Our Updates

Time flies! and yes we've all been very busy! with work... with school... etc
but we have not forgotten the mission.

Have been working to get the scholarship going. we have 3 more kids on the list in need of sponsors. and 4 scholarships to be renewed.

Our scholars did pretty well! So Congrats to Joannie, Nic, Mary Jane and Angela! Joannie moves up to Year 2 high school. Nic and Mary Jane to Grade 3 elementary and Angela to Grade 2 elementary.

For May and us here too, our hearts broke many times this past year 2009/2010. We're very to say we've come to the end of the road and we have decided that there's really not much else we can do for Pepito aka JP. JP didn't quite go along with the rules and expectations we had for him. which were study, go to school everyday and be home by 6pm (cos it's dark then). Even Tita couldn't help him come to his senses. But seriously I don't blame him. Sad to say, Payatas is not a place for a kid to grow up in esp where role models are few. So Pepito cut classes, went to work in a junk shop... dyed his hair... etc... The most heart-breaking thing of all was his sister couldn't take him in to her home. We know what he really wants. That is to live with the sister or at least live next to her. hence his shift tot he junkshop beside her home. The sister asked for help too. So we thought the best thing for a hardened child like Pepito was to send him away to rehab. i think of the lyrics "tried to make me go to rehab but I say no no no" Well, when all was finally decided, the sister adds a little info she never told us before. JP had a granny and an aunt who would never allow him to be sent to a rehab home! WHAT??? She didnt tell us he had relatives who would have a say in managing him before??? so that was when we decided ok!!!! we can't go on. She, the granny or the aunt has to take over not us. It's just not fair for JP who will always be bitter and ask why not his own family? Well, I miss JP...

Our problems didn't end there. There was Nic too! at one point he wasnt coming hom for a few days. The one year deal we had with the kids was almost up. The Malaras kids did keep to their end of the deal. Jovelyn kept the place clean and did the housework. Joannie and Nic did go to school daily if not almost everyday. And despite Nic's nonsense (which I can sum up as entering teenage rebelliousness and also a cry for a family), he was studying. So that was the deal. they kept it and we decided do or die it was time they moved! Thanks to the quick work of May, the kids moved into Erap City in May.. hehe Seems now they've adjusted. Nic likes it. Has made new friends. Ate Terry is living with them, supervising Nic and they are going to church too! yeah!!! 3 cheers for Ate Terry....

Another Sad thing.. but yet for the better... I believe. May has moved on :)... She's no longer "working" with acts29.. but still very much apart of acts29. still meeting the kids on saturdays and seeing to their budget and needs. We'll leave May a space here to tell us more about her new adventures. :)

acts29 has the intention of buying a place in Erap and extending our project.. expanding the scholarship program... and recruiting volunteers for at least 6 months to serve there. Anyone interested.. with a heart for mission can shout out to us here on our blog or email us.

30hour FAST A Sense of Humanity

The 30hour FAST will be held once more at Church of the Holy Spirit, 13 March

The past 3 FASTS have been catered to teens and this year we decided to open it to young adults. Of course, adults are welcomed too! Minimum age is 17 years old.

In previous FAST, the program had games, aspects of social justice, Praise and Worship. Things were alot more fast paced and noisy too!

For this year's FAST we will slow down to breathe and reflect, to be silent, to pray. That explains the minimum age of 17 years. If there are teens who still like to come back for the FAST again and are not 17 yet, and you are able to take a good ol' retreat, you're most welcomed to FAST with us.

The FAST leads us back to what Lent is all about. We want to remind one another that Lent is not just about fasting, prayer and almsgiving. But there's a reason behind why we do what we do. Lent is about our baptism. It is about conversion and renewing our lives. The prophet Joel announces a solemn journey that will help us turn back to God.

Maybe we're ok. We're good Catholics. We've not forsaken God. But often the demands of life seem larger than the meaning of life itself. Perhaps we can say that our humanity does take a toil on our spiriuality. So let us be led as Jesus was led, be nourished as Jesus was nourished.

We invite you, who would like to experience a deeper sense of your humanity, you who are 10 or 100 years old, who would like to share your human journey with others, to come, to FAST.

A place to call home

In a whilst time, we'll have a place to call home. It's a small house in a beautiful place (I call "my colorado"). The kids are always asking when they're going to shift. May faces their many questions. And she's working fast to get the paper work done. The home will be bought this March when we go down. We'll pay for the title of the house 1st. Payment for the land rights will follow later on. Renovations will start once the former owners shift out in the 1st week of April.

When we're there this March, we'll have to settle on the materials, the tilings, the staircase, partitions, shelvings, toilet bowl, cooking stove... lotsss... and of course the actual renovation costings and floor plan, since we will be making it a proper double-storey house with sky garden :) Lord, please bless the house, all who live in it now, all who will be living in it, all who will be visiting it and all who will be working on it! :)

I see a

double-storey painted house

where lives unfold

and children grow

Christ, the head of this household.

The ground floor is a place of welcome,

where meals are prepared

and the day's events are shared.

Prayers are said,

people are blessed

and the hungry are fed.

The second floor is a place of study,

a little library,

for one to learn and read

about the world around and beyond.

It's also a place of rest

where tired feet go and bodies a'slumber

till a new day awakens

The third floor, is really a rooftop,

a cherished sky garden

where the morning sun is greeted

by ginger and onions,

eggplants abundant.

Here the evening sky is marvelled

the stars light up the darkness

and the moon shows off her illuminated glow.

Here we'll wait all night

for another meteorite shower.

the front porch

part of the living room

other half of the living room

the stairs and the makeshift ceiling

the makeshift 2nd floor

outside the kitchen

the kitchen


the CR (toilet)

December Advent Mission Trip

Christmas has come and gone. I realized I've still not uploaded the Advent Mission Trip pics from Payatas. Looking through it, it feels like Christmas all over again!

We took the older kids to Manila Ocean Park. When they got off the bus, all there was at the car park area was this small little grass area where we were to play some games before going into the Park. The kids thought this place was IT! They were going "Oh My God"! and were in awe of the place. This is what they saw.

May said, "Oh my! When we take them to the real Ocean Park, I think they will really faint."
Here are the kids loss for words

We also took Nic and our lost sheep JP to Erap City with us and spent time with them. The most memorable thing for everyone was the stars whizzing past us as we sat on the roof top one night. More than 20 shooting stars appeared. It felt like the heavens were watching over us that night and the 2 boys made endless wishes! We only found out the next day thatwe had witnessed a meteor shower. Super cool!

Pick the cutest cupid:

30hour FAST IS BACK

YES THE 30HOUR FAST IS BACK! This will be the 4th FAST.

This year the FAST will be held on the 4th Sunday of Lent.

It will kick off on 13th March in the morning and end with Eucharistic Celebration at 530pm on 14th March.

Venue: Church of the Holy Spirit (Attic)
along Upper Thomson Road

Registration fee: $10 (Students: $5)
Other Contribution: 1 sack of rice

Open to: 16 years and above (Youths - Young Adults)

Note: This is a 30 hour-stay in event. 30hours without food, 30hours in solidarity with the poor.

Watch this site for more updates!

PROGRAMME UPDATE,

INSPIRING SPEAKERS

AND MORE...

Post-Typhoon Ketsana Updates

It's been awhile since we last gave an update on the victims of Typhoon Ketsana living in Montalban area. We were in Payatas in December and met 3 famillies there who had lost their homes during the typhoon. They were living in Tempecil (Montalban) and their children study in Paaralang Pantao. They shared their experiences with us.

Most of the families affected by Ketsana/Ondoy in that area have since relocated to higher ground within the same area where it is much safer. The area has already been designated for another relocation project. The housing authorities, however, have allowed the victims to seek shelter there temporarily for 3 months after which they'll be relocated to another area. I think it's San Isidro, just before Anawim.

Most people have picked up and moved on with their lives. We're amazed by their resilience to move forward. Of course life is not the same. Defintely harder but they are coping. Many families were very happy with the relief aid they had received from us, especially the utensils and sleeping mats. Some are still in need of pots and woks and borrow from neighbours. Oops! we forgot about that.

The medical mission went very well. With about 1000 seeking treatment. There was a Singaporean doctor and Japanese doctors and Filipino doctors too. The people were very grateful for the meds. Thank you ACCT (Archdiocesan Crisis Coordination Team)

Once again, we'd like to thank all the wonderful and generous Singaporeans who helped! :)