That evening we headed to our host family, but it took us two hours to get to the house because of the chaotic traffic in Manila. I stayed with the Maceda family and I was roomed, just for the weekend, with Brekken from Wyoming, Sarah from Denmark, and Veronika our marketing manager from Sweden.
After sleeping in until 11:30, the four of us decided to walk down the street to get massages. We got one-hour Swedish massages and it was incredibly relaxing. We knew it wouldn't be our last time getting massages.
That evening, Veronika had a staff dinner with Cast X, a special group of guests, including family members, friends, and UWP alumni who would spend the week with us experiencing life in Up with People. Brekken, Sarah, and I had Pizza Hut for dinner and then walked around a mall looking through all the fancy and expensive stores.
Monday we finally met up with the rest of the cast and spent the afternoon with Cast X listening to leaders from around the Philippines. One of the speakers was the founder of Liter of Light, which is an organization that provides light inside the homes of people living in the slums. There is no electricity and, therefore, there is no light. Liter of Light provides light by recycling a bottle and filling it with purified water and a little bleach. The bottle is then put into the roof, half outside the home and half inside. The liter bottle provides enough light for the family to be able to spend time inside the home and prepare meals, instead of having to resort to spending the day outside in the sunlight.
Since the whole cast was back together, I was no longer living with Brekken and Sarah. For the rest of the week I lived with Veronika, Gary from Belgium, and Liz from Arizona.
Tuesday was the first of our three day community impact project. The cast had been divided up into groups where we had the opportunity to spend three days at the same community impact site. I had the chance to work in one of the many slums of Manila called Quezon City. This slum is part of Gawad Kalinga, which is a area that has been restored and cleaned up by the government. While the people living in Quezon City may have more than others living in the slums, they are still incredibly poor.
The first morning we received an orientation where our contact explained the area to us and gave us an overview of what we would be doing during the week. After orientation, we were given host families that would be taking care of us throughout the week. Our host families took us into their homes and showed us what life was like for them. There were so many children running and playing in the streets that after a short time with our host families, we all flocked outside to the children playing. We danced and sang with the children in the streets all afternoon. Wherever we walked, the children followed wanting us to carry them and play with them. After the first day, I knew we were going to have a memorable week.
The next morning we headed back to Quezon City and we started the morning off by pulling weeds and picking up trash in the yard of the community church. It was rather overwhelming to pick up the trash because the river that runs along the slums was consumed by garbage. It was overwhelming because, as I stood along the river, I watched endless mounds of trash pass me by. As much as we wanted to make a difference in the river, no matter how much trash we cleaned up, more trash would flow through an hour later. The hardest part was watching the children bathe and play in the river, but it made me appreciate life and it made poverty a reality for me.
We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the children. Because it was the second day, the children were no longer shy and they laughed and played and danced until we were all exhausted from having so much fun.
Thursday was a unique Regional Learning day. We had the chance to play with children in the morning who lived in another Gawad Kalinga called Besaco. The most memorable experience from Manila was playing with nine-year-old Ryan. I played one game with him, and after the game, he would not let go of my hand. I ran around with him on my shoulders jumping up and down as he giggled and smiled. When the time came for us to leave, I had a difficult time letting Ryan go. It is so difficult to spend time in a slum and witness such poverty knowing that there is only so much you can do. The smile on Ryan's face is an image that I am privileged to have experienced and it is a memory I will always cherish. Ryan will always be in my prayers for the impact that he has had in my life.
That afternoon we walked through the slums in the rain. As we walked through the streets, people came out from their homes to greet us and say hello. From the slums we headed to an old fort in Manila and learned about some of the rich history of the area and the Philippines.
That night Veronika, John our vocal instructor, Mark a Promotional Manager, and I all headed to a club to celebrate one of my closest friends birthday. We celebrated Nicole, one of our Education Coordinators' birthdays.
Friday was our final day at Quezon City. We spent the morning playing with the children, which is something we always looked forward to. That afternoon the children wanted to teach us some of their favorite games, so we spent some time learning the rules and playing the games with the children in the street. We ended our time with the children by watching them perform for us. The children sang, danced, and recited poems for all of us. It was their way of thanking us for spending the week with them and it was the most special gift. We were all touched by the generosity, kindness, compassion, and love that the people of Quezon City showed us during the week.
Saturday was one day that I will never forget. We had two shows and during our first show, many of the children from Baseco were able to attend and they sat in the front of the theater. After our first show, I started feeling light-headed and sick, so I laid down and could not get back up. I lost all color to my face and a few tears rolled down my cheek. Some of the staff and I decided that I needed to go to the hospital. More than half our cast had been sick at some point during our week in Manila and two girls had left for the hospital right before I did. Elsa, from Finland, had fallen and fractured her wrist and Romane, from Belgium, had fainted. As I was waiting for the car to take me to the hospital, I ended up getting sick. I knew at this point that something was seriously wrong and I needed to get to the hospital quickly. I had never felt so awful in my life. Shawna, our Operations Manager, joined me in the car on the way to the hospital, but it wasn't before long that I had to ask her to pull the car over so I could get sick again, this time in the street. We made it to the hospital and I sat down waiting to get checked in. At this point, A fever started, so I was shaking uncontrollably in my chair. After getting sick once again, I was finally put into a bed behind a curtain. Kelly, one of our Education Coordinators and one of my closest friends, was at the hospital taking care of the three of us. With tears still in my eyes, a nurse came to check on me and decided to treat me for dehydration. As miserable as I was, I thought it would make me feel better if I had a conversation with the nurse. As the nurse was preparing me for an IV, I learned that he had only been a nurse for less than a year, which definitely did not make me feel any better about getting an IV. After digging a little to get to my vein, the IV was finally in and the solution was dripping.
A little while later, a doctor came in to check on me and give me a shot. I attempted to talk to the doctor as well and I decided to ask if this shot was going to hurt. She replied, "it will hurt worse than the IV." And that was the last question I decided to ask. But it actually didn't hurt as bad as I had expected. After laying in bed for about an hour, Elsa and Romane had been discharged and were now waiting in my room with me along with our fearless mother Kelli.
Kelli, Elsa, and Romane sat by my bed for the next hour while we waited until the doctor said it was alright to leave. My night at the hospital was one of the most horrific and terrifying experiences I have ever had, but I would not have changed that experience for anything in the world. The girls and I had great conversations while we were in the hospital. As I laid in bed, I couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably about the situation we were all in and then the girls couldn't stop laughing. That night will always be a memory that I will cherish because Kelli, Elsa, Romane, and I became so much closer after holding one another hands with tears running down our faces and being there for each other. I am also incredibly thankful for my friendship with Kelli because she made me feel safe and comfortable in such an unfamiliar and undesirable environment.
Sunday was a relaxing day after my chaotic experience in the hospital. I woke up at 11 feeling well enough to get out of bed. We all spent the morning and some of the afternoon resting and relaxing at the house. In the afternoon, Carlo and Derlyn took us all to a large mall. We walked around for a couple hours looking at all the shops and vendors selling everything from electronics to pearls and clothes.
Carlo and Derlyn took us out for dinner on our last night to an Asian restaurant where we enjoyed great company and good conversation.
One thing that amazed me about the Philippines was the immense gap between the wealthy and poor. It was difficult to process spending the day playing with children in the slums and then going home at night to a beautiful house in a gated community with several maids and a personal driver. The gap was so visible that you could stand in the slums amongst the piles of trash and look across the river and see the wealth in the homes, buildings, and malls with Louis Vitton and Dior. I look back on my time in The Philippines as a blessed experience and an opportunity to reflect on my outlook on life. I have realized that working in the slums with children and swimming in an ocean with kids from a small village are experience that have defined who I am and how I want to continue living my life, which is serving others.
