Paradise found in El Nido
Next stage beckoned: after our relatively monastic life at camp, we were family reunited once again and ready to travel north to see the marvels of El Nido. Poor Alberto was so jet lagged he could hardly keep his eyes open, but our typically insane driver made sure he was as uncomfortable as possible, careering […]
Leaving camp: the verdict
If there was just one aim of our volunteering program, it was for the girls to experience not just a completely different reality and to feel duly grateful for all they have, which is all rather obvious, but rather, for them to understand that the children they were teaching and their families were ‘real’: not […]
Volunteering at kindergarten: Week 2
Days at school are similar, and we get to know names and character traits as we go. Naughty but clever Willem, and his double act Erwin; pretty Nicole, wily Grace, little Jaecob with his twisted hand… they arrive on Mondays clean and presentable, by Wednesday they are a dirty, mucky mess. The girls are applied, […]
Volunteering at kindergarten: Week 1
It was time to get stuck in. The girls were already the talk of the town, and pretty much every single child in the village had already come to meet and play with them- volleyball, running on the beach, hide and seek in the school…. I think they’ve only had one family here volunteering at […]
First night at volunteer camp
Where to begin? Perhaps just getting there and the first night. The drive from Puerto Princesa was perfect: in the sense that it was dusty, reckless, bumpy, noisy, punctuated by endless stops at roadside stores for water, SIM cards, food, everything; and lined by the most fabulous, lush verdant landscape you could ask for: endless […]
Byron to the Philippines
The girls were somewhat jittery as we boarded the first flight to Manila, via Sydney, as always, the fear of the unknown coming to the fore. Coupled with a clear lack of confidence in their mother for dealing with anything whatsoever- ‘I wish Daddy was here’ was a continuous echo 😜…. Arrival at Manila went […]