See Bryan’s posts on our retrieval of Syalom from school (At the School…) and her house (Visit 5). Here are a few of my impressions: Syalom was much bigger than I expected! As Bryan said, she’s probably older than her reported age. I immediately began worrying that the clothes I’d brought her wouldn’t fit. IContinue reading “Ginger: Visit 5, part 2”
Category Archives: Philippines & Indonesia 2016
Bryan: Neighbors, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Our final child visit was in Tumpaan, Indonesia. This is a town on the island of North Sulawesi, directly south of the Philippines. It is not a tourist area, at all. Seeing whites in the area is rare and we were told some the kids had probably never seen any before. As usual, our visitContinue reading “Bryan: Neighbors, North Sulawesi, Indonesia”
Bryan: Visit 5, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Our final visit was with Syalom, in eastern Indonesia. She is reported to be 11 1/2 years old, but appeared a bit older, maybe 13. Records of ages aren’t accurate in some of these countries and people just don’t keep close track. Kids aren’t slotted to grades in school based on age but rather onContinue reading “Bryan: Visit 5, North Sulawesi, Indonesia”
Bryan: At the School, Tumpaan, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
One step on our visit to sponsored child Syalom in Tumpaan, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, was to go to her school. It was a school day, so the plan was for us to pull her out when we arrived in order to visit her home. The adults we’d met before going to the school were makingContinue reading “Bryan: At the School, Tumpaan, North Sulawesi, Indonesia”
Ginger: Visit 5, part 1 (Manado, Indonesia)
Thankfully, nothing dire happened in Indonesia. But it was certainly one of the most foreign places I’ve ever been. The accent was substantially more challenging to understand, they drive on the left, and we had to switch to another currency just as I’d got the hang of pesos-to-dollars conversions. Indonesia is another country with aContinue reading “Ginger: Visit 5, part 1 (Manado, Indonesia)”
Ginger: PH to ID–Transition Time
I have to confess: I was not eager to leave the Philippines. It was an easy place to be a visitor. Most of the people speak English (with an American-ish accent!), they like Americans and our culture, and the majority religion is Christian. Of course there are differences, but it wasn’t a huge stretch toContinue reading “Ginger: PH to ID–Transition Time”
Bryan: Neighbors, Oroquieta, Philippines
Based on a number of our visits in Africa two years ago, I’ve described the effect on the villages we visit as being like the circus coming to town. Half the village knows we’re coming and the other half knows as soon as we get out of the truck. The crowd descends. Interestingly, we hadn’tContinue reading “Bryan: Neighbors, Oroquieta, Philippines”
Ginger: Visit 4, Oroquieta, Philippines
As Bryan mentioned, we experienced enormous differences between the regions we visited in the Philippines. The Manila and Baguio visits both took place on Luzon, the most populated island in the country. The Manila area is pushing 13 million people (a place where you and your car will never be lonely) and Baguio’s population isContinue reading “Ginger: Visit 4, Oroquieta, Philippines”
Bryan: Visit 4, Oroquieta, Philippines
We made the trip in late July to the southern island of Mindanao to visit Kurt. He’s a very sweet 13 year old. He lives with his grandparents and two siblings in what is probably a three-room home. The living/dining room is far from weather-tight. It is pretty much open air – more like aContinue reading “Bryan: Visit 4, Oroquieta, Philippines”
Bryan: Comic Relief in Ozamis City, Philippines
Ozamis City is the city we’ve flown into this morning (in late July) for our days in Mindanao. We had a 5 AM flight – possibly the only flight of the day to Ozamis from Manila. Landed before 7. We were on a decent sized jet. 6 seats across. The runway was one strip. SoContinue reading “Bryan: Comic Relief in Ozamis City, Philippines”
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