Frederik Derks, the Netherlands  

“Here in the Philippines, I feel like our presence is the most relevant. Everywhere you go people are smiling. I feel a spark in everyone’s eye, and I’ve never met a culture this open and welcoming. This is a great country with great people! I love this place!”

Phil Woods, USA  

“In Manila, we worked with an organization called Gawad Kalinga and it was an amazing experience. The people were so welcoming and taught me a lot about hospitality.  I hope that I had a fraction of the impact on them that they had on me.”

Kelsey Wiggins, USA  

“I wasn’t sure what to expect before I met the people at Gawad Kalinga. When it came time to leave those people, I cried. It was the first time I ever cried saying goodbyes to anyone in my life, and it changed me.”

Katrin Skora, Germany  

“In Manila we worked with Gawad Kalinga and helped building a house for the poor people. But we had the greatest impact in playing with kids, because you see how happy they are when they respond with a smile!”

Joshua Guerra, USA  

“I think we all went into Manila wanting to give the people hope, to help them any way we could. I don’t think any of us imagined that the families we worked with could give us so much hope.  Its absolutely inspiring to see people with so much spirit, who want to build their nation into something better.”

Yordi, Ethiopia  

“It has been such a huge exposure to see the extreme difference between the poor and the rich.  Working with a community and really have a chance to develop relationships with people with unique culture and lifestyle, I have learned a lot as a person.”

Arnab Dewan, Bangladesh

“During my time in Manila, I had the opportunity to work with one of the Gawad Kalinga projects.  We worked alongside the local community and absolutely fell in love with their amazing spirit, hospitality and eager to learn attitude.  Apart from the physical structure we helped them build, I believe what our cast has given to the community is the confidence and hope to build a better future.”

]]> http://castb2008.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/quotes-from-the-philippines/feed/ 0 merley724 frederik-derks-netherlands Phil Woods USA Kelsey Wiggins USA Katrin Skora Germany Josh Guerra Arizona Yordanos Nahusenay Ethiopia Arnab Dewan Bangladesh http://castb2008.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/olongaposubic-bay-the-final-week-begins/ http://castb2008.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/olongaposubic-bay-the-final-week-begins/#comments Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:10:52 +0000 merley724 http://uwpontour.com/?p=497 ]]>

Entire Cast B at Ocean Adventure

Cast B has arrived in their last cities of the tour…Olongapo and Subic Bay.  Just 3 hours north of Manila, Subic Bay served as one of the largest international U.S. Navy bases until the early 90′s, when these lease was decided not to be renewed.  The old base is now a “freeport” zone and a major tourist hot spot.  Around half the cast lives in upper class Subic Bay, and the other half in a much poorer city, Olongapo.  It’s a great contrast of lifestyles, and a place that Up with People will have a major impact in all that we can do.  

Sea-lion show

Community Impact projects begin on Monday, but Saturday was a regional learning day for the cast.  We visited an ocean and marine park called “Ocean Adventure.”  The day was spent learning about many marine animals in this area, watching a sea-lion show, and a dolphin and whale show.  We also saw many monkeys, some of which tried to steal our food at the beach, as well as many  rare birds.  It was in incredible day and so much fun!

Mitch and Matt love dolphins!

Just under one week to go until Cast B say’s their goodbyes and heads home to many areas of the world.  December 16th is our departure day from the Philippines and from this 2009 tour.  A few more blog entries to come in the next week, so chech back soon!

Dolphin trainer waving goodbye to Cast B

Subic Bay at sunset...

Habitat for Humanity was one of 6 CI (Community Impact) sites that Up with People Cast B worked with in Manila, the Philippines… here was there impact by the numbers…

In our eight days of CI in Manila at Habitat for Humanity – Baranguay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City, we:

·      Made 593 CIB (Cement Interlocking Blocks)

·      Laid 2,303 blocks

·      Poured 21 bags of cement grout

·      Hauled 132 Jackbuilt blocks

·      Hauled 400 CIB blocks

·      Completed 2.5 cubic meters of gravel bedding

·      Bent 325 pieces of re-bar

·      Cut 660 pieces of re-bar

We also…

Were a team of 11 people from five countries (Ethiopia, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, and the USA) who helped to build the first story of a four-story, 120-unit housing complex.

Learned to make CIB blocks, lay blocks, level walls, extend rebar, make cement, mix and pour grout, shovel and bag gravel, haul mud on the chain gang, move gravel in the pit, and to cut and bend rebar.  

Worked alongside the Boss, Mario, George, B-Boy, Glenna, Ching, Anita, Elaine, Mr. Perfection, Engineer Noel, Volunteer Coordinator Ving, and many others.

Ate a delicious lunch everyday at Delia’s.

Drank more than our fair share of Coca-Cola, Royal Orange, and Juicy Lemon sodas, and snacked on Chocolate Pillows, Choco-Pretzels, and Combis.

Rode in taxis, tricycles and jeepneys to get to and from our site each day.

Visited a partially completed Habitat site in Paranaque to see the housing units that last year’s UWP crew helped to build.

Met and played with the children of our home partners, the beneficiaries of our team’s hard work, including visiting Rainforest Park with them.

Were invited to visit the current homes of our new friends, Anita and Elaine, and were welcomed warmly by their families.

Learned that of the 18-20 families that live in the stilted slum housing under the bridge in C-5 that we visited, only four of those families are currently eligible and approved to receive a Habitat home unit.

It was eight sweaty days full of hard work, and I am proud to have been part of such an incredible team.

For the past couple of days our group of 19 volunteers has been working at Gawad Kalinga (GK) Teguig. This site is located in the surroundings of a stinky river (covered with garbage) and slum houses. But the GK project fights against this by building houses in hopeful colors and paid with the sweat of the future inhabitants. Each family can only live in one of the houses if they have contributed to the construction and can only stay if they remain to be active in the GK community. Our site has seven parts and some are at the end of their development, some are just about to start, some contain school or other community facilities.

The first day they explained us the whole concet by taking a look at the different parts of our Gawad Kalinga project and community members shared their experiences. Besides that, we were treated with a delicious home-cooked Filipino dish.  At first I was hesitant because it looked strange but trying it helps. Another amazing experience was being dropped in a local family, every single one of us was placed in a different family to meet them for 30 minutes. To me this sounded so pushy.  The first moments were indeed kind of awkward, but slowly we started a conversation and eventually I had the best 30 minutes of the whole day. In this half hour we tried to teach each other some words in our language, the kids and I played a bit (I even received a bracelet from the smallest of the 4 children) and just talked about very basic things to get to know one another.

The next days we started with our “real” volunteer work. However I have to mention that one of the GK members made an interesting comment: It is not just construction labor or teaching practical skills to the community moms that should be seen as valuable volunteer work.  It is the interaction and interest of foreign volunteers that gives them the hope that people actually believe in their project. Our group was split into 7 small groups.  Four groups work on construction sites and did work ranging from painting to sifting to building walls.  My site was finishing up for the opening ceremony, which occurred on Monday. The whole community came together to celebrate the entry of the families into the houses, a beautiful moment where our group was part of.  Other groups played with the local children or taught them English and just helped out with their classes.  And the last group was responsible for livelihood workshops, where they teach the local moms practical skills or just have fun.  During the past days we taught them Up with People songs, Japanese writing, everyone danced together, and they taught us their language.  For the next couple of days we hope to do some geography, making bracelets they can sell, teaching some more English, etc. So you see, a high variety volunteer project where our whole group can put in its passion for these two weeks.

 By Joris van Doorslaer (Belgium)

Saturday November 22nd was regional learning day for Cast B in Manila.  There was a long list of stops throughout the city, so it was a jam packed day.  We started off learning about the history of the Philippines.  We learned about the long Spanish and American occupations in the past.  It is the blending of these two cultures that is still very evident in the Philippines to this day.  We loaded the buses and headed to a place called “Intramuros.”  Literally meaning walled city, intramuros was built by the Spanish in the 16th century and served as their fortress to enemies during this tumultuous time…alright, enough with the history lesson!  

Intramuros was very beautiful and surprisingly still in tact.  We walked from one side to the other where we stood on the Pasig river, a very large (and extremely dirty) river that part of the walled city was protected by.  After a 5 minute downpour rain storm, we visited a local cathedral and “casa manila,” a restored mansion from the early 18th Century.  It was a very interesting walk through time, especially in a city so rich with history as Manila is.  

Our next stop was GK (Gawad Kalinga) BASECO.  You may remember from the last blog post that Gawad Kalinga is a filipino organization that is out to transform poverty.  They rebuild slums, restore lives, and impacts people and families through lifestyle education, livelihood projects, and putting a roof over their heads.  Now with around 1000 “Villages” in the Philippines and surrounding SE Asian countries, Gawad Kalinga is well on their way to realizing their dream of a slum free future.  Our cast visited their BASECO village which has over 1000 homes.  This is a community that was once considered one of the worst slums in the world…It has been transformed to new light.

We were greeted at BASECO by many children and their families.  They sang a Gawad Kalinga song for us and we performed “one-to-one” and “up with people” for them.  They led us around the village and showed us some of the homes and facilities that they have for the people living there.  The cast spent the next hour playing with the children.  I have sever seen so much chaos and fun with GK children and UWP students running around playing tag, basketball, singing, climbing on one another, and just having fun.  It was a nice moment to step back and see a small, but possibly greater than we know, impact that was made on this Gawad Kalinga community.  

The day ended with a beautiful dinner at a local restaurant called Oceana.  The Philippine’s depart of tourism had prepared a traditional Filipino dance group to perform for us.  They showcased native dances and even got the cast involved.  A few of our cast members got up and danced with the bamboo sticks that were opened and closed as they stepped in and out of them.  You may remember this dance from other parts of the world.  The costumes were beautiful and vibrant, and it was a great ending to an exciting day.

Just another packed day, and a trip around  Manila…

I met up with 7 other students and our local contact on Thursday morning to begin the two-week CI project we would be working on in Manila.  He led us through a vibrant neighborhood in Pasig City, one of eight large cities that make up metro manila.  We stopped the car at a bridge and looked to both sides where we could see an endless row of slums that hugged each bank of the creek side.  This was the location of our CI project for the next two-weeks…GK Tawi Tawi.  GK, or “Gawad Kalinga,” is an impressive organization in the Philippines that is single handedly reducing poverty on a massive scale.  At this moment, they have just under 1000 GK “Villages” now in the Philippines and a few other South East Asian countries.  It is their vision to not just build a home, but to re-build a family’s life. They create a community of people that take responsibility over one another, and ownership over their own future.  GK imptants school programs for young children, livelihood workshops for women, and work projects for men.  They educate people and inspire them, while restoring their lives.  

GK Tawi Tawi is a fairly small village with near 1000 people.  We toured the area and spoke with men, women, and children whose smiles could light up a room…they were very happy to see us.  After a shortwelcome by one of the GK representatives, we grabbed some shovels and got to work.  Our projects for the next two weeks will be focused around construction, education, and livelihood.  We hauled gravel from the Tawi Tawi entrance down through the streets and to a home site that is beginning construction.  I jumped on one of the bikes that had a “side-car” attached, and transported bags of gravel down the street.  People were coming out of their homes to see who the visitors were.  Everyone wanted to say hello.  Kids were running beside us as we worked.  Two children imitated me while I carried a wheelbarrow full of dirt and dumped it onto the pile.  

After a delicious lunch, prepared by local women, of fresh steamed rice, whole fried fish, and vegetables, our UWP group sat down to plan out our week at Tawi Tawi.  Our team of eight represents seven countries…black, white, brown, asian…a great testament to who Up with People is.  We discussed what “livelihood” activites we could teach the people of the village.  Grace from China will do paper cutting, Ai from Japan will teach origami, Lexi from the United States will lead a workshop on knitting.  All of these, projects that Tawi Tawi can use as a way to earn extra money and in some instances provide themselves with self sustainable products.  

In the afternoon, a group of teenage guys challenged some of us to a basketball game at an old hoop that is set up within the village.  While I may have been the tallest by a good 10 inches, filipinos are fast and have quite a jump shot.  Many people heard us playing and begin crowding around to watch.  Basketball is a popular sport to Filipinos, and it was an exciting way to break the ice between them and our group.  We played for about an hour in the 90 degree sun and then relaxed on the front steps of their one room school.

It is our overall goal for these next two weeks to inspire.  We want to show the people of this GK village our love…and that people have not forgotten about them.  They will see that a group of students has traveled thousands of miles to work, teach, and play side-by-side with them.  We hope to create friendships and make a difference…

More to come…

Matthew Erley, United States  

Please enjoy this sneak peak video from the past cast, Cast B 2007…the first Up with People cast to ever travel in the Philippines…

 Since the transit time from Cheyenne to Aberdeen South Dakota is about 14 hours, our staff made the wise decision to split the trip over two days time. We arrived at Mt. Rushmore around 2:30 in the afternoon and stayed for over an hour. Being in the presence of such an amazing landmark with such beautiful scenery was just indescribable. Despite the fact that the temperature was around 25 degrees, it was still an awesome experience. As a matter of fact, I’d go so far as to say it was one of my favorite stops on the entire tour.

By Ryan Aguirre, Texas, USA    

Hello from Salt Lake City, Utah! If you’re curious about this week, keep reading…

We were really lucky to learn something about the Mormon Religion by visiting their Temple in Salt Lake City.  We had tours in about 10 different languages…for most of our native speakers.  It was amazing.  The “sisters” that gave the tours were from all over the world.  They spend 18 month in the temple volunteering.  

Besides visiting the templ, we also had another great opportunity to learn on Tuesday.  We had a session called “Cast University.”  Some Cast members prepared workshops for the rest of the cast, to teach us some of their interests and talents.  We had workshops such as improve theatre, soccer skills with the Brazilians, leadership, even beat boxing.  

 So much fun!!!

 On Wednesday, our cast visited a local school and did parts of our “Stand for Peace” program. Stand for Peace is an Up with People program designed for elementary and middle school students.  We play games, promote diversity, discuss non-bulling, share cultural activities, and then perform a small show for the entire school.  On Wednesday I had four classrooms in a row to teach little parts of this program (we had just about 1 hour with each class).

We did more community work this week such as working with YWCA (gardening, cleaning), helping in the food bank, and playing with the kids at the “Boys and Girls Club,” which was our beneficiary this week.

A lot of fun!!

By Ilka Seuken, Germany