Day 2 – construction begins…

We were woken up to the sound of blaring Zumba music from the local Filipino women dancing in the street at the ridiculous hour of 7:00am. Breakfast was served at 7:30 with delicious pancakes, hard boiled eggs and ripe yellow bananas.

By 8:00 the team was split up into construction teams (Blue and Red) and feeding program teams (Yellow and Green), and worked until midday. The construction team were given the tasks of: digging out the foundation of the previous gazebo at the Children’s Home, sanding and painting the walls and pipes of the Children’s home, and sifting sand to make concrete and levelling ground for a temporary home to be built. The feeding program team were sent to ‘Tent City’ to serve “Lagaw” (lentils and rice) to the children and make balloon animals for them. They also met a child with hydrocephalus which was a challenge for many of the team.

At 12:00 the teams regrouped and had lunch at the YMC (which was DELICIOUS) and then returned to work at 1:15, swapping the roles of the teams. The Yellow and Green teams continued the task of working on the gazebo and painting the building. Blue and red teams were sent to a new part of town to feed the children and delivered medical supplies to the second location. Unfortunately, we were stuck in the back of a ute for 2 hours in the traffic jams but fortunately we managed to survive because of Jo’s amazing sense of humour.

We (Blue team) arrived back at YMC 7:20pm, 1 1/2 hours late after the other teams had eaten. The other teams had headed off to the orphanage and spent time with the kids, and some went to Journey for Hope where the kids sang and performed for the team.

At 8:00pm everyone regrouped and we all went to the TayTay shopping mall and celebrated Matt’s birthday at Starbucks.

Simon: Hey mummy bub, love you and hope you’re doing reasonably decent. Tell Wellwell and Chelle that I’ll look forward to seeing them when I get back. Don’t do anything stupid <3 Stay safe xx

Kirsten: Hey Moozy, Fazza and everyone elseJ, Hope everything is good over there and hope your not missing me tooo much (that was a funny joke). Love you all and have a good time till I talk to you again! Xx

Jo: Hey fam! I’m still alive mum; no airplane crashes, no flu, no creepy men ready to sell me for 20 pesos. It’s AMAZING over here so far, better than Ningaloo I reckon, so thanks for all the money dad, no promises that I’ll pay you backJ byeeeee

Ryan: Hi Mum, Dad, Bren, Rach and Amy. I hope Mum isn’t worrying too much. We are here safe and into the work. I’m having a great time and really enjoying coming back to the Philippines. Hope you guys are all safe and well. Love Ryan.

Leah: Shout-out to my family, I’m having lots of fun here in Manila J It’s really different to what I had expected too but I’ll get to tell you all about it when I get home. Missing everyone including my bestie. Lots of Love, Leah x

Tyler: Hey Mum, Dad and Ayns, having a great time over here and missing you guys lots :D

Chanelle: Hey daz, hope you don’t miss me too much but you gave your games so you’re all good HAHA, happy birthday for tomorrow, love ya dazza xx

Beth: Hey family! Hope you’re all having a brilliant time together. Miss and love you all x

Day One: Arrival

First up, we’d like to say that this place, these people, and this experience in general has so far been absolutely amazing! (Yes, the whole 20 odd hours of it). Although many of us struggled with lack of sleep due to both excitement and the uncomfortable conditions on the plane trips, we were all able to persevere, interact and get enthusiastic about what the next two weeks will provide for us. The two-hour bus trip from the airport was an eye opener for all of us. Not only was it physically challenging due to the sweltering humid conditions, it was also emotionally straining as it exposed the harsh living conditions these people suffer. This motivated us to sort through the immense amounts of donations (which we’d like to thank all who generously gave to), and ended the day with a trip to the orphanage and a swim.

From the yellow team (Enoch, Yami, Josiah, Jaz, Kate, Carissa and Rachel) Ps. We’d like to thank everyone who kept us in their prayers, and would appreciate that you continue.