Simply Belle

I first saw this adorable girl while I was riding on a tricycle in Bato on my way to Virac. (Yes, that was my form of transportation on my recent vacation to the Philippines as I was trying to save on gas.) She was dressed in that beautiful checkered outfit standing outside her house. I was fascinated by her looks and wondered which school in Bato she went because of how beautiful her whole ensemble looked. I thought she went to some private school in town.

Then, one afternoon, a friend of mine in high school paid me a visit in my place. She had with her a letter. I didn’t read it right away because I basically knew what it was all about. Solicitation letters abound in the province and they usually target the abroaders/bakasyonista. Gosh, I get about 4 to 5 solicitation letters whenever I go home, and sometimes, I avoid going into places just for this reason. Or I usually time my vacation when there are no scheduled fiestas so I can avoid solicitors. 4 to 5 of these add up, you know, and money doesn’t grow on trees abroad.

But this letter is not just any ordinary solicitation letters. This involves young and beautiful children with disabilities, one of whom belongs to my friend. My friend’s eyes welled up and her voice broke as she narrated her story about her son, Mark. She said, for some unexplained reason, the nurses who assisted her in the delivery chose not to disclose the information about her son until later when she discovered the truth herself. I didn’t quite understand why nurses had to do that. Of course, my friend blamed them big time for it.

Her son and the other 15 children with disabilities including the cute little girl above have been living with the reality of exclusion. These children have no access to rehabilitative care or support service, and unable to acquire proper education. They are often viewed as mentally challenged, and so people would treat them differently. In many cases, these children are often withdrawn from community life. Nevertheless and regardless of what/who they are, they require special attention and care otherwise, they risk living in exclusion in a more emotionally disturbed state for their rest of their lives.

Sped classes in the town of Bato have currently 16 pupils coming from different baranggays and all are crammed in a classroom without facilities and needing repairs. Actually, they only have one book at this moment, and a colorful ABC puzzle. I was told that some of these children have been enrolled in same classes repeatedly, and couldn’t quite keep up with the core curriculum in the regular classes. Thus, the need of SPED classes has been implemented to give these kids a place where they will receive specialized instructions by special educators to reach their full potential.

But the sad reality is the school is not solely owned by the Department of Education, but by the LGU, the community and the stakeholders, and it hardly has anything to start with. And for this reason, they turn to you for help to carry out this noble undertaking, be it in cash or kind like TV set, DVD player, ceiling fan, used computers, kids’ educational toys, etc so they can provide the best education possible for these children.

This is all that the kids have at this moment and a book.

I asked them to form their names from the letters on the table.

And here’s what Noel came up with. He got stuck on his last name.

I believe he is 16 years-old yet he has difficulty putting his name together.

Here’s 18-year old Melagrosa reading a second grade textbook. Considering her age, she was the best reader of the whole class. See Desiree in the background? Poor girl, she never says a word.

One and only textbook they have, so far.

If you would like to help and would like to get a hold of the SPED teachers, please contact the following persons:

Marites O Tatel - cell # 09102529823; email add: mababe_ot@yahoo.com

Regina Rojas- cell # 09065713951; email add: eeza_30@yahoo.com

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She was not expected to win. She is the “hampas lupa” as what the parents of the affluent and the highly favored contestant described her. They were right! An hour before the competition, 19 year-old Vinyl wasn’t quite ready. She hadn’t found the accessories that would embellish her outfit. They were searching hard here and there and suddenly they spotted me in the crowd. Good thing, my sister-in-law reminded me to take my jewelry to the event just in case she needed them. Fortunately, the necklace and the bracelet went well with her evening gown, and her costume respectively. I brought those jewelry actually as pasalubong or give aways but I had no particular persons in mind to give them to. God surely does have a way of putting things together at the right time, doesn’t He?

I came just for the fun of it with my camera in tow. Once again, it was yet another blessing for her because there was hardly anyone taking pictures of her. She is the “hampas lupa” or the destitute, you know. Her family can’t afford a camera or anything of that sort. To make up for her deprivation, I took tons of pictures of her from a distance because I only bought the cheapest ticket thinking that I may not like the show and head home early. No problem with the distance because I had the long lens with me.

But, as the night progressed, the pageant became interesting and stimulating. Our own Vinylwalked off the platform and sashayed the night away with ease and confidence. Not only that, she seemed to be the only one who answered every question intelligently in perfect English. She eventually enamored the audience- with increasing applause each time she nailed the question. The “hampas lupa” had what it took to win and she did it! She won!

To add drama to this story, our baranggay captain visited me early in the morning after the pageant in my hut soliciting money for the queen’s gown to be worn at the parade. I said, ” she is now the queen of Bato, the town of Bato should provide for it.” I am sure they made quite a bit of money from the pageant’s paid admission. The entrance fee ranged from 20 pesos to 300 pesos and the house was packed. There should be enough money to rent a gown for the queen of Bato, right? Where else would they allocate the proceeds of the event????

Anyway, after I made my point, I relented and handed the captain php1,000 so, at least, the queen would look decent at the parade. To rent a white gown, they needed to come up with php800, so there was enough money even to cover for the transportation.

This costume made out of abaca paper was sewn together by the queen’s mother including the necklace and earrings. The bracelet was the one I lent her.

Didn’t the necklace fit perfectly with her gown? How did I know she would be wearing navy blue gown?

First runner up went to Jenelyn Bonao of Bato ilawod, on the far left. Second runner up went to Christina Montano of Bato libod, 3rd runner up went to Jenelyn Temena of Sibacungan, and 4th runner up went to Marivic Tubalinal of San Roque.

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This concerns to the US residents only:

You might have been already notified in the mail regarding the NALC’s (National Association of Letter Carriers) Stamp Out Hunger annual food drive this Saturday, May 10, 2008. I would like to make an appeal to all of you to please go through your pantry and pick out the ones that you don’t need and donate them to help family in need in your community. We want to collect as much food as possible because this is the year that many families are struggling with the recession that our country is facing.

Please set the goods next to your mailbox and your carrier will pick them up when delivering mail. It has to be non-perishable items like canned goods, noodles, cereals, etc. Money is also appreciated but has to be handed out to the carrier personally or you can deliver it to the post office yourself. Someone will be there to assist you.

Your community needs you….please help this Saturday, May 10, 2008. I will be one of the carriers who will be picking up the food.

Oh, my contribution is already in the paper bag for my husband to set out on Saturday.

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In keeping with our CNA Christmas tradition, Rus, our hardworking secretary, traveled to Catanduanes on December 22nd to take charge of the annual Christmas party for our combined CESP (elementary and high school) and CSP (college) 34 scholars. To each child, she handed out a php400 gift certificate from Century Mall in Virac. Also, we served simple food consisting of spaghetti, fried chicken, cup cakes, and juice. To spice up the festivities, we gave each of the scholars a chance to showcase their hidden talents, that is, for those who came prepared. Indeed, some of the scholars (from Pandan town, to be specific) came geared up displaying their talents to a crowd of about of 60 people. Way to go Pandan!

In a nutshell, the Christmas party was a success due to the efforts and diligence of our secretary who orchestrated the whole proceedings to make all these possible with help and support, of course, from our volunteers and one of them was prof Gerry who, by the way, took the pictures below. Thanks sir Gerry!

Rus handing out allowance to the scholar.

Our college scholars all in their sophomore years.

Our elementary and high school scholars at the dinner table.

Some of these girls left their homes in the wee hours of the morning and traveled several hours to attend this party.They came from the northern part of Catanduanes, a place I have never set foot in.

A scholar from Pandan showcasing her talent - declamation. Wow!

Pandadanon scholars in their coordinated outfit , once again, entertaining the crowd with their dancing prowess.Clap! Clap!

Misc: My husband kept asking me if the girl he is sponsoring made it to the party. I was told by my cousin that my husband’s little girl was the only one who didn’t make it due to a mix up of the venue. You see, we had a last minute change of venue, and I suppose she was the only one who didn’t receive the updates (no cell phone, I presume) or who didn’t seek the right person in Virac. Now, I don’t have the heart to tell my husband about this unless he goes to my blog, but he rarely ever does.

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The Catanduanes Net Association’s secretary is leaving today for Catanduanes to distribute the allowances of 26 elementary scholars, 4 high school scholars, and 5 college scholars. She plans to travel to every municipality not just to hand out the allowances but also to meet the scholars and their families in person. She is utilizing her annual leave of 10 days to accomplish all these–all for free. Now, how is that for dedication! Thanks Rus!

This quarter, the Association is launching for the second time its “Feeding and Nutrition Program” whose focus is to give nourishment to selected kids in the province by allotting some money per kid for the whole duration of the Program, which would cover the menu of either lugaw and boiled egg or spaghetti and macaroni. So far, the Association has selected a barangay in Viga, Catanduanes to administer 30 children whose weight is considered to fall under the malnourished group. The age group of these kids ranges from 6 months to 7 years old.

To get favorable and positive results, I am strongly hoping that we can find donors for vitamins so we can fortify our feeding for these malnourished children. Anyone who can donate, please contact me @liwayway07@yahoo.com.

Lastly, thought I would share these letters from our college scholars. Thanks to our dear sponsors for making it all possible for these children.

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Zherwin said that the best time to photograph sunset is within half an hour before and after sunset. For some reasons though, our afternoon walk or evening walk, for that matter, is always too late for the perfect sunset photography. It is because we try to wait until the sun is no longer intense for a leisurely walk and by then it is too late for picture taking.

Yesterday, however, we drove to the park instead of walking so we might have gotten there in perfect timing for the sunset. Of course, everyday is a learning experience for me and am sure in time I will get better. But for now, enjoy the pictures that I managed to capture.

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Took this picture when we walked along the lake at twilight.
Yesterday late afternoon, my daughter S and I took advantage of the free concert at the park. The very popular local band, Junction 87, with its mix of classic, country, and a little rock and roll was performing, which I have yet to watch. Daughter A was not able to join us as she got invited to a birthday party. Said, she would look for us in the park if she chose to come home early. Of course, she didn’t make it.

We took folding chairs, the camera, of course, and extra clothes in case it got too cold. I noticed it wasn’t as crowded as the last week’s concert when Buddy Holly look alike, Mike Randall, inspired the crowd with ’50’s rock. The first question I asked my husband, who accompanied me that time, was ” Is he Buddy Holly?” From afar, there was a big resemblance especially with his black-rimmed glasses characteristic of the famous singer.

Anyway, S and I sat there for a while while I was taking pictures here and there. Half an hour later, when the sun faded over the horizon, we both agreed to pack and take a relaxing walk around the area instead. I would have better visibility of the crowd, and the horizon this way than sitting on the chair watching. I guess it is one way of saying that the music was not our cup of tea but it sounded good! The crowd was loving them.

Here are the pictures that I took at the concert. As you can see, the grass is a little bit on a greenish brown side. Well, for one thing, we haven’t had a trace of rain in a long while since March which is typical of Arizona. Hopefully, we’ll expect rain around July when the summer monsoon is due to arrive.

This bull dog was part of the crowd, too.

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My daughter A and I went walking today along the lake and our conversation brought the idea of blogging this next entry. I asked her if she was going to spearhead the school supply drive for the poor Filipino children in the province this year and without hesitation, she said, “Yes!” That is just what I wanted to hear. This marks the fourth year of the drive. You probably all aware that Catanduanes, my province, bore the brunt of the super typhoon Reming, leaving many people homeless. This year’s supply drive would really mean a whole lot to these poor children.

This idea was conceived when my daughter S visited the Philippines during her junior year in high school. She saw how poor the children were so when she got back in the USA, she knew she had to do something. She wasted no time and spearheaded a school supply drive along with the Key Club members both in school and in the community.

One third of our 3-car garage, my husband’s jewelry room, was filled with school supplies which include backpacks, pencils, children books, rulers, binders, pencil case, erasers, scissors, pad paper, bond paper, etc.

I usually allocated the whole Sunday, my day off, for packing 4 to 5 extra large boxes with the help of my daughters and husband, including our pet, Mango. That is Mango with daughter S in the first picture entertaining us with his antics in between packing.

It took about one and a half month for these boxes to arrive in the province. My job was to make sure that they were distributed to the rightful recipients.

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I might as well get blogging about my family out of the way before I move on to a more interesting and non-family related topics. I know most or some of you will probably get tired of reading articles about my two precious daughters but I will go ahead anyway. After all, this is a free country.

The article below was written by my daughter S 3 years ago during her junior year in high school. She was supposed to be posing with the Marilima kids from Virac, Catanduanes in the photo but for some reason, her second trip to the Philippines didn’t happen as planned despite of the preparations she had done. I took her place instead, though I felt the disppointment from each of the children. They were very much looking forward to meeting my daughter for the first time. They made all kinds of preparations for her coming. They brought all kinds of goodies, delicious native food, native gifts, and even showcased the beautiful artworks that they created from the art supplies that they received. Only they didn’t get to present it to her personally.

Additionally, from the article you will be able to learn and depict my humble beginnings. Please read on…

A project that holds much meaning to me is the one that I created called “Donations for Education.” The inspiration came when I visited the Philippines last summer and saw the elementary school in my mother’s village. The children were very poor and the school was very simple and stark. The school’s walls were bare, the chairs were broken, and the children barely had any pencils or pens to write with. Also, they had few art supplies and books to read. When I walked back to my mother’s old house, I noticed that my cousin was studying for her final exam. She had managed to crowd all of her notes onto a single sheet of paper. When I asked my mother why she did not use more than one piece of paper, she informed me that paper was hard to come by, and it was important that my cousin saved every single piece.

I found this surprising since I remembered that I had reams of paper lying around my house. I also had many old boxes of crayons and markers that could be better utilized by the Filipino children. I had several old backpacks, binders, and folders that I did not need anymore. I realized that if every person in my community could donate a few extra school supplies that were available in their homes, even the simplest items such as a few sheets of paper, it would be enough to support several elementary school classes in the Philippines. I decided that the easiest way to plan out this endeavor would be to create a school supply drive in which community members could easily donate any items relative to education.

To accomplish this goal, I asked my Key Club for their help. I proposed my idea during a club meeting, asking if they could help with the project advertisement, and other related tasks. I was the head chaiperson and called several committee meeting throughout the duration of the project to organize and plan the school supply drive. Together, we decided to hold both a community-wide and a school-wide drive.

Through the project “Donations for Education”, more than thirty four hundred school supplies were collected. These included pens, pencils, markers, crayons, colored pencils, backpacks, children books, paper, colored construction paper, scissors, glue, etc. Large shipping boxes were filled to the brim with the supplies (in fact, we were not able to fit all the supplies into the three boxes…which will be carried over into the next year’s drive.) The Filipino children received many essential school supplies that would help them with their schooling. Additionally, the students now had backpacks to help them carry their belongings during their long walking trips to and from the school. The teachers were very enthusiastic receiving art supplies, teacher’s manual to several textbooks, and children books in english.

Not only did the project affect the lives of many children, it also taught me to believe in myself. Before, I did not expect a project of this much planning and organization to follow through, but I discovered that I do have strength within myself. I learned to set my mind on my goal and understand that obstacles will certainly get in the way, but I just have to overcome them with confidence. The closer friendship that I gained with the rest of the Key Club members were invaluable. Additionally, I gained a connection with my Filipino heritage. Even though the Philippines is halfway around the world, it felt like the distance didn’t matter since I was able to help them no matter how many miles away they were. When I received thank you letters and pictures from the students, I was truly amazed to see them holding up school supplies in the pictures that had been previously held by my own hands. I never imagined that I would be receiving letters with personal signatures from the students and creating new friendships. I am truly thankful for this project, not only for the result that it has accomplished, but also for the joy and gratitude that it has instilled within me.

My daughter A has been spearheading the drive for the last two years now.

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The dichotomy between fire and snow. Yes, the prescribed burn continous in our area. The other day, smoke covered our whole neighborhood prompting others to leave the area for a day until the smoke subsided. It is like a flu shot, we need to take a small portion of the smoke now to avoid getting full blown wild fire in the summer.

The first picture shows our community. My husband took it while I was at work. As you can see, we are surrounded with national forest, away from hustle and bustle of the city, about 70 miles northeast of Phoenix. It is one of the few ozone-free places in the nation. It is one of the prettiest places in AZ. Everything is within 10 minute-drive from home; school, church, piano lesson, theater, shopping, etc. I used to walk from work during summer to get my exercise, which usually took me 35 minutes. I would ask my husband to drop me to work and I would walk home. It is a good way of getting my exercise out of the way being that I am a busy mom.

Temperature is around 12 to 15 degrees cooler than in Phoenix. We get nice blue sky most of the time. Our highest temperature that I can remember is 105 degrees F and it seldom goes right below zero for our coolest temperature. We have four seasons: winter, spring, autumn, and summer. My favorite seasons are spring and autumn. We have perfect temperature around this time of year and we don’t use heater or air conditioning. People from Phoenix flock here during summer to avail of our cooler weather and camp out by the stream and in the mountains. There are plenty of hiking trails around mostly forest service roads for the national forest, which I enjoy doing.

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