No, it’s not a woman who makes turnovers! RACHEL stands for Remote Area Community Hotspot (for education and learning). So it’s a server that allows schools to bypass using the internet and provides great educational resources. This project has been in the making by Steve Leininger and his sweet wife since before they even came to the Philippines over a year ago. This past week we had the very good fortune of tagging along while they delivered RACHEL servers to several school districts – I might add , very excited school districts! We received such a warm reception and grateful hearts. The first place was in Laoag, up in Northern Luzon. It was so great to get out of the city and see open spaces, be with some amazingly kind and funny tour guides (the Welfare Services Manager for the area and the counselor in the Stake Presidency) as they graciously gave of their time. School was cancelled on Monday, due to the impending storm, so we did our school visits on Tuesday before heading back to the airport. Here are lots of photos from Laoag!

I need to explain some of the above pictures. The top pictures are from our afternoon of touring around with Willie and President Zabala. Willie knew I really wanted to see the ocean (I actually wanted to jump in, it was so hot but had to be satisfied with dipping my feet in) then to the Northern Palace of Marcos. President Zabala is a real fan of Marcos, so we got a different perspective than we would typically get. The picture of the rocks is from our visit to a church up on a hill where the members personally hauled many thousands of rocks up the hill to build retaining walls. A labor of love! We learned to taste tamarind from the tree in the church’s back yard and were entertained by the guys telling some very amusing stories. The houses show a modern house (probably built by Filipinos who made their money overseas, then came back) and a more traditional house out in the country. These modern homes seem to be quite popular here and are in stark contrast to the shacks that might be right next door!

Our fun Indonesian style hotel. Willie introduced us to a lot of good local food and delicious mango shakes! Mango, ice, milk. So yummy! The next day, we had three quick school visits. Some pictures from that. Notice the formal uniforms the teachers are wearing. They were so hot!!! During the trainings, I would snoop around and visit the rest of the schools. This school had a decent canteen, but the students have to buy their food and it’s not usually very healthy. See the hot dogs that are wrapped up in bread then deep fried? But they are trying to grow vegetables and have fruit trees that they will then harvest and use for the children.

Trip to San Carlos

We had a couple of days home, then headed up to the San Carlos area in Pangasinan province for more RACHEL turnovers. I didn’t explain that turnover is the term that is used when we “turn over” the supplies or goods we deliver to the schools or other entities. We started off by going to the agricultural high school where they had a nice indoor hall and each school that was receiving a RACHEL had an administrator and at least one teacher in attendance for the training. Schools really put a lot of effort into turnovers, and this one was out of the ballpark! To start with, the MC, who was a district employee, played a video that was meant to honor us. He researched and searched on YouTube and found a children’s choir in Utah singing an Army of Helaman medley! I couldn’t believe it!! In a public school setting. Then they had the national anthem and a prayer. Next, they showed an even more amazing video that one of the schools produced. It was a very professionally done video that showed the students using RACHEL and explaining what it is. We were all blown away. It was beyond Steve Leininger’s best scenario expectations that they would have such positive reactions and go to this effort. This district is part of the pilot project for the RACHELS so I guess they figured they can have a big impact on whether other schools receive the RACHELS. It was an amazing experience!

We stayed in the Monarch Hotel, which was SUCH a treat! Then on our morning walk, you can see the contrast. Poverty abounds, right next to luxury.