RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY..

We have been living in this area for a little over two years now. It took me that long to realize that the rainy season (December-February) brings unemployment and scarcity of day jobs to the folks in the neighborhood. The majority of the men rely on construction works, rice planting/harvesting, coconut harvesting, coconut husking, fishing and other odd jobs to provide for the family's daily sustenance. Some who are lucky have permanent jobs in government offices, schools and other establishments but there's just a handful of them in my neighborhood.

When rainy season starts, construction work slows down, rice had been planted, coconut harvesting becomes hazardous due to the rain and the prevailing wind. It is not uncommon here to have someone approach you to inquire of any odd job you can offer them just so at the end of the day they can buy a kilo or two of rice so their family will have something to eat. My little store's sales are down mainly because there just isn't money to spend on even the basic things during these months. Which leads me to think about the boys and girls who pass by our place everyday when they go to school. I wonder in my heart if they even had breakfast that morning, will they have lunch or dinner? You can't really tell. Even in the midst of wants, these kids seem happy and content inspite of it all. On several occasions I've given away little snacks for the little ones. Not so much for the teen-agers though although I found out that they too are very grateful being the recipients.

I have been involved in our church's Saturday class in a little resettlement area by the beach in Bangcas B. Bangcas B is the barrio next to Talisay so it's not really that far from our place. The people who settled here cluster themselves. What I mean is, they built their houses close to each other. It reminds me of the pilgrims in early America, the pictures of early settlers living in close proximity to each other. I learned that in the late 80's/early 90's, the NPAs were menacing the people who live in remote areas specially those who are in the mountains. The government ordered them to come down to the plains. That's how these “clustered houses” came about. When I go there on Saturdays, the place is crawling with kids – JJ, the social butterfly, loves to go with me -- he loves playing with them. There are only 22 kids who regularly attend the Saturday class. Whoever is assigned that particular Saturday (the church assigns the women, by area, one Saturday a month), has to prepare to teach, lead, provide the snacks and conduct games with the children. I especially love the part where each child say their memory verses. They have learned to hide God's word in their young hearts – each memory verse said aloud earns them one piece of candy. They love to sing short choruses and be vocally involved in the Bible stories. But of course, the most awaited part is the snacks that we serve them after the lesson. To some of these children this is their lunch/dinner already. Feeding these children cost us around $25, depending on what is served. On some days we serve something different other than the usual “lugaw” which is softened rice sweetened with brown sugar. Sometimes they get something else to pair with the lugaw. The children normally bring their own bowls, spoon and drinking glass which works great for us workers – we don't have cleaning up to do. After the games we can just leave while the kids bring their bowls back to their homes. We spend almost three hours ministering to the children. There are a handful of residents there who attend our church so we hold the class in one of the member's home.

ART CLASSES

Here in the Philippines, most people cannot afford to buy anything in bulk. Most things (coffee, shampoo, creamer, powdered milk, powdered juices, etc..) are packed in sachets. They are colorful, shiny ones so I started cleaning the empty ones, dry them and have been saving them. I started saving toilet paper rolls, any shiny paper, plain colored paper, anything that can be used for art projects. I realized the need for art classes here so I am working on offering art sessions to the children here at home, well in our yard, during the summer. I know they would love that because since I started teaching Sunday School at our church that is one thing they look forward to. The first thing they ask me on Sundays is “what's our project today?” I can see by their faces that these activities excite them. We make do of what I have on hand although there is a lot of grumbling and arguing about who can use the glue or the scissors next (I only have 3 pairs of scissors and a couple of glues). I need to get some more art materials for my growing number of artists. The construction papers I brought with me from the States have been used up so I need to replenish them. So many needs...but I know that Lord will meet them.

….AND THEY CAME

I kept thinking about the children in our neighborhood, I know I need to do something for them. As I stated above December to March are lean months. I heard most families go with just one meal a day and I feel for the little ones. So I thought why not do the same thing we do on Saturdays by the beach in my yard? So last Saturday, March 4, I borrowed two huge kettles (each has 5-gallon capacity) and cooked champorado. It is a concoction of sticky rice cooked with cocoa and sweetened with brown sugar. I asked two children ,who came by my store that morning, to tell their friends to come around 3 in the afternoon. I also made sure that they need to bring with them their own bowls and spoon. I went ahead and made two huge kettles of the champorado in a make-shift stove beside our shed not knowing how many would be coming.

There were four little boys who showed up early. Through them I learned there were lots of kids playing in the community shed while waiting for 3 o'clock. And they told me they have bowls and spoons ready too. Good enough. By the time 3 o'clock rolled around the food was ready to be served. The boys who hung around ran to tell their friends that it is time. And they came, were served, had seconds or thirds, were filled. There was plenty to go around. Some sit by the roadside while eating, the teens huddled among themselves under the trees while others sat on the concrete section of our storefront. It was a perfect day to do it. It had been raining hard for weeks and everybody had been cooped up inside. That sunny Saturday afternoon was a welcome relief from the rain and a chance to talk to these little ones and play with them for a little bit. Before they headed home they asked if they could take some to share with their parents---how sweet.

I asked the children if they would like to come back again on Saturday, same time. And of course they said yes. I think we'll be doing this from now on :).

Thank you all for following.  We appreciate everyone of you and for all your prayers.  We love y'all.

Blessings.