Philippines Trip January 2011 #17

We are safely back in Manila, hoping for a little more restful few days here before heading back home. Yesterday we left Tabuk very early (5 AM) with Eduardo, Christy, Doleng and Fred and Bel. We stopped for a MacDonald’s breakfast in Santiago about 8 and then on to Bagabag (our former SIL support base about 4 hours south of Tabuk) and then on to Banaue (the world famous rice terraces). Fred and Bel still have a small home in Sta Lucia, Bel’s parental home, just outside of Bagabag. We stopped there for refreshments and then headed up the mountain for the 2 hour drive to Banaue, about 4,000 ft up in the mountains. Our plan was to have lunch there and spend a couple of hours seeing the magnificent rice terraces. Lunch was great, but unfortunately the mountains were all shrouded in low lying clouds and it drizzled a good bit of the time which made it quite cool at that altitude. Soon Ginny began to shiver and we noticed that she was running a fever, so we headed back down to Bagabag. It wasn’t the spectacular day of sightseeing we had hoped for, but it was good to spend one last day with our Kalinga family and Fred and Bel. We had supper together at a brand new hotel that is just being built in Bagabag and then stayed there over night. It is quite near the highway going to Manila where we hoped to catch an early bus this morning (6:30). As it turned out, the right bus did not come along until 8:00, so we had a bit of a wait and then the long, slow 8 hour bus ride to Manila. Fortunately now the roads are good and the buses comparatively comfortable, but it was still good to finally get into Manila at 4 this afternoon. After the busy last week, we hope to take it a little easier now, hoping that Ginny gets over her fever again soon. The only thing we have on our schedule for tomorrow is lunch with our good friends Doctors Jaime and Ruth Morales. They ran a Catholic medical mission in Allaguia when we lived in Asibanglan and also helped us put on a medical mission in conjunction with the Kalinga NT dedication in 2004. It will be good to see them again. We are tired but thankful for all the experiences we enjoyed so far on this special journey back in time.

Philippines Trip January 2011 #16

We are back in Tabuk from our amazing weekend in Asibanglan. I wanted Dave and Debbie to get the full adventure of it and it was all that and more. The adventure of the hike in up the steep muddy trail was only surpassed by the hike out yesterday when it rained all the way down. Dave helped us put a happy face on it by saying that the trail was being washed down before us. Both ways there was a lot of slipping and sliding. The younger Kalinga like to use rubber boots in these conditions. I hate walking in rubber boots, so I had decided to wear my crocks. Dave and Debbie had followed my lead and brought theirs as well. That was not a good choice of foot wear because they kept staying behind in the sticky muck, so we decided to hike barefoot. We were like little kids indulging our natural inclination to want to play in the mud. We were welcomed in true Asibanglan fashion with open hearts and over the top hospitality. Umek (Doleng’s 82 yr old mom) came down to the path to hug us all as we arrived covered in mud. Doleng waited to welcome until we had had a chance to go down to the spring behind her house to wash a bit of the muck off first. Doleng found comfortable beddings for all 10 of us guests and she, with Dominga (her crippled sister) fed us and hosted us royally, except for Sunday lunch when Noemi, Benito’s daughter and now one of the school teachers there wanted to host us at her house.

The main event of the weekend was the dedication of the memorial library to honour Pedro, Benito and Kuya, 3 of our former translators who have gone before. In the ideal world Saturday would have dawned bright and clear so that the event could have been celebrated in the open air on the school grounds, but in the real world it rained all night Friday and was still raining Saturday morning. The Kalingas have long experience of living in the real world and are adept at finding solutions for such contingencies. It wasn’t long before a bunch of men descended on the old school building (no longer in daily use because it should have been condemned as unsafe years ago) and began removing walls to make room for everyone under the roof. One wall became a stage for the priest who was there to conduct the worship to begin the day. They had invited Fr. Francis to come up from Allaguia to lead off the ceremonies with worship, following the Catholic tradition but open for all to attend. After the mass and the blessing and ribbon cutting for the new library, one of the young local leaders of the Alliance church took the mike (yes the had a generator and a sound system for the occasion) and lead the community in some hearty singing of a few worship choruses followed by a variety of talks interspersed with singing and Kalinga dance presentations, mostly by the children and young people. The little children were just fabulous as they competed to show off their dancing, wearing their traditional attire. They were hampered a bit by the tight space inside the old school building, but their joy and enthusiasm made up for that. Because of the late start due to the rain, having to remodel the facilities for the event, and the natural bent of people to talk and talk when they have a mike in their hand, the program went on way past lunch time, but I think the attitude of the people is that the value of a celebration is measured by the length of the program and everyone patiently went along, putting aside the hunger in their stomachs for the joy of celebrating the occasion. The program ended with speeches by a daughter of each of the former translators being honoured. Christy had us all in tears with her reflections on Pedro but she held back her tears until she was done and we all gave her a big hug and she cried on our shoulders. It was all moving and inspiring and we pray that the community will honour the memory of the translators by using the library as intended. Since meat is rarely in their diet, the lunch, enriched by the two big pigs we had brought was a real treat for the community. After lunch we went back to continue the celebration with some Kalinga dancing to the rythm of their antique brass gongs. In their style a dance leader goes around giving a length of cloth to one man and one woman whose turn it is then to dance. Others can join in, but the dance goes on until the man invites the woman to give him her cloth. We all had our turn, and to the delight of everyone, Dave came on wearing a Kalinga g-string (over his shorts) which someone graciously lent him. To end the day some of the Alliance youth demonstrated their Bible memory skills by reciting verses from the Kalinga Bible which they had memorized. This would have gone on longer but suddenly all attention focused on a fight which had broken out between two youths in the school yard outside. It reminded me of the bench clearing brawls in some of our sporting events in Canada. The community leaders put a quick end to the fight as any injury, especially if blood is drawn can spark a cycle of revenge. This was an unfortunate way to end the celebrations, but it did profile why a peacemaking ministry such as our guest Dann Pantoja profiled in his message is needed. The only other event which threatened marr the celebration was that at one point in the dancing the floor of the old school almost collapsed beneath the weight of all the people. All in all, it was a marvellous day of celebration. Now we pray that the new library will be used to help further educate and open the minds of the community to new possibilities and opportunities.

It is almost 5 now and we are about to leave on our next adventure. Eduardo and Christy are taking us to the world famous Banaue rice terraces.  There we will say our good byes as we go on to Manila and then home and they come back here. Christy’s mom is joining us for this. More when I am back in Manila.

Philippines Trip January 2011 #15

Today the adventure moves into high gear – the climax of our month here. We will leave Tabuk early this morning (It’s Friday here already), for our journey deep into the Kalinga mountains to Asibanglan, one of the remotest places in the Philippines. That is where we helped start the Limos Kalinga translation project 35 years ago. That is where our friend Pedro gave his life for his friends and that is where we have now helped the people build a memorial library/reading centre to honour his memory and 2 other co-translators who have gone before. Together with the community we have planned a program that we trust will be honouring to God and the memory of the people who gave themselves to this project and we pray that the event will inspire the community to deeper discipleship and help in their education. We are providing 2 pigs for the feast. Since pigs are bigger and less expensive here in Tabuk than the native pigs they raise in Asibanglan, we purchased the pigs here. At least 21 people from Asibanglan will be meeting us at the place where the road ends and the hike begins to help carry the pigs, other food and our luggage up the mountain. We are joined in the adventure today  by my brother Dave and his wife Debbie and by Dann and Joji Pantoja (with their co-worker Regina) who work in Peacemaking here in the Philippines through Mennonite Witness and an organization they are developing called Peacebuilders Community. Dann and Joji and Regina are Filipinos, but Dann and Joji lived in Canada for 20 years where Dann also did a graduate degree at Vancouver School of Theology. We were so excited to finally welcome Dave and Debbie early yesterday morning after their 10 hour night bus trip from Manila (this because their flight on Wednesday was cancelled by bad weather). So yesterday was an exciting day of interacting with these friends. It ended in the evening with Eduardo and Christy making another quick trip into Tuguegarao to pick up Kiyoko, our Japanese co-worker who was in Asibanglan when Pedro was killed. Yesterday afternoon Dann, Joji, Regina and I also had a fabulous meeting with Bishop Andaya. As I have shared earlier, Bishop is very much involved as a Peacemaker here in Kalinga and it was great to get these Christian Peacemakers together and feel the energy as they shared about our common commitment to discipleship in the way of Jesus and strategies for helping our Kalinga friends experience peace (true shalom) in their daily experience. There were moment when I got goose bumps listening to the conversation and imagining what God might do under the power of the Spirit and with the combined energy and imagination of these dear friends. I think yesterday’s meeting was the beginning of many new adventures on the journey with God and the Kalinga people. I hope I get to see a lot more of that in the years to come. The day is about to begin here as the daily pig butchering has begun, the roosters are enthusiastically announcing the imminent dawn and the pan de sal vendor will shortly be out singing his wares through town. May it be a day of blessing for us and all whose lives we touch today.

Philippines Trip January 2011 #14

The adventure continues. Today was supposed to be a very exciting day. Dave and Debbie would fly from Manila to Tuguegarao (about 1.5 hrs from Tabuk) where we would finally connect with them. The weather was good here all day, but as we crossed the ridge overlooking the Cagayan Valley where Tuguegarao is, it started to rain lightly and we could see clouds moving across the valley. The plane from Manila to Tuguegarao is a twin engine and the airport is not equipped for instrument landings. When we got to the airport they said the flight was still on the schedule, but a previous flight had already been cancelled, so we were doubtful. Sure enough about the time the plane should have been there they announced that it had been cancelled. Now the challenge would be how to contact D & D to make alternate arrangements. Debbie is carrying a Canadian cell phone which is equipped for roaming and very expensive here where almost all calling is done by text message. Also I was worried the cell phone I am carrying was getting low on battery and minutes for anything more than text messages. We started by taking Glenn, the SIL Director to the bus station. He had decided to take the bus rather than wait for another flight if/when the weather would be better. Soon I had a call from Debbie. The options seemed to be for them to try to rebook a flight for the next day or take the bus. The bus is a 10 hour night trip and, having just arrived in Manila late last night, Dave and Debbie were understandably reluctant to try that. So they rebooked for the next available flight which turned out to be Friday, the day we need to leave for Asibanglan if we want to get there for the big event this weekend. Now Dave and Debbie took a taxi heading back to the SIL Guest House for another night. All they had was the address of the Guest House and the taxi driver apparently was not familiar with it. Also it was now about 5 PM, the busiest traffic time in a city which is always congested. It took the taxi 2 hours for the 10km trip to the Guest House. By the time they got there, we were back in Tabuk and had decided that if they wanted to get here for the big event in Asibanglan, the bus would be the only option. We contacted Rambie who headed out from the seminary where he is studying to the Guest House to meet Dave and Debbie and discuss their options with them and help them get to the bus if they agreed to that. Being good sports and up for adventure, Dave and Debbie agreed that the bus was probably their best option. The last trip going to Tabuk would leave Manila at 8:45 and they had not had supper yet, so they had a quick bite to eat and the headed back into the traffic to the bus station, this time with Rambie to help them. At 8:40 I finally got a text from Rambie to say that they were on the bus and would be arriving here in Tabuk tomorrow morning at 6 AM – tired I am sure, but hopefully ready for the next adventure, the hike into the mountains on Friday. Welcome to the Philippines Dave and Debbie where the best laid “plans of mice and men” are really just wishes needing to be adjusted at any moment.

Philippines Trip January 2011 #13

Yesterday was a full day. We hosted a meeting of the full “Kalinga cluster” comprised of 4 couples and 4 individuals, all Filipinos, working in 4 Kalinga dialects. Christy and Eduardo provided meals for everyone and overnight accommodation for the SIL Director who came from Manila, as well as airport shuttle from Tuguegarao (an hour away). To accommodate us all Christy and Eduardo moved into the room where their children sleep along with Eduardo’s niece and Christy’s sister Beverly, her husband and baby (visiting from Baguio). That is how Philippine hospitality works. They are cheerfully willing to make these sacrifices. For our meeting with the Kalinga cluster we went to the pastoral center where the Bishop had allocated a very suitable meeting room for us. We started the day with a devotional mediation brought by the Bishop. The text he chose was the Emmaus road experience in Luke 24. He assured us that just as the two disciples experienced in that encounter with the risen Lord, Jesus is with us, even when we don’t recognize him and he enlightens us through the Scriptures, just as he did for the 2 on the Emmaus road whose experience prompted this response: "Didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" He assured us that this too can be our experience. He told of an experience he had just last weekend when his travels were rescheduled and diverted by circumstances outside his control, but as a result he made a “new friend” who had been wanting to meet him and announced his intention to donate 4000 Bibles for Kalinga, just “out of the blue.” The “new friend” had recently had a life transforming encounter with the risen Lord which resulted in his decision to sell all he had (except his residence) and use the proceeds for the Kingdom. The donation of the Bibles was his response to the joint Philippine Bible Society and Philippine Bishops plan to get a Bible into every Philippine home over the next 5 years. The Bishop ended with a word of encouragement to all of us as translators emphasizing the critical importance of the work of Bible translator by quoting Hebrews 4:11 – “The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword....” That was a wonderful note on which to begin our meeting. The Bishop also assigned one of the sisters on his staff to spend the day with us. She was from Kankanay, a language where our SIL colleagues had previously translated the NT. At the end of the day she said, if we didn’t already have our translation, I would volunteer to work with this team. It was a fruitful day and I hope all the translators went away encouraged.

The next event of the day was monitoring the flight of my brother Dave and his wife Debbie, coming to visit us here. Because of all that is happening here, we couldn’t go meet them in Manila, so we asked Rambie to stand in for us. Their departure from Toronto to Hong Kong on Monday was delayed due to the severe cold and some snow, so there was uncertainty about making their connection in Hong Kong for Manila. We needed to have some indication so that we could alert Rambie before going to meet them at the airport. Indeed they missed their connection in Hong Kong, but fortunately Debbie was equipped to connect with me here through Facebook and then I could relay messages to Rambie on his cell phone. They were booked on another flight about 4 hours later. That too got delayed because some passengers did not show and the airline had to take off their luggage before departing Hong Kong. I kept my facebook open for their arrival in Manila and sure enough, there was another delay. The baggage carousel broke down and Debbie sent me a message so that I could alert Rambie waiting for them outside the airport. They finally got out of the airport at midnight, about 5 hours later than originally scheduled. Today we look forward to picking them up in Tuguegarao at about 4:30 PM – assuming everything is on schedule and they don’t have the adventures we had on the trip from Manila to Tuguegarao 2 weeks ago. The next big adventure is the trip out to Asibanglan on Friday which promises to be bathed in mud after all the rain they have had there.

On Sunday I posted a couple of photos (I am not much of a photographer). These, along with my 12 previous posts are accessible on my blog here:

http://gowithheart.blogspot.com/2011/01/philippines-trip-january-2011-photos.html

Philippines Trip January 2011 Photos

In Post #8 I talked about this artwork we saw at Bishop's house.

Our local transportation. These tricycles are everywhere.