CHE

CHE stands for Community Health Education/Evangelism. It is a program that the interns have been studying for the past two weeks. It is a really cool because it promotes education. The program sets up the community for success in a way that they are responsible for their own community. It does not involve "us" coming in and changing things for the people. It involves helping them so that they can change things for themselves and take ownership in that change. This way you promote a life time of success.

The first step in CHE is doing a survey to see what the needs of the community are. We do this so that we can really get to the know the people. We also want to learn what we can do so that we can meet their needs and get the most benefits from the program.
The village that we want to start CHE in is a relocation village. In June of 2008 Typhoon Frank hit the Philippines. There were many people that lived right on the water. These people lost everything that they had. The government has relocated these people in a random place. They have only been there 5 months.

Pictured above are some of the kids from the relocation site. Seeing these people and hearing their stories was really eye opening. They live in these hut sort of things that are all attached. Sometimes 9 people in one hut. They only have electricity in this pavilion area, where they plug in their stereo and dance. Every house has a garden that they take pride in. They all share bathrooms and do not have a good sewage system. These people were forced to restart their lives when they didn't have much to begin with. They are strong men and women.


Pictured above is part of a row of houses. There are 2 rows and different families on each side. We interviewed them about their health, community services, psychological needs and services (such as water etc). We learned so much and brainstormed as a group to find out what we could do to help them. Some of the things that we brainstormed were getting the people solar energy, a water filtration system, forms of garden education and different types of recreation for the youth. The next step in the process is sharing the information with the people that are on the council at the Barangay (or community) and seeing what we can do to help. From there, teams are formed and these teams train the village. Also, people are assigned to individual houses to make sure they are getting their needs met. Slowly, the entire village in educated in the areas needed and transformed.

I think that it is going to take a lot of time to start this program. It is cool because we are going to write up a report and get all the information needed. Then, the next team that comes in can start helping them in a more direct manner. I just don't think that we are going to be here long enough to see all of this happen, which again leaves you feeling overwhelmed. I want to do so much, but I have to start at the beginning. Change takes time. This is one of the families that I interviewed. The woman is 21 and has 5 kids. If you look to the right the dad is holding like a blanket. They tie the blanket in a knot hanging from the ceiling and place the kid in it! The grandfather also lives with them. As much as you see is basically what their house is. You can go there and see it, but when you sit down and hear their stories it really changes things. These are real people.

The kids at the relocation site were less shy than the other kids that I have been working with. They were craving to be loved. Many of them don't go to school because it is too far away and/or their family can't afford to send them there.


The kids were beautiful. They would run around calling me Dyosa (prounouced Josa). This means "Goddess" in Ilonggo! haha. Apparently it used to be a TV show and my hair reminds them of the main character! I had so much fun just being there and playing with the kids. They loved to be held and all of them wanted my attention. We even danced together.
I'm still trying to figure out how I can make a long term impact on the people here. I know I make a difference for those moments, but then I just go. It leaves you with a lot of emotions. I'm realizing that all I can do for now is love them.

Leia Mais…

Working in the Pre-K

So there is a great opportunity here in the Philippines that I have had the privileged of being involved in. The Sonshine Center has a pre-k (kinder 1 and kinder 2 pictured above) that they provide for the street kids. All of these kids are on a scholarship program so that they would be able to go to the school. These kids are taught practical skills, such as brushing their teeth along with phonics, reading, writing, etc (IN ENGLISH!!). Every afternoon I am going to be working with the pre-k. I am so excited for this opportunity to be able to get back into education. I really love to teach and I want to be able to put all that I have learned from Towson into practice!

Leia Mais…

10 things to get used to in the Philippines

10 things to get used to while in the Philippines

1. Black outs here are called brown outs. These brown outs occur at the most unusual times...at least twice a week. During the day the power may go out which means no fans! The usual is around 2 hours, but it can last days! Get used to those flashlights!

2. In most stores/laundry mats/restaurants etc there is no change! Every time I pay the cashier asks for smaller bills or exact change. You can imagine how difficult this is when we exchanged our money is large bills!

3. Here is something that has been difficult....there is no toilet paper in the bathrooms! You have to carry it with you or else you will be using your hand!

4. The water situation is also something new...there is no hot water, bucket showers are common and we can't drink the water from the faucet. We can't even brush our teeth with the water! Get used to carrying around those water bottles!

5. Language--It is hard enough to get used to not speaking Ilonggo. I tend to use a lot of sounds and gestures when trying to communicate with the children. However, their word for yes is "oo oo." Can you imagine?? If I say "uh-oh" they think that I am saying yes. Or if I say "oh!" they think I am saying yes. I tend to get confused looks very often.

6. Filipino goodbyes...they last forever! It kind of reminds me of leaving Camp Sonshine in the states. Filipinos tend to say goodbye multiple times, at least 5. Whenever we see them, they say goodbye again, hug, kiss and all! It makes you feel very loved!

7. There are no distinct traffic patterns. Using a horn is almost like saying "excuse me, coming through" and lanes don't really mean anything here. They have traffic lights, but they don't work.

8. I am starting to get surprised when I see a white person....I ask to myself, "What are they doing here?"

9. There is a distinct Filipino smell everywhere you go

10. Roosters don’t just crow in the morning (like you see on all the cartoons), they crow all day long.

Leia Mais…

childrens ministry week

some kids and I at the dump


the entrance to the dump


praying for teens at a ministry event


the streets of the philippines


kids at the dump



a house at the dump


a girl workin at the dump


sunset


josh (one of the interns) playin with the kids


girls at the center


playing at the center


Wow…I cant believe it when I look at the last couple of posts! I have done so much since then it is going to be hard to fill you all in on everything! So after the feeding ministry we did various ministries with college kids, young professionals, and kids. However, then I got really sick! For two whole days, I couldn’t even get out of bed. I don’t think that it was from any food or water here because Aaron was sick too with very similar symptoms. So, I’m guessing I got something while in Australia and it took a while to manifest itself.

So anyways that was a hard, being here, in a third world country, not knowing anyone and away from home. My fellow interns and the other staff are so caring and helped me out so much! They were such a blessing. It has been great getting to know them and to see their passion for what they do.

This week we focused on Childrens Ministry. One of the outreaches we did was going to a dump called Calajunan. It was such an eye opening experience. When I went, I felt so many different emotions that I just needed time to process it. People live there, a lot of people. Children dig through the garbage for cans or things that they can sell. They run around in the trash dump with bare feet. Their houses are on top of the dump and all around it. I was just so overwhelmed because I want to help them, but I don’t know what I can do.

These people at the dump are part of a sub-culture in Iloilo. Some of the kids have piercings, not with metal but out of plants and its through their lip. The young girls look for love and affirmation in sex and have children at very young ages. There are girls that are 17 and 18 years old and already have 3 kids. A 16-year-old girl went missing on Saturday and her body was found on Tuesday. She had been gang-raped. There is a darkness that covers that place.
We went back on Saturday and had Camp with the kids and just got a chance to hang out with them. It is amazing how they recognize you and just run up and hug you even after only visiting one other time. The kids loved the songs and the skit. Even the parents were watching. I had so much fun just being silly with them and loving them.
I really want to fix their problems but I know that I can’t.

If you help a person one day, that is all that you did, but if you teach them to help themselves you are helping them for the rest of their lives. When you go into the dump, you just want to fix all of the problems there. But these people need to learn that a new way of life is possible. For example, the people there have equipment for the dump, but it just sits there and rusts because they were never taught to use it. I want to help but I am still learning how and what I can do.
This week we are learning about Community and health development. It will be so good to learn ways that we can help the different communities in Iloilo. We are going to partner with a barangay (what they call their communities) and put what we learn this week into practice. Please just continue to pray with me as I am learning, growing and experiencing many new things.

Leia Mais…

addresses!

I finally have an address for all that have asked!

1. If you would like to give financially you can mail checks to

Horizon Church of Towson, Inc.
P.O. Box 36302
Towson, MD 21286

Make sure you make the check out to Horizon and put my name in the memo! From there, the money will be put in my bank account and I can access it here in the Philippines.


2. If you would like to send me something when I am here in the Philippines...Just an FYI mail is very slow and it could take up to a month for me to just a get letter. If you are sending a package it could take longer because often packages sit in Manila for a while. But hopefully I will get it, just give me a heads up if you are sending a package of some sort! Here is the address:

Camp Sonshine Center Foundation
C/o Anna Gulliford
PO Box 39
Iloilo city, Philippines 5000

Leia Mais…

pics etc

being prayed for at the feeding ministry
praying for those at the feeding ministry
a kid playing at the feeding ministry


So here is a blog you can go to where you can look at more photos!

http://anascomissions.blogspot.com/

Dave takes the pictures at the events we go to...

and by the way I was quite sick for a couple of days but now I am much better thanks for all the prayers!

Leia Mais…

I'm in the Philippines!!

I havent really gotten a chance to take many pics
but here are some of the view from the Sonshine Center

Wow! So after much anticipation I am finally here! I made it to Iloilo Tuesday night (Feb 3rd), I even had a little welcome party at the airport, which was nice! I got to my dorms and met my roomates for the next 2 months or so. The dorms are actually not bad at all. We have electricity, a window unit for AC and a bathroom in our room! We also have a kitchen downstairs. Only catch is we can’t drink the water and the shower is like a hose in the bathroom (and it doesn't really get warm either). It is still nice and definitely exceeded my expectations!
Well upon coming to the Philippines I dove right in! Wednesday morning I was up at 6 am and we were at the Sonshine Center at 715. We started off with prayer and devos and then headed across town to help Full Gospel church with their feeding ministry. We basically had church service and then fed the mothers and the children. It was cool but I def was having some culture shock! I didnt remember any of the language so it was hard to communicate with the mothers. I did get to hang out with the kids though and that was nice! After that we came back to the center and had a meeting with the Sonshine Center staff. We prayed and then I crashed and took a nap ate some food and went to bed! That was day number 1!
Filipinos are really great. They are not afraid to show their emotions. They laugh alot and really listen to you when you talk. There is however alot of things going on culturally that I need to learn. How people interact here is much different than the states. There is also alot of poverty You would be shocked to see the houses that many people live in here. I am still getting used to everything being so different that the states and Australia.

I understand my role here better now. Camp doesnt start until April I believe. Meanwhile there is a program through Calvery International to train people who want to do missionary work full time. I sit in on their lectures and go out and do ministry with them. However, I also help to work out some admin issues with the people running the program.
It is really cool because I get the chance to learn alot and to go out there and help people who really need it. Each week focuses on a different type of ministry. This week is partnering with a church and next week is Children's ministry which I am really excited about.
This weekend we will have kids club. That is where a jeepney goes around and picks up the street kids. Then we have a mini Camp Sonshine with the kids. I am so excited about this!
There is so much going on I am trying to organize it all in my mind. The interns have already been here for 3 weeks so they are more in sync than I am. But I am learning. I thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers! Please continue to pray for the people here! I love a miss you all!
-Anna

p.s. pictures to come soon, I honestly have been so busy I haven't even taken any!

Leia Mais…

10 days off!

in sydney
me and the boy in Sydney...we went out for a nice dinner right on the harbor
mel, jodee and I hangin out in the parks in Sydney
bree me and pip in melbourne getting coffee and dessert
me in fava in sydney, we were only there for 5 hours at the same time so we had to meet up!
i met up with Anne in Sydney, hadnt seen her in years and she spotted me right away!
in melbourne!


me and aaron at the docks
me and aaron in front of the bridge and the opera house

So I ended up having about 10 extra days in Australia that I did not realize would have been just chill time….so Aaron flew halfway around the world to visit me! We had 4 days in Sydney and 5 in Melbourne. Of course it was during the heat wave where temperatures reached to about 110 degrees F in Mel!! Ahh….but we were okay we had a fan and we only got there in time for the last day or two where it began to cool off at night. It was really nice to just see the sights and to relax after a busy camp season. We also met up with some friends: Anne (who was a foreign exchange student at RH when I was a sophomore there), Pat Fava (a great friend of mine), and girls I had worked with at Camp (Mel, Jody, Pip and Bree). It was really nice to get to see everyone! Here are some pics from our little vacation!

Leia Mais…

Camp Sushine AU is over!

nancy could not even fake a smile, she was so upset that camp was ending...
um we were really lost in the hedge maze...notice the boys not really smiling too much
hard to describe what is going on here, the bay we went to had a bunch of jelly fish things in the water so we had a war!
Hattie at the petting zoo that we hired to come to the park

me and some kids on the last day!


the boys being silly on our last day/long bus ride to the waterpark

the team at the camp dinner!


Sorry it has taken me so long to update! The last week of camp went by so quickly! It was really really good though! Just to give you some perspective...in our meeting Bree and Clayton told us that in December the numbers for camp were very low. How low you ask? There was a day that we had no kids signed up at all! Ahh! In a month they had people coming from all over the world and maybe there would be no kids to work with! On some days we had 7 kids signed up, but with 12 leaders...that is a little too much supervision! haha...anyways on the last day of camp we had 40 kids! From the first day to the last our numbers went from 17 to 40! How awesome.

Some of my highlights from the last week:
-one girl was signed up for one day and begged her mom to let her come back for another. She did come back, but when it was time to leave she was really upset...her mom looked straight at me and said "You are really making an impact on her." Which as simple as it sounds, really make an impact on me! I didnt even feel like I was close to the girl or that we connected but I guess God used me in her life
-one kid that I had the entire three weeks (3 times a week tho) really started opening up. Like he just came out of his shell. We would joke and kid with eachother and stuff but he never really showed that we were close. When he was leaving on the last day...he just looked straight at me and gave me the biggest hug! See....for some people that is not a big deal but I he had never hugged me before and I hadnt seen him hug anyone else there. It just meant alot.
-A 3rd and final highlight (believe me i could go on forever but I dont want to bore you):

To Clayton and all the staff at Camp Sunshine

This is just a short note to express a grateful mothers thankfulness to you all for giving my boys Braden and Ali such a happy 3 weeks holidays (with always such a warm welcome each morning when they arrive) We have family circumstances where Braden and Ali's brother is severely diabled with Spina bifida and a mother heavily pregnant with identical twins. My husband and I cant take the boys out to entertain them to places that they would like to go. And so I have tried other holiday programmes where they were absolutely miserable and crying not to go. You guys got the thumbs up from day 1. You give my children a happy memorable time, the chance to be real boys and something to look forward to each holidays. From here on it is their own right to have a happy childhood which is so important to me that they get and you help me with that. Thank you!

With lots of warm thanks to you all.

Okay so basically words cant describe my experience it was so good and I got so close to the other staff members. Thank you all who donated so that I would be able to not only get over here but work for free so that camp could raise funds and flourish in the future!

Leia Mais…