Adam all alone with no one to talk to... means a long post!

Last great post from Adam on his epic journey to be a person of faith, remembered for his love, and a voice of hope in the Philippines

I am sitting in Manila airport after making sure the taxi driver did not rip me off. Unfortunately people try to rip you off all the time; you need to be careful; so I made the taxi driver actually use the meter. After I paid the man his dues and he drove off, in Filipino tradition I had to wait... so as I am waiting I'm just attempting to bring together what actually happened in my time here:

On the road trip up to the airport we had 8 kids and 7 adults in one car... sure it was a jeep, but it was cozy. The beautiful green mountains surrounded us, and as we drove across a bridge, I saw this amazing waterfall that crashed down the mountainside. The kids we so excited because they were going up the city to hang out at a mall and see a movie. Two of the boys had never even been to the movies.

Along the way we were having trouble with one of our tyre's leaking a little, so we stopped to get it pumped up in a little town, where there were a lot of military. The military were parading around with some serious weapons; they look a lot more serious than in Counter Strike. (Plant the bomb at long A!!)

I remember walking on the streets in Malaybalay outside the back, and the security guard was holding a massive shotgun... there was another guard outside a super-market holding a shotgun, and it seems like it was not pointing at the ground.

But as I do reflect on my time I realise the greatest gift for me was meeting the children, their joy and life has so won my heart. For example yesterday I bought a lot of lilies and ran a treasure hunt for the kids in the home and the kids in the community... they were all so grateful, looked out for each other, and have such respect for their elders. In fact in Visayan (the main language spoken in Mindano), there are two words you need to use after many of your sentences when addressing those older than you... 'Po', and 'Kuya'... I was known as Kuya Adam.

In the afternoon it bucketed down with rain, like a monsoon or something, and outside kids were sliding and running in the rain, having a blast, one kid even decided to get naked and just run around. Every day here I have run games for kids, taught music and taught the children how to write songs, it truly has been a joy. Last night as I was leaving all the kids drew pictures for me and gave me gifts, and the staff encouraged me in celebrating what they saw in me that were strengths.

The pace of life was difficult for me to begin with, getting up at 4:30am to run; 5:30am was a sleep in. The kids and adults are in bed by 8, and I would just stay up with Felicity to chat and play games. In being here I realise again that I can get quite driven, and end up defining my identity by how much I can fit into a day, and not who I am becoming.

I climbed mountains, walked down waterfalls, ran up and down staircases with local kids, played basketball and to the kids dismay, I still cannot dunk it! I ate a frog, I ate random fruit, I dug holes in the ground, I got my haircut, I had to slouch so my head would not hit the roof, and the Filipino "hairdresser" had to stand on a stool. I attempted to learn Visayan, but only mastered a few words... and I played with kids a lot, and even changed some nasty nappies (nasty is too light of a word).

But though I have been encouraged by the joy and life of the children, and many of the adults, like everywhere there is the other side of the coin.

The day before I left, a man who lived close to the home came by and invited me to his house; he was very drunk. We walked across the paddock, holding hands - the Australian in me was very uncomfortable with this. We went to his house and there were about 5 guys just getting blind drunk. Most Filipino men had a predetermined course of action they thought I was going to take. First they just wanted me to get drunk, then of course because I was leaving I needed to give them something (I did not though), then they went on to offer me Filipino women, some were young girls, not really women yet. I eventually left, but was amazed in one day to see the extremes of what people are capable of. The kids brought such life and love, and these men were just dirty. Dirty doesn't seem strong enough to describe men who offer their own daughters in prostitution for their own gain.

So I am ready to return to Australia, and in no way am leaving the Philippines thinking that this is utopia, in fact it is up there in the top-ten most corrupted nations... but I saw glimpse of humanity... what a great trip its been!

A pic from the Philippines...

OK, so I asked Adam for a photo from the Philippines, and seeing as he is so tech savvy he was able to send one through, I am not sure what the photo is about, or why he specifically sent it, but I thought I would let you guys share my curiosity. I am sure that when Adam gets back this Thursday he will regale us with a tale or two explaining what is going on in the picture!

Here is the update he sent me too.

Cabin fever! The lifestyle hear down in Maylaybalay is so slow, I am being faced with my addiction to busyness. In the mornings I have digging holes or just playing with the kids here. I am enjoying my time here, but when I no longer have a set structure each day, or a car to be able to get away, or people to go and see, it makes me begin to become comfortable with not doing anything. Maybe this experience will help me to develop and be comfortable with, an identity outside of being busy.

Adam's Epic Journey part IV, A New Hope...

Yup, a new post from Adam! Prizes for guessing where the title of the post comes from...

The weather in the Philippines is humid and hot as usual even early in the morning. Today I got to do something that I do not really enjoy.

The children's home at the moment is at a temporary site, which has been offered for 18 months. Some very generous people called Glen and Grace have donated a some land and resources so that Kids International could build a permanent facility. The current temporary setup could cope with 20 children max, but the proposed plans for the new site could cope with nearly a 100.

So I went out to the site and in following the footsteps of my hero, Dale Kerrigan, I started digging some holes. Brandon (the Aussie guy who is overseeing the building of the new home), had employed some locals to help. Some of the locals were cutting down wood for the foundations, and some were digging holes.

In the Philippines an average wage for a labourer is about 250 pesos a day, which is the equivalent to about $8AU a day. The tree cutters who were more specialised were on around 350 pesos a day. One of the guys on 250 pesos a day had three kids, and had to put them on school on that wage. Though items are cheaper in the Philippines it still is not a lot of money.

When I was waiting in Manila airport to fly down to Mindano, I read a local newspaper. In the local newspaper they had published the results of a survey on happiness. The top two categories that polled amongst the people were 1) Family 2) Religion. Work, sex and even education were listed significantly lower than these two.

Being here for these past for days, digging holes, playing with kids etc I am reminded at my Westerness. Here the culture is not individualistic, but communal. Even being in the home, yesterday I went running with the boys at 4:30am, then dug holes for 8 hrs, then came home and all the kids wanted to play. So the need for me to have my own space is being challenged. The contrast of life in Perth and life in Mindano has shown me how I have an abundance of personal space, and sometimes maybe even too much. What would my life look like if I learnt from the Filipino people and lived more communally, thinking of others first, and not being so individualistic.

BBQs are back!

Well we just got back from our first BBQ of the summer! It was an awesome time, with 10pin bowling, footy, boats, biscuiting, heaps of food and people from all over the world getting together!

It was a really great time for one guy who got to go on a boat for the first time in his life, and also the chance to ski-biscuit for the first time ever too.

Anyways all are welcome, Sundays 4:30pm at the end of Coode st in Sir James Mitchell reserve. Email us if you want more specific directions!

Adam's epic journey episode III

OK so the hero of our journey has reached his final destination, here is an update I recieved from him today.


Then I left Manila, and flew down to an island caught Midano, and was met at the airport by Felicity and one of her staff Jess. The kids here in the home within a day stole my heart, they are all so eager to play, and no one loves to play like I do! Even the kids in the surrounding houses/huts are so eager to play, and I have a new tradition, 4:30am running with 10 or more local boys joining me. I do my best Rocky impersonation, if only there were some stairs to climb at the end! *camera pans out, Eye of the tiger music swells*

But there is so much I can say... but i think i will just share a story which I think gives a great picture of the thankful, generous spirit of many of the people here.

This morning a group of us from the home went to run a church service in a local community where the locals could not get to a church; we met in this little shack surrounded by mud.



We began this time by going around the circle, and everyone had to say 'Salamat sa Lord..." (Thank you God for...) Across from me there was a old lady who was 77 and had a smile that would light a room in any of the frequent blackouts, she said in Visyn (the local language),



"Thank you God that I could walk here today, because yesterday the bus did not stop for me and I had to walk a long way with very heavy items, and my body was aching when I woke up, but you God gave me the strength to walk to church this morning, thank you that I can walk"

These people are so thankful, whether it be for the heat, for the rain, even the kids in the orphanage thank God for their toys!

Being here had made me begin to be very thankful to God for the little things again.

Adam's epic journey part deux

Adam emailed an update... here it is

I arrived in Manila in the Philippines, after nearly 24 hrs in transit, unsure for what the following days held in store for a "bearded giant".

I was picked up by a friendly man named Rollie, and he had no difficult identifying a 6 foot 3 man with a beard, in a crowd which was struggling to reach 5 foot. Rollie then drove me to the children's home in Manila, where I stayed for a night.

This was my experience of Manila:

Smiling children are laughing here,

As black smoke fills my lungs,

Horns echoeing through manic traffic,

Shadowed by the concrete tonnes.

Eager hands searching rubbish for gold,

Brown water beneath the bridge,

Arms sprawled over each others shoulders,

People so ready to give.

Decaying wood afraid of rain,

Rusted tin waiting for a friend,

Beggars selling whatever they've got,

Roads longing to mend.

Plastic spoons break on ice-cream,

Arms grabbing for hope in a hand,

That someone would met them,

and begging to understand their land.

Smiling children are laughing here.

Adam's Epic Journey

One of the guys involved with us here at Mosaic is going on an epic journey to the Philippines, here is some thoughts he has had so far...

Today I found myself sitting in Starbucks in Circular Quay in Sydney, sipping my addiction in silence. This silence was soon broken when a man asked if he could sit in the seat next to me. As he sat across from me, I began doing what I love, hearing people's stories.... His name was Peter, and he had been a steward for Air Canada for 30 years, had an IT business on the side and he was in Sydney for 24 hrs on a layover.

We talked about life, relationships, and he stressed to me some wisdom that he wished he had grabbed hold of in his youth and wished that he worked harder to put money away for the future. He said that he was away for about 5 months of the year, and got about 7 months off, but that his family were always complaining that he was not around, but the pay was good. Sometimes he would get back from a trip and he had missed key moments in his children's lives. He also began to explain how the company he worked for had constantly screwed him over, and that he felt it had begun to effect his attitude towards costumers.

After a while we ran out of things to say, so we both left like we had something else to do (which we did not), and I thought even a steward on a plane who might provide bad service, has a story.

After the conversation with Peter ended I jumped on bus to meet a friend at Bondi Beach. When I got on the bus, I asked the girl in the seat in front of me which stop to get off at Bondi, and at this very moment she also asked me this same question, which resulted in some awkward laughter. I asked where she was from and why she was in Sydney, because I could tell she was not a local (she was asking what colour the sand was going to be!). She said she was from Pakistan and was in Sydney for the Oxfam International Youth Conference. She began to share her heart for community development, and how she had been sponsored to come out to this conference, her face was beaming as she told me her journey of how she came to be in Sydney.

She said that there were representatives from 90 countries around the world, and it had been such an amazing experience meeting all these people who journeys in life had been so different to each other- then we were suddenly stopped at the bus stop and parted ways. As I walked down Bondi strip, wondering how people could be wearing such a small amount of clothing in such a cold wind, I asked myself how is it that I seem to meet such random people?

I saw all the people down at the beach, and all the people in the restaurants, and the people driving by in their cars. I wondered where they were going, I wondered if they were meeting a friend, or if they had suffered through a bad day at work, I wondered what their story was, and what their journey was which brought them to be a the Bondi strip in this moment. Stories explain a lot.