We had a “normal” week this week after our craziness with the literacy projects. We did a fair amount of catching up and just catching our breath, then we had a full day in Tondo on Thursday. Lennie had a “vision” of sorts a while back where he envisioned lots of NGOs and residents coming together to really talk about how to address their water and sanitation issues. Well…it more or less happened. He found out that the head of Single Drop for Safe Water, Kevin Lee “Kiwi”, did a research study 4 years ago on Tondo and their lack of sanitation. He and a coworker flew in from Palawan and joined with us and other NGOs in Tondo to let the residents speak and share their experiences. Almost the entire meeting was in Tagalog but I could understand 4 words or phrases: Advocacy, tubig (water) and flying saucers. In case you are wondering, flying saucers refers to the method they have of disposing of their fecal matter. Yup! They don’t have toilets or sewage systems in certain areas of Manila. Hard to believe, but it’s true. It’s a huge problem and bigger than we know what to do with, but we at least got the conversation started.

We could tell that the residents appreciated being able to give voice to their concerns. To be heard! There was a good turnout that included at least 5 NGOs, local residents and some Tondo ward members. The ward members were shocked that this problem existed. They happen to have water and toilets where they are. After we finished the meeting, we were taken over to the buildings where we did our first Tondo project. We had a little celebration of the completion of all of their finished projects- about 4 in each of 3 buildings. They aren’t exactly works of artistry, but the residents did all the work and felt a real feeling of accomplishment. They had a nice video showing all the before and afters for each building, then had some residents say a few words of gratitude. Our young missionaries were there-all 17 of them from a certain zone. They did a service project earlier that morning. They did some games and told some Bible stories. They aren’t normally allowed in this part of Tondo, so it was great they could share their light with the people there. It is never an easy thing to spend much time there. We took Sister Bjorkman with us since she might need to keep things going here after we leave. I think it was kind of a shock to her. It takes a day or so to stop thinking about the way they live there. The problems are so complex….But such good people! They make the best of what they have and the kids seem genuinely happy. We have much to learn from them.

The meeting was held at the building that used to be the Purple School. The San Miguel corporation is now managing it and I have to say, they are using it very well. They have 5 different foundations that are using one or more rooms here and it is now the home to livelihood centers, Alternative Learning System classes, children’s classes, preschools, etc. Very impressive! And they have such great spaces now.

Pictures from the celebration of completion of their renovation projects:

BAPTISM! On Saturday, we had the privilege of attending another convert baptism for another woman from Taiwan. She exuded joy and gave such a great talk at the end. She talked about how she could learn to become joyful and how you can be very good at being angry or grouchy if you practice it every day. Kind of a new way of looking at “becoming”. After the baptism we walked over to Makati’s well known weekend market. We went with the Penners. Gretchen Penner was baptized about a year ago. She is such an amazing person. Humble, smart, and a great missionary! She became brave and asked her family members if they wanted to attend stake conference and they did! They are now taking the missionary lessons. She was worried because they are strong Catholics. She approaches everything with prayer and seeks revelation (and gets it of course). We also had the BEST food there! I had an amazing taco and her husband said his roast beef sandwich is the best he has ever had. Who would have known? Now we will need to find excuses to go to Makati on a Saturday!