Home at Last.......in Malaysia, that is

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Hi all!

No, I'm not home-home back in Cali, rather after 4 months volunteering
in the Philippines and nearly 2 weeks in Hong Kong visiting a friend
and enjoying the sights, I am finally back in my favorite country,
Malaysia. I have been in Sabah, East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo
for just over a week now. The past, what, month or two, I have been
quite negligent in my writing and updates, and for that, I duly
apologize. Now I have some time and energy to write and should let you
know where I have been and what I have been up to the past couple
months. Where to begin, oh, where to begin....

Ok, I'll start with saying HI and welcome to everyone I have added to
my blast list the past few weeks. As with anyone at any time, if you
don't feel like keeping up with my travels and stories, by all means
drop me a line and let me know and I shall take you off the list. By
the way, in the four of years of keeping folks informed of my
whereabouts on my travels, only 1 person has asked to be taken off.
Not a bad record, eh?

I'll see if I can make this brief (ha!) and if I can't (it's leaning
this way...), I may make this blast in two or three installments...

THE PHILIPPINES:

The Santo Domingo project sadly came to a close on April 28th, after
which, that morning, The Final Eight Volunteers distributed all the
items in the household accumulated over the past four months to 50 of
the poorest families in our barangay (the families picked numbers
earlier in the week and matched the numbers up to a board with all the
items listed). Some families got a bunkbed (we made four total
bunkbeds back in Feb for the volunteers because of the lack of floor
space in the growing household), others got tools, wheelbarrows,
bedding, left-over air mattresses, buckets, toilet scoopers, partial
paint cans and brushes, plastic bins, and numerous other trivial items
we just couldn't take with us. Of course, something trivial to us
could mean the world to these families. They were elated with their
"gifts." We were elated the items went to the right people. I helped
one family carry their disassembled bunkbed to their shoebox of a home
down the street, and was a bit dismayed to find the bed could only fit
one direction in the middle of the room, er, house. There was hardly
enough space on either side for the family to get around the
monstrosity! I don't think they cared. The bed went to a lovely couple
with three kids. The parents, prior to getting the bunkbed, slept
every night on a hard board, half of which was piled a bunch of misc
stuff (firewood, rope, old clothes, a few rusted tools). All three
kids slept on a woven mat on the floor; the mat rolled up and stuffed
in a corner of this one-room home every morning after waking so it
wouldn't get walked on during the day. The mother was 8 months
pregnant. She couldn't stop smiling at her new furniture.

Two days before the end of the project, I left on a small boat in the
early morning hours to my favorite sleepy fishing village, Alimsog. I
spent nearly a month there in Feb and March, helping to rebuild the
school. I went back numerous times throughout my four months at the
project, always receiving the warmest welcome the moment I jumped off
the boat into the ankle deep tepid water just off the shore. I made
some close friendships with a number of the children in that little
community, and one family in particular I will always have a soft spot
for. This family, although they don't have material possessions, have
love and friendship to give, and boy do they give it freely! Two of
the seven children right from the get-go became my favorites; Rochelle
is in 5th grade and Ronald in 6th grade. I nicknamed him Ronald
McDonald and the name stuck -- all the kids loved it! I got quite
close with their mother, Emily, and at her insistence, the last day I
was there, she made me marienda (marienda is an afternoon snack,
something we as volunteers quickly came to love and look forward to,
as we worked on all the schools. We actually received marienda
mid-morning as well. Yum!) and my favorite Filipino food for an early
dinner. Rochelle and Ronald clung to me that day on the walk to their
home and, along with a dozen other neighborhood kids, all watched with
wide-eyes as I ate my meal at the table -- alone! Even Emily sat and
watched in awe as I lovingly ate her delicious meal. She asked me to
be the God Mother of her youngest baby. She didn't want anyone else to
have that "title." Wow -- what an honor!

The reason I went to Alimsog at the end of April was to attend the
much-anticipated Recognition and Graduation Ceremonies, and the
much-coveted and talked about dance in the evening. Since early
February the kids couldn't stop asking if I was going to attend the
ceremonies and the dance. At that time, I didn't think the project was
going to last later than the end of March, so it wasn't looking
promising. As soon as the word was on the street we were going to
extend the project, there was NO WAY I was going to miss this Big
Event Of The Year!

Despite wetter than wet conditions on the early morning boat ride ( I
was soaked!) and well into mid-morning (enough to push the recognition
ceremony over two hours behind schedule), the day went quite nicely
and flawlessly. The only blip in the day (despite the ugly morning
weather, which eventually did clear up) was the amount of kids that
ran up to me as I first got to the village. Everyone was so sad,
despite the joyous occasion in which they were about to participate.
It turned out, the school went over their budget for the ceremonies
and ran out of money to have the evening dance. The moment I heard
this news, I conspired with one of my teacher-friends who helped me
translate to the "sound guys" that they had better get lighting to the
village and keep the music running until well into the night, no
matter the cost. It took some quick thinking and major organization,
but it all came into place in the end. I had no money on me, but had
some back at base (not really, actually, I had to borrow some from
Marc, our Operations Director!), and through numerous trusted sources,
the guys were paid the next morning. Everyone just had to trust the
other party that the money would get to the right place -- after the
fact!

End result was Alimsog got their dance, and everyone was extremely
grateful and appreciative. It was really the least I could do for the
place to which I felt so close, and the people (the kids!!) who made
me feel so loved. The tarped basketball court was turned from
graduation ceremony area to disco dance, with strung lights and even a
colorful-flashing light thingy (not a disco ball, rather a "holey"
pole where the light shone through and showed off all the different
colors!). I have never pounded the pavement (literally!!) for so long
and so hard -- and with a constant smile on my face! There were
hundreds of kids on the "dance floor" and I think I danced with every
one of them! To think they woke up that morning with their
long-awaited dream of a dance down the tubes. Now they could wake up
the next morning and realize their dream came true.

I slept that night in one of the classrooms on a hard table that was
too short and only came to mid calf. It was a fitful few hours of
sleep until I had to catch the early boat back to base. Most of the
teachers stayed the night in the classroom as well and we all left
sleepy-eyed, legs sore from all the dancing, in the early am. Another
one of my favorite kids, an adorable nine year old boy, was waiting
for me on a bench just outside the classroom. He had always been too
shy to speak English with me, but mustered up enough courage say
goodbye and thanked me for the dance. I nearly cried.

The total cost for the dance was under 50 dollars.

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