PCPhilippines Update #31

RainRoom:  The rain is nice here.  It is the kind of rain I remember growing up in Louisiana, when we could go outside and play in it because the rain was warm and the air temperature was still over 80 degrees.  Mama took many pictures of us stopping up and playing in the ditches.  When we got older we would water ski in the rain filled ditches with the rope hitched to my cousin Charles' jeep in the road.  It has been raining a lot in the past month (rainy season) and is raining right now as I type.  Very soothing sound, especially because most roofs in the Philippines are made of metal.

The rain here really cools everything down.  It is peculiar to see the Filipino people putting on jackets and ski-type hats when the temperature dips below 82 degrees and it is raining.  They really don't know what cold is.  I was introducing new words to my Eng121: Effective Speech classes a few weeks ago and they didn't have a clue what "parka" or "shiver" meant.  I jokingly told them, "You don't have those in the Philippines."

Another cultural phenomena Alana and I have just started to understand is the Filipino's insistence that we will get sick if we get wet.  Filipinos seem to go to great lengths to stay out of the rain and stay dry.  They also kinda freak when they see Alana and I walking in the rain.  I love to walk in the drizzly; it cools me down (and I get a second rinse on my clothes that I'm still not so good at washing in the buckets outside).

When we do walk, even for a few hundred yards, in the drizzle or rain, our counterparts and fellow workers are often upset with us, insisting that we will get sick.  For months we wondered what that was about.  Our theory was that because Filipino people don't eat as well as we do and don't experience the changes in temperatures that we do their immune systems might be more fragile.  Alana and I believe we have very strong immune systems and are not often sick.

Then I heard a conversation in my office that didn't involve me and addressed the subject a bit more.  It appears that even the simplest medicines that Americans at times may take for granted like cough syrup, aspirin, cold medicine, antibiotics, etc., are expensive and difficult to attain here.  Most elder Filipinos grew up without much access to medicine at all unless they were dying.  So for many Filipinos, if they walk in the rain there is a good chance they will get sick . . . and that could lead to death in some cases . . . at least that has been their experience.

Alana and I love the rain at night.  Nighttime is when things really cool down and we often run our fan to keep our room cool so we can sleep well.  We have a door that goes out to our little balcony yet bugs fly into the room because it doesn't have a screen on it.  When it is raining, the bugs aren't flying, and it is nice to open the door and let the cool air in and sleep to the sounds of the rain on the land and houses outside.

About a month ago, there was a big storm, lots of lightning and thunder, big raindrops, and lots of rain.  We opened the door for a little while then the wind started pushing the rain into the room so we closed it.  About 5am Alana got up to use the bathroom and when she put her feet on the floor there was an inch of water in our room!  Emergency!!! Emergency!!!  Danger Will Robinson!!!

I thought the water might be coming from the balcony and when I looked it was rushing through the 1/2 crack under the door.  How could this be happening?  I had just woke and was kinda disoriented.  I took a broom and started shoveling the water back onto the balcony as Alana was shoveling the water in the room from the hall!  Our room was completely drenched, the water had moved into the hall, into the room next door a bit, and was now running down the stairs into the downstairs.  Good thing carpet is not popular here, all the floors are tiled, and the walls are built with cement blocks instead of wood and drywall.

 

In my disorientation I started to wonder where the water would go because there was a 3-inch lip all along the balcony  and the wind and rain had been filling it up like a bowl.  It was still raining hard as I worked to shovel the water over the lip in the balcony and it took me about 10 minutes to realize there was a drain in the back corner that was clogged.  I unclogged it, we swept as much water as we could outside, then mopped up the rest of the room, the hall, and the stairs.  It was quite an adventure for 5am.  Good too because our room floor needed mopping anyway.

So rain . . . it seems to be a good thing here . . . as long as your drains are not clogged.

Guitar/Ukulele:  Did I forget to tell you that we added two members to our little instrument collection?  Alana and I are wanting to stay sharp in our stringed artistry so we can pick up where we left off with the Lackey family bluegrass folk band Farmer's Daughters.

If you haven't heard of us, we are a Fort Collins based band with the daughters; Alana on mandolin & vocals,Bronwen (Alana's eldest sister) on fiddle and vocals, Galynn (Alana's youngest sister) on lead vocals and guitar, Joe(Alana's father and "the farmer") on guitar and lead vocals, Jacques (Alana's husband) on bass and vocals, andUncle Don (honorary Lackey Uncle) on banjo and vocals.  So yeah, it's pretty much centered around Alana, which is great because she is such an equalizer between quirky, pungent, eccentric personalities :-)  We all pretty much play instruments, we all pretty much sing at some point, and it's pretty much a blast!

We heard that the best place to acquire Filipino made guitars is in a little city called Lapu-Lapu, on a little island Mactan, off a big island Cebu, which is right next door to our island Negros.  There is a street in Lapu-Lapu that is about a kilometer long and has about 8 guitar stores on it.  Come to find out, they are all cousins, aunts, and uncles, and they come from a guitar making family.

So we made a trip over to Cebu City for a courtesy call, to visit two of our CYF Peace Corps friends that Alana trained with, and to get to Lapu-Lapu to acquire a guitar.  The big day arrived, it took us an hour, two jeepney rides, and a trik to get to the infamous guitar lane from Cebu City, and to tell you the truth . . . I was a bit nervous and intimidated.  It has been a long time since I've purchased a guitar.  These aren't Taylors or Martins so I'm not familiar with how they are made or what they can sound like.  I wanted a nice sounding and playing guitar yet we didn't have a ton of pesos to spend and I don't know squat about quality guitar making.

We took our time at first.  Alana let me lead the process and we talked and processed everything we did.  We went into all 8 stores and just looked and inquired about the guitars; what are they made of, who makes them, where are they made, etc.  There were guitars priced from PhP 3000 ($60) to PhP 50,000 ($1000) and we after a few hours of inquiries we hadn't played one of them.  Our budget was PhP 7000 ($140) and we were willing to stretch it to PhP 10,000 ($200) if we found the right guitar that we had to have.

After round one, we eliminated 4 of the 8 stores.  We went to the other 4 stores and played some of the guitars to see how they sounded.  I was pretty set on getting a classical guitar with nylon strings because I've never had one and love the way they sound.  The whole time we were scouting we continued to look at and price ukuleles too.  The song I kept playing so Alana had something consistent to compare the sounds of the different guitars to as we went from store to store was "Tears In Heaven" by Eric Clapton because he played that song on his live 1992 Unplugged album with a classical, nylon stringed guitar.

After round two, we got something quick to eat and processed, processed, processed.  I wanted to get out everything I was thinking and leave no thought unturned so we would leave with the best deal we could and be happy with our find.  Almost drove Alana nutty and she is an angel and hung in there with me.

Round three got us down to two guitars on complete opposite ends of guitar lane, about a kilometer away from each other.  We went to the one store and played this beautiful guitar they wanted PhP 7000 for, perfect for our price range.  There was also a nice little ukulele there we would try to get them to throw in for a few pesos more.

We went to the second store and played this guitar that wasn't made very well and sounded and played nicely.  They wanted PhP 6000 for the guitar and there was a ukulele we had out eye on for PhP 1000.  We offered the owner PhP 5500 for both.  He thought for a second and then said, "6000."  We muttered something to each other in Cebuano and he said, "Oh, you know our language?  Okay, 5500."  We told him we would think about it and headed back to the first store.

The first store had much better quality guitars and we were really liking the look, sound, and feel of the PhP 7000 guitar they had and a nice quality ukulele for another PhP 2800 we were eyeing.  I did the math, took 30% off, and offered the lady, apparently the owner, PhP 6800 for the guitar and the uke.  It was the weirdest thing; she stared off into space for a minute like she was thinking about it and doing the math in her head so I played another song. When I was finished I said again, "6800?" and she barely nodded to me and went off to do the paperwork.

So we got a Filipino made classical nylon stringed guitar and a Filipino made ukulele (pics attached).  We haven't named them yet and have enjoyed playing them so far.  Alana also has her mandolin here so we are going to be working on our own duets so maybe we can open up for Farmer's Daughters.  I sure hope our other 8 guitars we have in Colorado welcome these two into the family when we take them home.

 

 

American Fast Food:  Don't worry folks, American fast food companies are not discriminatory towards foreigners, they are willing to take lives in any country.

Consent?:  It is interesting to me how often students at NORSU are asked for money.  I still have issues with the way it appears money is allocated by authority; the leaders seem to have all the air conditioning, lunches, assess to budget for whatever fancies them, and amenities that I guess leaders truly deserve while the paint is coming off of classroom walls, the fans (and often electricity) in the rooms are broken, instructing materials and even paper used for tests are expected to be provided by instructors or students, and even the custodians are paid for by the student body.  Haven't been keeping up with American news too much and does this sound like our congress?

Sure, there is a brand new, 200 computer, lab that opened on the fourth floor of the CAS building (the room of course, complete with plaque, being named after the university president), and I buy my own chalk, board erasers, paper posters, and pay for anything copied to be able to teach with.  Confusing.

Back to the custodians.  I found out that the third floor of the CAS building, where we facilitate all of the English classes, is basically taken care of by the English Department.  How do they do this?  They have arranged to have students do the work and students pay for it.  The English Department apparently hires students to come in at night and on the weekends to sweep the rooms, wipe the chalkboards, buff the floors, and make sure the lights and fans are off.  Good opportunity for students wanting to make a few pesos on the side.

Below is the STATEMENT OF CONSENT, which is passed around with a box for pesos and signed every semester by every student taking an English class.  If, by chance, someone is taking two English classes, they are expected to pay and sign twice.

When I first experienced Ralph sheepishly passing around a box for pesos and the sheet for signing he seemed uncomfortable like it wasn't his idea and he was doing it because he had to.  He even mentioned to our students that the student body, whom he was actually in part talking to, asked him to do this thing.  My question is, "Who really created this system; the English and Literature Department Cleanliness Campaign?"  On the surface it appears that student did and I haven't experienced them to be that assertive, industrial, innovative, or motivated to keep things clean and well-maintained or even lead.  They more seem to keep quiet until they are told to do otherwise by authority.  I'll leave you to your own opinion.

Republic of the Philippines

Negros Oriental State University

Main Campus I, Dumaguete City

English and Literature Department

STATEMENT OF CONSENT

We the students of Negros Oriental State University, believe that it is important to maintain the cleanliness of the classrooms and hallway;

We also realize that it is our obligation to keep the rooms clean and free of liters; especially in the 3rd floor of the College of Arts Building;

Therefore, we, the university students currently enrolled in an English subject/subjects would like to signify our consent to contribute a minimum amount of TEN PESOS (Php 10.00) for the maintenance of the cleanliness of the classrooms, for the procurement of floor wax, garbage bags, and for the honoraria of the student-volunteers who would do the tasks of cleaning and keeping the floors in the classrooms and hallway shiny.

We further agree that the said amount shall be collected by a class treasurer.  Moreover, the amount we contribute shall be our semestral share for the English and Literature Department Cleanliness Campaign.

We then signify our consent by affixing our signatures.

1.__________________________

2.__________________________

etc.

InHarmony,

- Jaco

J Jacques Fournet II

Peace Corps Volunteer

Philippines Batch 269

Daro, Dumaguete City

Negros Oriental

NORSU

PCPhilippines Update #30

New Neighbors:  We had two boys move into the tree next door.  Huh?  Yep.  We have a tree in the empty grass lot next door.  I was walking home from school last week when I heard voices from the tree.  I looked up and saw two teenaged boys up there.  They looked like they had moved in.

They had beds made of potato sacks, expertly tied up at the ends to branches with rope.  They situated their beds approximately 12 and 15 feet above the ground, which is pretty smart because most bugs don't operate at those heights.  All they had for possessions was a radio with two sets of earphones.  They were there on Monday all during the day so I'm assuming they aren't in school.  They were there Tuesday morning and I didn't get their names when I took pictures of them on Tuesday at lunch.  They have not been there during the late afternoon or early evening and we wonder what they are out doing in the community then.

They are situated so they can see right into our back yard and into Alana's changing and work out room.  I've been trying to keep track of when they are around and not just so we don't unintentionally invite them to do something unwarranted to our place.  Sad that I'm thinking that and I am.  People have really gone to a lot of effort us to warn us about safety and security here in Dumaguete City.  We find our community pretty safe from theft and incidents.  We are cautious to not leave our apartment unlocked when we are gone or things out that people might take.  It's a little unsettling that they can see us come and go and I often leave things outside in the back to air out or dry.

I remember how much fun we had growing up in Fournetville in Lafayette, Louisiana.  There were 22 of my first cousins living in our neighborhood.  We had many tree houses and would hang out in trees all the time, watching people go by, eating food from our gardens, getting up as high as we could, figuring out how to get from tree to tree, building little places to sit and lay down.  It was fun.

Alana and I are wondering if the tree next door is just a place for the boys to sit and they actually live somewhere else.  We saw two different boys leaving that lot a few days later and Alana asked them in Cebuano if they lived there.  They answered in Cebuano that they just sat up there.  So we're not yet sure what's up.  Get it . . . what's up?  Time will tell.

Filipino Sucker.  They say there's a sucker born every minute.  Well, I feel like I've been a sucker before and . . . I was born again today.

I had just left NORSU.  There are lots of students every day who say, "Hello Sir Jacques." and I cheerfully respond with a, "Maayong buntag pud" or "Maayong udto" or "Maayong hapon pud"depending on the time of day.  Alana often tells me that LCP kids come back to the LCP campus and mention they saw me that day.  Alana encourages them to talk to me and let me know they are from LCP yet none have taken her up on the dare yet, I must be scary :-)

Today, when I was leaving the gates of campus, a young lady student turned and said, "Hello sir."  I said hello back in her language and wondered again if she was an LCP student.  I walked along thinking that I want to start being assertive and ask students if they are from LCP when they see me outside of class and take the time and effort to acknowledge me.

Just as I was thinking that on my walk, a young lady from about 30 yards away at an intersection on a road behind the Dumaguete Track & Field Complex put a big smile on her face and got excited when she saw me.  I thought it might be an LCP student as she reeled me in by hopping up and down a bit with excitement and talking to me (even though I couldn't understand just yet what she was saying).  I hadn't noticed who she was standing with and as she sucked me into the fold with her smile and excitement. I then realized I was with her mother, her grandmother, her younger brother of about age 8, and the mother was holding an infant. 

I thought they might be an LCP family.  I had been introduced to the community of about 800 people at a church service earlier this month.  After that I ran into families in the streets and markets that would say they remembered me from LCP.  At this point I still didn't know who this family was or understand what was going on or what they were saying.  I just smiled.  They kept shoving papers in my face, saying, "Medicine.  Admit to the hospital.  Hungry." while rubbing their bellies.  Time out!

Jufer is an amazing Peace Corps trainer that works with the Peace Corps' CYFs, of which Alana is one.  CYF stands for Child, Youth, Family.   CYFs are volunteers that have counseling skills or backgrounds and work with the street children and the poorest of poor families.  Jufer is highly regarded as one of the most authentic and empowering trainers the Peace Corps Philippines has.  He told Alana's group (who told me) not to give money to the street children or families because when they can make even the smallest living on the street begging they are not encouraged to look into the assistance they can get from many private and public services like LCP or DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development).

Word is; many street people don't like services they have to participate in and contribute their time and efforts to in order to get help and assistance.  It makes sense that it's easier to just beg for money on the street.  They don't want to enroll their children in school.  They don't want to learn a craft or trade.  They don't want to work or answer to anyone for anything.  They just want money.  Alana learned that street kids, after they've bought ice cream, spend their hard earned street pesos in internet cafes on FACEBOOK!  These dirt poor children can often skillfully maneuver themselves through their Facebook accounts yet don't own shoes, they don't have a means to stay clean, and they can't multiply, use spell a word, or point out Asia on a map!

Back to my becoming a sucker for this Filipino street family.  They looked nice enough, weren't as dirty as street families I'd seen in the past, yet they were definitely after me to take care of them.  I have been conscious about seeing these situations coming from far off and think I've handled them well; I look people in the eye, I smile, I often touch them on the hands or head, I do not engage in conversation with them, I do not stop, and I do not give them money!  I keep in mind what Jufer said, "Help them hit rock bottom so they will take advantage of the Filipino systems set up to help them."  Makes sense to me.

I was taken by surprise, must have been in shock, and it all happened so fast.  The daughter, mother, and grandmother were all talking to me at once.  They had suckered me into their little circle and before I knew it I was reaching into my pocket.  No sooner had I reached into my pocket and the INFANT put out his little beggar hand to receive whatever it was I was reaching for.  How sad, he couldn't have been more than 6 months old yet he already knew how to beg. He probably begs more than he plays (or maybe he was the ringleader in disguise, maybe as I walked away he stoked up a cigar and bullied the women for the goods to divvy up as he saw fit).

I gave them everything I had, about 20 pesos.  As I had became more aware of what was happening, I smiled and walked away.  In hindsight, I wish I would have had the with-it-ness to act like I was going to help in some big way and walked them to the DSWD office, which was about 50 yards down the street.  What a great learning experience.  I'll definitely be more prepared next time.

Hey, update on the tree boys.  Their beds are still up there and they haven't been around now for about 4-5 days.  They must have a time share in other barangays (bar-ang-guy-s)

A Glimpse of This Year's Talent Show at LCP!

Talent show.  Philippines.  Unbelievable.

It's A Do-Zee...

Spoke with Galynn today over Skype.  She beamed as she spoke about her latest adventure- biking to Steamboat from Fort Collins in a day.  Total: 157 miles.  She offered the invitation to repeat the feat when I return.  Immediately I found myself thinking of all the reasons, excuses, I wouldn’t be able to do that trip.

Galynn reminded me today that we are capable of so much more than we give our bodies and minds credit for.  I limit myself with self-doubt, fear, and, well, sometimes plain laziness.

Galynn was one of two inspirations I received this weekend.  The other came from one of the housemothers, Josephine, at LCP.  In a training this weekend, we were discussing the messages we receive and what impact those messages have on us.  After listening to other women speak about broken confidence and increased shame, Josephine said, “When I was younger I was told I could not be successful.  I felt challenged.  And so I lived to prove that I could be a success.” 

I admire her spirit.  I’m reminded there’s all types of personalities… those that are told they can’t, so they don't.  And those that are told they can't, so they do.  And those that do, but think they can’t, so it’s only really a half do of what they could have done.  And those that do,  do- plain and simple.  

I recently read the greatest challenge in developing nations is not material goods or resources.  It’s mindset.  Citizens of struggling nations have internalized the belief that they can’t- can’t be successful, can’t change their circumstance, can’t.  My old basketball coach would come in handy here… anytime she heard the word “can’t” our whole team did pushups.  I guess she believed if she eliminated the word from our language, naturally the attitude would be removed from our minds. 

In trying to figure out what it is “my purpose” is in the Philippines, I wonder if a part of it somehow is assisting with empowerment.  I love the visual of me trekking from one squatter village to another, demanding locals get down and give me 10 for their expressions of helpless or hopelessness. 

I jest… and really, this is an issue near and dear to my heart. 

I can easily ask friends and family to send clothes and shoes and money to help the situations I’m observing daily.  And what research is showing is some of our kind-hearted-giving is really taking away from the nations we’re trying to help.  Local economies already teetering on the edge of despair are crumpled in the midst of large cardboard boxes arriving with love from America. 

So if it’s not giving of stuff, what then?  Carmenia, my supervisor, will often say “empowerment of women.”  This could be an off-hand remark, or in response to planning we’re doing.  It’s on the forefront of her consciousness at all times, it seems.  Empower women… and communities will thrive.

I don’t, yet, have a concrete list of ways to approach such a vast topic.  And this rambling of mine reminds me I was inspired to write, almost a year ago, the poem below.  Maybe it all starts with a conversation... 

The Heart of a Woman's Daughter

(Inspired by Maya Angelou's "The Heart of a Woman")  

Women, your daughters, are watching.  

What you say, and more noticeably, what you do; 

how you respond to others and how you allow them 

to respond to you. 

When you allow someone to choose for you, 

we learn we have no power. 

When you shout and scream, we learn we have no voice.

When you make excuses for our bad behavior, we become hostile. 

When you look in the mirror, and detest what you see, 

we become ugly, 

no matter how much you tell us we’re beautiful. 

When you share your opinion, we become confident. 

When you try something new, 

and embrace the possibility of failure, 

we become willing to try, too. 

When you make time for yourself, we learn we have value. 

When you live in acceptance of yourself, we observe our essence.

PCPhilippines Update #29

Cultural Priorities / NORSU History: I guess just as I've given Ralph (my counterpart) a bit of a hard time in previous updates, I've also given NORSU's University Professor Dr. Henry A Sojor, Ph.D. a hard time also about his leadership style.  Most of that is a lack of understanding on my part about this culture and how things work in the leadership realm.

One thing that I'll give Dr. Sojor is that he is a good speaker.  I've heard him on quite a few occasions now and his speeches seem well thought out, very interesting, entertaining, and compelling to listen to.  He spoke to all of NORSU staff (about 600) at the beginning of the school year.  Along with informing us of the research that he found about people living longer and happier lives in proportion to the amount of education they had, he also spoke about man destroying nature and urged staff to be more conservative with the precious resources we have.

My path to the English Department office on the third floor of the College of Arts and Science building takes me up the north side of the building on a 41-step staircase.  When I pass the second floor, where the library and computer labs are, the door is most often left wide open and cool air conditioned air is coming out of the building.

I figured out why the door is left open.  It is a glass door and when they take the chain off of it from being locked at night they leave it hooked to the door handle.  If you continue to open and close the door the chain bangs against the glass door and sounds like it is about to break the glass.  No one is thinking far enough along to slide the chain to the other side of the door handle, the side of the door that is closest to the hinges and swings open the least or put the chain somewhere else.  The solution is to leave the door open and air condition the outside world.

I think about all the money that is being used to air condition the library and computer labs and running out of that second floor door onto the staircase that I climb several times a day.  I do admit that it feels good when I pass that particular door yet in the big picture I don't find it worth the cost.  I especially think about it when Ralph and I are teaching Eng121: Effective Speech in room 304.  Room 304 is the room that opens up to the busy street (so it is noisy) so we keep the doors to the hall (also busy and noisy) closed so everyone can hear.  The problem with that is there is usually a breeze coming from the hall into the classroom and room 304 has four ceiling fans that are all busted so it is exceptionally hot and the air is still and stale.

No problem, Ralph has a decent size floor fan that he got donated from the NORSU Student Government that he and I tote around from class to class with us.  Comical.  I was facilitating an activity last week and didn't take much notice to Ralph setting up the fan in the back of the room, we do that often.  When the students were working in group I went over to talk to Ralph and noticed he had to set up two different extension cords that ran out of the room, across the 8 foot wide hall, into the other classroom, to get the fan to run. When I asked he what was up, he told me non of the 8 outlets in room 304 were working.

Back to Dr Sojor.  I appreciated his speech and urging of staff members to conserve energy.  Maybe he is thinking about fixing up the outlets in room 304?  Last Friday we celebrated NORSU's Charter Day.  25 June 2004 is the day the President of the Philippines signed Republic Act 9299, which created Negros Oriental State University.

Classes were cancelled and a big day planned.  The celebration started with a mass in the NORSU pavilion at 7:30am.  Students and faculty from attended, appoximately 14,000 in all.  After mass, the NORSU instructors (this included me) left the pavilion then marched right back in as a procession of teachers to begin the commemoration of the day.  Then Dr Sojor was announced and gave a long speech.  Don't know how he does it, the man is always dressed black trousers and a black sports coat, rarely has a tie on (probably has something to do with all the fans on him and the air conditioned brand spankin' new school Honda truck that drives him around).

Dr Sojor's speech was again riveting; interesting and entertaining.  In the first part, he recapped the history of how NORSU was born.  He quickly went over the old history of the school; 1927 was the beginning of a few still standing buildings and the school was named NOTS (Negros Oriental Trade School).  The school grew and changed its name in 1956 to EVSAT (East Visayan School of Arts and Trade).  In 1983 the school name again changed as a reflection of its growth and the times to CVPC (Central Visayas Polytechnic College).

Dr Sojor and still serving Congressman Herminio G Teves started working on the bill to make CVPC the only university on Negros island in 1999.  I didn't realize how much politics were involved in such a decision.  I also didn't realize how good of a politic Dr Sojor was, of course he was telling his own story.  It was a good story about how the bill was created, research that went into its presentation to the Philippines congress, how the bill got turned down a few times before gaining the proper support for its implementation, then the finale of the acceptance of the bill and the celebration that followed.  Of course, Dr Sojor was the only person qualified (although he had never been involved in schools) to be the president of the university and has been since.  I guess it has been his baby from the beginning and in many ways he deserves to be the president.

The congressman was also at the celebration.  He is 91 years old and claimed that although his organs wanted him to retire his brain kept him in the government.  Another piece of their leadership culture that interests me and I would like to understand better.  His speech was not as riveting as Dr Sojor's as indicated by the decibels of student chatter coming from the pavilion.  Also, it had now been 3+ hours that the students and staff had been sitting and listening so I guess I can't blame them.

After the opening ceremony, the speeches, the cultural dances, the signing of happy birthday to the university, the official ceremony was done.  An announcement was made to the students that a SMART (one of the two major phone companies in the Philippines)presentation would be made after the closing of the ceremony if they wanted to stick around.  I'm thinking, these young people have been sitting and listening for nearly 4 hours, if they are not required to be here, they will be gone!  Wrong, not a student moved.  All of the staff left though.

The SMART company, from Manila, with all it's progressively and fancy dressed / accessoried consultants and presenters, with a powerpoint and on line big screen presentation, had the students attention.  They had created, and were prepared to give each NORSU student, for free, a SMART University Simcard.  Once this card (a chip really)gets put into a student's SMART phone (some didn't have SMART phones and I'm sure that's where the marketing project took hold), students keep their same phone number, receive all university announcements through text about cancelling of classes and event for free, can access their grades at the end of the semester for one peso, can send the university feedback for one peso, and can participate in university trivia games through text to win prizes.

Already the SMART company had issued over 300 of these cards to students.  The presenters showed the student body, on the big screen, in real time, how a trivia question would go out to SMART phones in a text, how students could answer back, how the computer logs the exact time they receive each answer and from what phone number it came from.  Then a presenter called the first 5 correct numbers back and those students answered and walked up to the stage to receive their prize.  It was like a game show.

All the while I'm watching this and I'm the only NORSU person there over 25 years old.  I'm thinking, "All the instructors need to be seeing what these young people are being exposed to."  I'm thinking, "It's not going to fly much longer to be doing registration by hand with pencils and rulers."  I'm thinking, "I wonder if SMART would come and fix the electrical outlets in room 304?"

Hope:  I do have hope for this society and that hope, probably like many societies in the past, stems from my hope in the youth.  I guess the young are the part of a society that are creative, innovative, want more, and risk takers, while the elders are more conservative, solid, based in reality, and feed and house the youth while they move the culture forward.  If it were all up to the majority of the elders, things would not change and everyone would be fed and safe because elders know how to take care of people.  If it were all up to the majority of the youth, things would be shakin' and groovin' and everyone would be dying of hunger because youth can't find the bakery or don't want to do the work to pull the veggies out of the ground.  It's a tough balance of priorities that moves a nation forward.

I see the Filipino youth being driven by change, growth, technology, and education.  I've been reading the NORSU paper that comes out every week.  The editors and writers are progressive, brave, informed, and assertive in their thinking and writing.  Here are a few of their comments:  

It is a sad fact that the truth has only become something that is pleasing to hear rather than what is supposed to be recognition and eventually realized as factual information.  It is also pitiful to see that what our elders term as something pleasing to hear is what the majority also calls "good."

- Riva Marie S Rubia

Philippine justice is incapable of sending nail-crooked politicians and prominent government officials to jail.  Perhaps, we Filipinos should start judging and questioning our authorities or else the acts of felony will get worse.

- Ryan E Gantala

Students' money should not be spent for validation stickers but should be allocated for more important expenses, like the improvement of facilities.  It is more justifiable if the administration focuses on projects essential to improving students' learning.

- Irene dela Peña

Here are a few other things I see the Filipino youth enjoying and getting used and don't think they are going to be satisfied with anything less in their adult lives.

First, electricity and less brown outs.  Brown outs are when the electricity goes out.  In America we call them black outs.  In the Philippines, brown outs are sometimes accidents happening with the lines or sometimes scheduled for maintenance purposes and happen for up to 8 hours during the day.  When we fist got here we experienced them a few times a week in the Bunao area.  Now we experience them once a week, only for an hour or so. The elders are used to it, heck most of them didn't have electricity growing up and they don't own anything that needs it.  Although Americans brought electricity to the Philippines in 1924, it's obvious that many urban homes and most rural homes have been recently wired for it as an afterthought.  The youth are put off by brown outs.  When a brown out happens at our school, the youth sign and complain.  I think they are getting less accepting of brown outs and soon will be the ones in charge of creating ways to maintain constant electricity availability for everyone.

Second, air conditioning.  I remember growing up in Louisiana and not having air conditioning through high school.  I remember how difficult it was to learn as my amygdala was working overtime to keep me alive by helping me battle the heat.  I clearly remember taking notes in class and sweating on the notebook paper and not being able to write where I had sweat.  I am experiencing again, here in the Philippines, how heat (and humidity) constantly deletes my motivation tank to do anything except sit around and work to be comfortable.

I don't think the older Filipino generation is greatly impacted by air conditioning.  Oh sure, they like to sit in it when possible, AND, I think they could take it or leave it.  They've been hot all their lives.  As Harlan Lane said, "Our sensitivity to temperature is very much influenced by our life experiences."  When we go to the movies at the mall most young Filipinos won't leave during the credits.  The staff literally have to ask people to leave the theater long after the credits have roled.  How do we know?  We are there for the same reason, to hang out in the cool air!  The malls and big shopping stores are packed with people most of the time, air conditioning has created window shoppers out of the Filipino people.

More and more, I see the young Filipino culture working very hard to be in air conditioning. I went to Cang's the other day on my lunch period (Cang's is a spankin' brand new store on the National Highway, 4 stories, food, furniture, school supplies, hardware, clothes, eatery)and there were hundreds of young people hanging out in the air conditioning, also on their lunch break from school.  Were they there to buy things?  Of course not, most of them can't afford to buy what Cang's is selling. They were playing in the isles, looking at things on the shelves, showing each other stuff, playing games through the lanes, mostly just hanging out in the air con.

The funniest things to watch in the supermarket are the fat Filipino kids.  There aren't many of them per capita.  I don't think I have ever seen a fat Filipino elder.  I can only imagine the progress the Filipino culture has made in the comforts of life in recent decades hasn't affected the Filipino elderly culture much.  I'm sure most of the older Filipinos had to work everyday to eat growing up, had access to just enough raw fish and vegetables to escape hunger, didn't have much clothes, didn't have much money, little to no electricity, walked everywhere in the heat, uphill, both ways (you know the drill).  Many Filipinos still live this way.  According to a report I just read this morning, 40% of Filipinos live under the poverty line.  So, in general, Filipinos are small and thin.

The ones that have found success and are well fed and comfortable are raising fat kids. We see them at the malls, we see them at the airports, we see them getting out of nice cars at private schools.  (An information document given to us about the Philippines read,"Social status is shown through material possessions. Since many families are too poor to own a car, owning a car is a clear sign of status, as is upholstered furniture, an abundance of electrical appliances, and area rugs.")

The funniest place to observe fat kids is in the supermarkets.  A vast majority of Filipino people shop at the local outdoor markets.  The supermarkets, like Cang's, all air conditioned and stocked with expensive processed food, has been around for less than a decade.  In the supermarkets, fat Filipino kids often have their own basket and are filling them up with cookies and candy and junk food.  I saw this one boy at the supermarket, couldn't have been more than 8-9 years old, probably 80 pounds or so, both hands on the front of the shopping cart, his mother on the other end, mid-30s, 4 foot 10 inches tall, probably 90-100 pounds.  She had her high heel shoes unsuccessfully dug in as brakes for the cart and he (I think he was wearing Air Jordan's) was effortlessly dragging her through the isle to the ice cream freezer.  Quite a visual.

I think Filipino youth are more used to air conditioning and will work hard in the future to have it in more buildings they live and work in.

Third, technology.  The SMART phones and SimCards are progressing and able to bring more of the world and more choices to phone owners.  A hot industry in the Philippines is Internet Cafes.  There are tons of them everywhere and they are packed most times of the day with Filipino youth, especially on weekends.  There aren't yet many Filipinos with their own computer, and they love the access cafes and libraries provide them, typically in the air conditioning.  Unfortunately, most of the young people are playing bloody online video games, blowing up things and killing MegaDeath hologram characters.  A few young people near the university are usually on the internet doing some kind of research, which is nice.  Heck, Lola and Amador (our first host family) had an internet connection in their home for their children and grandchildren and they didn't have a refrigerator or air conditioning.

I see countless people every day with ear buds in.  Those tiny little earphones that come from phones, players, etc.  Haven't seen Walkmans.  I see a few iPhones and iPods. Mostly people are listening to the radio off of their SMART phones or off of compact media players.  Ran into a street person last week; he was carrying a bag of trash, had no shoes, was dirty and grungy, wearing clothes that looked like he had worn for months, and had earphones in and was listening to the radio.  I also experienced my first schizophrenic looking Filipino walking around talking into her phone with the head set in (looked like she was talking to herself).  Technology is coming . . . and I think Filipino youth are the ones hungry for it.

Fourth, water.  Lola told us that the only person to ever drink water from her kitchen sink faucet in the last 30 years was the provincial water district manager.  He only drinks out of the local water spigots and from people's kitchens sinks to show his confidence that the local water systems have progressed enough to drink from.  I went to pay our water bill last week (PhP 145 [$2.90] for the month) and the building was brand new and nice.  Clean, lost of big tented windows, a guard out front, and guess what?  Yep, air conditioned.

Locals have been buying water jugs from small water purifying companies for so long I think this one will take a while to catch on.  There is progress though, and I feel it coming from the youth.  I think they are getting tired of having to buy water in bottles and jugs, it probably "cramps their style."  The student government has rallied this semester to provide a brand new NORSU campus water fountain and students can drink water, for free, at school for the first time in the school's history.  Of course, it has the university president's name on it :-)

Fifth, tricked out triks.  The old school triks we use in Dumaguete as taxis for transportation are held together with rust and spit .  The new triks are tricked out and are starting to look like space ships.  Alana got a ride from Robinson's (the mall) once and when she pulled up the music was pumpin' and she was laughing.  She said he had the nicest, most comfortable trik she had rode in yet, with a surround sound speaker system for his CD player.  She ended up paying him 50 pesos for a ride that normally would cost at most 20 pesos.

I have hope.  The young people seem to be getting small bite size tastes of nice things that life is appearing to provide the Philippines during this time in history.  I think despite the scarcity of opportunities provided and in spite of the poor education the majority of Filipino youth are receiving, I feel like they have twinkles in their eyes that say, "I am ready for a much better life than what my parents and grandparents had."  We'll see.