Vacation Bible School Filipino Style

In April our church held VBS in another barangay.  Barangay Mercedes in Silago is north of us (about 15 minutes from Talisay. VBS is about the same here as in the states, you have kids, teachers, support, lessons, games and snacks. What is different is locations. All the VBS we attended in the states was held in a church. Here, this VBS was held in the jungle were some houses had been built.

The opening and closing assembly was held in front of a huge, shady caimito tree where VBS posters and flags are hung.  The kids sat on plastic chairs that our church brought then they carry it with them to their areas so they have a chair to sit on during their lessons.

Game time was similar to what we did back in the States. Most of the games involved some sort of race and most of the kids were very competitive.

Flor taught the class JJ was in with the help of a couple of teenagers. They had a work book that was in Tagalog (the national language). I thought the work book would have been in Visayan/Cebuano (the local language). I (Flor) have to translate the lesson into the Visayan language as I go along.  I found out that there is no Cebuano edition available when it comes to VBS materials.  In the Philippine public and private schools, Filipino kids are taught the local language, the national language and English so that was okay but since I taught the younger ones, I need to translate the lessons in Visayan for them to understand it.  JJ does not want to admit it but he is picking up the local language.

Then there was the kids favorite time, snack time. Usually consisting of juice and bread.

Since we have a car I was tasked with hauling the chairs from our church at the beginning and end of VBS. All the chairs were placed on top of the car and tied down. Got quite a few looks with the American driving down the road with a bunch of chairs tied to the top. We also picked up kids as we went to Mercedes and then dropped them off at their place afterwards.  They have designated each pick-up/drop off points as terminals 1, 2, 3....kind of like a passenger jeepney except that the driver is an Americano :).

We closed our VBS week on Saturday, April 16, with a joint lunch for the children's families after our closing ceremony right under the giant caimito tree where opening/closing assembly was held.  It was a blessing to meet most of the families in the area.

I know it was quite an experience for Michael and Judson, an eye opener of some sort--Michael specially.  I watched his expression while we were doing the whole thing.  I'm glad he had a first hand experience of this kind.  As for me...it was my deja vu moment.  I've done this kind of thing for years before I moved to the States.  And nothing has changed, except now they have the materials, back then we have to plan our own----and of course I was a young, energetic teenager then.

We thank you for following and may you all have a blessed summer ahead.

Say HELLO to our New Addition

When we were getting ready to move to the Philippines, everybody asked what we would be doing. I (Michael) kept saying we were going to raise goats. Sunday March 20 our neighbor approached us and wanted to sell us a mama goat and her month-old kid. We decided to go ahead and bought the goats and the next day we started building a goat shed out of scrap construction materials.  The structure was finished except the roof--we need to get more nipa. On March 24 the goats came running through our yard so we decided to keep them even though the roof is halfway done. Flor has named them Millie (the momma) and Billie (the baby kid).

In the morning we take the goats out of the shed and stake in a part of the yard that needs weeds removed. The goats spend the day eating and at the end of the day are returned to the shed.

 We learned quickly that they have strong preference as to weeds and leaves because they let you know if you have stationed them in a patch of weeds that they don't like at all.

The goats are fun to watch. Billie has explored the house and likes to climb on stumps and a bench. He also seem interested in clothes we have drying. Millie will be stubborn when taken out of the shed or returning to the shed. I think she is just being ornery because when in the shed, she will come up to the rails to be petted. JJ enjoys the goats, they are like pets.  We learned they like to be talked to and are really gentle animals.

 ....of course JJ thinks he is a goat and went in the shed as well :)

Until next time...thank you for following and.  Blessings.

Rice Harvest

Our rice field was harvested on March 21. It had turned yellow and was ready. There are combines in the Philippines (see following link), but our field is so small and far enough away from the bigger fields that it was hand cut. After the threshing crew arrived, they went to work.

Rice Harvester

The crew cuts the field by hand and carries the rice to one spot to stack for the thresher. After the field is cut they carry in the threshing machine. The threshing machine is powered by a small diesel engine and the rice is bagged.

Like the fish pen, and hog butchering,  threshing day is a social event (see following link). We had the threshers, kids and neighbors all in and around the threshing area. My father has already seen some of the threshing pictures.  He said that this is how wheat was threshed in Kansas when he was 6 years old (about 70 years ago).  They would cut the wheat, load it on a horse-drawn trailer and haul it to the threshing machine.

http://midlifewandering.blogspot.com/2016/01/pigs.html

Along with the rice from the field, we are buying rice for resale. The farmers prefer to sell locally than trying to take the rice somewhere to sell. Also, when they sell to us, the farmers do not have to worry about the rice being dried. So, Flor hired some of the neighborhood people and in two days all the rice was dried. Rough figuring showed the cost of drying worked out to a couple of pesos a kilo (About a nickle to pound).

Normally a rice field is planted 3 times a year. However, our field is only wet enough during the wet season (November to February) so we only get one planting a year. During the dry season, we will plant other crops.

Thank you for following.