Snapshots of life......

The Koza team (visiting missionaries from Japan) hard at work prepping the new medical wing! 

Until a camera appears, that is!!!! 

The 'Koza' marines shifting 2 tonne beds  to the medical wing! Go Marines!!!!!

Shopping with Tracey, Charity and their smart phones!!!!!  

East meets West - the roller and the cutter join forces to paint the medical wing :)
 I think they may just be accepting the mad 'painting' foreigner!!!    

The 'big girls' new room - flower stencil courtesy of moi!!! 

Saturday - Asher and I on our way to a medical appointment .......

...... with a little free time on our hands beforehand - thank you McDo!!!!!!!

     On my way to work - 6am - grooving it up in the Jeepney - and realising how much I need a coffee :)

What a way to travel to work though, hey!! 

Daily traffic on my street!!! 

Too cool for school!!!

   Lola also grooving it up ........ with Ted!!

     Let's never grow up!!!!

Down by the riverside!!!

Sisterly love............

........... and a little too much motherly love.  It think you're smothering your children!!  

Bath time - Ate Cher doing her 'thang' and loving on her littlies..... 

....... in everything but the kitchen sink!!

Such gentle hands.....

Our beautiful Lola 

Lola means 'Grandma' in Tagalog - I don't actually know her real name.....we all just call her Lola!!

She may not be an orphan in the true sense of the word but she is an orphan all the same ..... her family not wishing to care for her anymore and Charity rescuing her from Malabon a year ago. 

I remember her on my first (and only!) visit. Recently admitted - sick, physically abused, and dying at the age of 95 years old ...

On arrival a year ago.....

....but not until Gentle Hands loved on her first ..... now, a year later and 96 years old, she is playing the ukelele, basket weaving and waiting for God to take her home :) She found her love and is ready. Personally, I think there is much life in her yet!! 

A year on.... 

Weather report!

Batten down the hatches! We are officially in the 'Wet Season.' Starts in June, peaks in July to September, and peters out in October. Monsoons, tornados and flash floods!!! Wow, fun times ahead! And only 4 months to go!

Saturday Satisfaction

Reporting for duty

Give me a task, assign me a job I say!! .... paint the Conference Room, she say!! Yes...right!! 

What a colour to paint with! Stunning!!! Was it chosen for this reason. Er, no!! Charity settled on this colour because .....  

"Colours selected for the office can have psychological bearing on emotions and overall experience. Blue denotes honesty, loyalty, wisdom, security and confidence so it is a good color. Green is calming, suggesting security......Cool colors such as blue and green are associated with rest and relaxation....the color of your walls can help stimulate workers, relax customers and create an inviting space." [Google]

Right!! Sea blue (or is it green) it is then!! Seriously, who thinks of these things!! 

Some for the wall....some for me :)

Second coat tomorrow

The workmen at GH that are building the new extension(including the medical wing) find it rather disconcerting when a woman attempts a task that is the role of a 'work-man'. A Filipina would NEVER paint a wall or four. They become rather nervous; desperately trying to help (pour your paint, clean your brushes, move the paint pot closer...), and making frequent visits to simply stand and look at what the mad foreigner is doing. Too funny!! 

A trip down memory lane .....

I can't believe it is a year ago that I first visited Gentle Hands..... and realised that this was where I was going to live and work ....for as long as I'm needed.  

My first trip here......

10 minutes after my arrival!!!

Trip to the mall with MaryAnn, Mary Rose, Esperanza and Esmerelda

My delights ... Bea and Michelle

If my suitcase had been bigger ....

 Returning to GH with Michelle and Asher after a fun filled day! 

End of the day exhaustion

CXR review with Charity ..... trying to anyway!!!

The sidewalk -  home to many!!

Local shop

Child's play!!

Escopa - home to way too many!! 

.......and yet the spirit in Escopa!

My week here held a lifetime of events .... so many memories in the blink of an eye. 

It feels that way now... a mere 7 weeks and, yet, it seems forever.....

Only in the Philippines!

Sweat and Snakes

7 hours spent sorting through donation boxes of toys! Hot, dirty, sweaty work....

One 10 minute break to eat some amazing chicken and rice cooked by Eddy. Ahhh!!! 

And  a coffee sent up to Level 5 for me.....Ahhh, thank you, Charity. 

And then a loving cuddle at the  end the day :) 

Gentle Hands pet snake - Jimmy

Trip to Immigration Bureau

Off to Immigration Bureau to find out if they will allow me to have a visa. Gulp!! I was advised to dress up, smile sweetly and act subservient wherever necessary. Smiling and grovelling I can do but dress up? In this heat!! Long pants and boots. Sheesh. 

Meeting was at 9am so I set off at 7am .... you never know in this city! 

I commuted on the train.... here are a few sights along the way...... to give you a feel for what I feel....fascinating city!!

.... and then caught a cab for the 1km (and 30 minute) ride to BI...... :)

My fan has become my new accessory!!! 

Breakfast ... tough to know what to settle on .... NOT!! 

The only coffee around ..... which makes it very drinkable!! 

.... I hope I never get sick!!! 

Birthday Blessings and Birthday Blues!

My first birthday in the Philippines! 

Somewhat different from my norm and typifying every reason that I am here. 

It started with coffee and catch up with Charity .... plan of the day, deeds done, tasks due ...... to the sweet sounds of playful, rambunctious, delectable toddlers!   

Followed by singing and birthday hugs from the little ones .... 

    

     The original version wasn't recorded so Kyla    

     made me a mock up video after I had left! 

     It has lost a little of its spontaneity but still a delight to see! 

Then it was off to one of Manila's [worst] hospitals....accompanying several of the Gentle Hands staff who were donating blood for a 14 year old girl needing a hemipelvectomy (amputation) for osteocarcoma. Sigh.

...and visiting the young girl on the ward to see what Gentle Hands could do to help her and her family. Sigh. I'm not sure how but I managed to procure a meeting with the orthopaedic surgeon .... in their tea room! I'm almost certain this is not a common occurrence by the looks on their faces, as I stood watching them eat Jollibee fried chicken!! I think there may just be some perks to being 'white' and a nurse from Australia. And I'm milking it :)

Charity asked if I would also go to Social Services to see if there were any abandoned children in the hospital .... as you do.... that could be referred to Gentle Hands. There was one .... Sigh Sigh. 

A baby boy abandoned a year ago with hydrocephalus

Four hours later, I return to Gentle Hands .... 





.....where I am met by my beautiful kaibigan - friend - Tracey (and a mudcake) and taken out for a birthday dinner. 



And so ends my first birthday in the Philippines :)