful view of the whole Macau. We were celebrating 100 years of the Fatima apparitions while I was there. I actually didn't know that the weekend I decided to be there coincided with the centennial celebration of the Fatima apparitions! It was nearing 12 midnight when May and I separated. I went home with Emily who was also in the procession with a friend. We walked all the way home, passing by a mini-grocery where Emily picked up some purchased goods for her Administration.

I am very grateful to Iris, Peggy, Emily, Marilou, Joan, Adalina, Veronica, Monica, and to May especially, and to everyone who made my quick stay in Macau so pleasant and enjoyable. God willing, I can go back there again.

Dumaguete Day Trip

We found one fine Sunday in March to explore nearby Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental, a neighboring province here in the Visayas! We had to hear anticipated Mass to set out early the following day. 

We left Cebu City at around 5:30 AM when it was still a bit dark, and drove down South towards Santander where Liloan port is. We were to take the barge bringing the van with us! There were eight of us, 6 from our study center and 2 from the training center. Gigi R., one of our ladies residing in Dumaguete, was expecting us in their house, to meet her mom and also to visit the house of her sister, Len-Len, where we are scheduled to do the summer Rural Service Project come May. It was an exciting trip, and we all enjoyed the scenic coastal area of Southern Cebu. From Cebu City, we passed by Talisay City, Minglanilla, the City of Naga, San Fernando, Carcar, Sibonga, Argao, Dalaguete, Alcoy, Boljoon and Oslob, before reaching the municipality of Santander, Cebu. We arrived a little past 9:00 AM. We waited to board the RORO (roll-in and roll-out ship) and when were finally inside, we went up the passenger and viewing deck to bid Cebu goodbye. It was really fun!

The big boat ride from Cebu took less than 30 minutes, since the port of Sibulan, Negros Oriental was just right across the port of Santander. This reminded me of a somewhat similar boat ride I took with my cousins when we went to Guimaras Island from Iloilo City in the island of Panay. You can see the mountains of your neighboring province!

When we disembarked, we were so happy to see how clean and green Dumaguete City is, a far-cry from the usual sight of Cebu City's streets which, unfortunately, are not really quite clean. The only 'trash' we saw were dried leaves on the sidewalk! Can you beat that? 

We first headed to Gigi's house which was not that far from the port. They have a big machine shop outside their beautiful home, which amused us because of their mini-playground. We had time to play in the seesaw, the monkey bars, the slide, and the swing. We were enjoying ourselves so much! 

We met Gigi's mom and sisters, and had a quick photo op in their house. We then set out to have our Dumaguete City tour, with a visit to Silliman University campus as main feature. We were lucky to have a very learned tour guide who calls himself a campus ambassador. His communication skills were very brilliant, and we can say he really knows his university inside and out. Later on, we learned that this tour guide had been a Silliman scholar and was one of those who topped his batch. 

Silliman is such a huge campus, reminding us of how the University of the Philippines Diliman campus looks like. They have so many colleges and hopping from one building to the next, we really had to ride the van because they are situated very far from one another! What we liked among the places we visited was the amphitheater where their university commencement exercises are held. We were treated to see ancient acacia trees in the university property that provide much shade and oxygen to the whole campus. We also took a nice photo with the bust of Silliman's founder, Dr. Horace B. Silliman, a retired businessman of the town of Cohoes in New York state, USA. As we may know, it was the Presbyterian Board of foreign missions who was behind the putting up of the university, which explains its Protestant roots. 

After the tour of Silliman, we went to see the house of Len-Len, Gigi's sister from the United States, who allowed us to use their house for our summer outreach project. That was where we took our lunch. It was a cozy house which could fit a maximum of 18-20 girls. It has a nice veranda where you could do stargazing, and a garden big enough to place a barbecue set-up for dinner. 

In the afternoon, we went to see the famous bamboo organ of the Church of Bacong, Negros Oriental! It's actually the Church of St. Augustine of Hippo, which also houses the tallest belfry in this side of Negros Island. Most of us went up the belfry to have a 360 degree view of Dumaguete City, braving the dark winding stairs going up and taking in the humid air and the smell of bat droppings. Well, that was such an accomplishment!

For merienda, we headed for the baywalk and parked near Sans Rival pastry shop. Topping the day was taking sweet silvanas, an all-time hit in Dumaguete and around the country!

We were back at the port of Sibulan by 4:30 PM to take the RORO back to Santander. It was such a short but sweet trip to this City of Gentle People. We arrived home in Cebu City a little before 9:00 PM, full of picturesque memories of today's excursion to enchanting Dumaguete.