Archiv der Kategorie: Manila

3 Wochen in Jaen, Nueva Ecija

Von Corinna und Franzi

Die letzten 3 Januarwochen verbrachten wir nördlich von Manila in einem kleinen, aus bunten Häusern bestehenden Dorf, das umgeben von Reisfeldern liegt. Es wurde von der philippinischen Hilfsorganisation Gawad Kalinga erreichtet und beheimatet derzeit 27 Familien. Wir durften während unseres Aufenthaltes zusammen mit einer Familie dort leben und hatten die Chance, das sehr einfache Leben der Menschen kennen zu lernen.

  

Ein Leben ohne fließendes Wasser, Wäsche ausschließlich kalt und von Hand waschen, auf den Reisfeldern auf Rattenjagd gehen, ganze Häuser komplett ohne größere Baumaschinen errichten, sein Abendessen selbst schlachten und in ständigem Kontakt mit Insekten seinen Tag verbringen. Klingt unvorstellbar, für uns jedoch 3 Wochen Realität. Das bedeutete vor der Morgentoilette erst einmal zum Dorfbrunnen zu laufen und Wasser für den Tag holen, das aber meist nach einem ausgiebigen Toilettenbesuch schon wieder aufgebraucht war. (Noch nie bekamen wir so deutlich zu spüren, wie viel Wasser eine Toilettenspülung eigentlich verbraucht.) Ratsam ist es zudem, vor der Toilette noch einmal den Wasservorrat zu checken, damit Corinna nicht kurzfristig zum Brunnen sprinten muss, da alles Wasser aufgebracht aber der Spülgang noch nicht beendet ist.

Nach einem oft sehr reichhaltigen Frühstück, das jeden Tag für uns von einer anderen Familie zubereitet wurde, halfen wir dann dabei Häuser zu bauen. Diese werden von Familienmitgliedern der später dort einziehenden Familien selbst errichtet (natürlich nicht ohne Bauleiter und einige Fachkräfte), sodass ausschließlich die Materialkosten von Gawad Kalinga bzw. deren Sponsoren übernommen werden müssen.  Fast 2 Meter tiefe Löcher ganz ohne Bagger schaufeln, Beton ohne Zementmischmaschine ebenfalls nur mit Schaufeln anrühren und dann in selbstgebauten Eimern in die einzelnen Häuser schleppen – wie alles andere in Jaen lief auch der Hausbau sehr simpel ab. Die sehr anstrengende Arbeit machte uns jedoch großen Spaß, besonders wegen der freundlichen Arbeiter, die uns von Anfang an herzlich aufnahmen und stets besorgt waren, dass die Arbeit zu anstrengend für uns sein könnte und uns daher stetig daran erinnerten Pause zu machen. Uns kam das tägliche „Workout“ jedoch sehr zu Gute, da wir von den Menschen im Dorf zusätzlich zu den reichhaltigen  3 Hauptmahlzeiten am Tag ständig Kaffee, Süßigkeiten oder Snacks angeboten bekamen. Da man diese Angebote nicht ablehnen sollte, weil die Menschen sich sonst verletzt fühlen ( die Goldene Regel lautete: „Never say no“), wären wir ohne diese anstrengende Arbeit am Ende wahrscheinlich nach Manila zurückgerollt.

Neben der Arbeit wurden wir auch mit kulinarischen Besonderheiten konfrontiert. So gab es zum Abendessen Enten-Balut-Salat (zur Erklärung: Balut ist ein gekochtes Ei, in dem ein bereits entwickeltes Embryo vorhanden ist)und zum Mittagessen musste die Ente erst Mal geschlachtet und die Federn gezupft werden. Nachdem Franzi dankend ablehnte, der Ente die Kehle durchzuschneiden, übernahm dies unsere Gastmutter. Leider traf sie nicht die Hauptschlagader der Ente, wodurch wir Zeugen eines verzweifelten, einige Minuten andauernden Überlebenskampfes wurden.
Etwas tierfreundlicher, jedoch nicht PETA-geeignet, ging es bei der Rattenjagd zu. Die Aufforderungen einiger Jungs ,,come on, let’s go catching rats‘‘ hielten wir zunächst für einen Scherz, bis wir uns in mitten von Reisfeldern mit einer Horde von mit Bambus bewaffneten Kindern wiederfanden. Die Löcher der Reisfeldratten wurden mit Wasser gefüllt, sodass diese beim Fluchtversuch von den anwesenden Jungs mit einem Stock erschlagen werden können. Anschließend wurden – mit einem leider nicht sehr scharfen Messer – Krallen, Kopf und Schwanz abgeschnitten und die Organe entnommen, sodass uns einer der Jungs stolz ,,Rat Adobo‘‘ anbieten konnte.

Zum Abenteuer wurde auch das wöchentliche Wäsche waschen, da wir natürlich nicht den Hauch einer Ahnung haben, wie man eigentlich mit Hand, Bürste und Waschbrett seine Wäsche macht. Begleitet wurden wir dabei von Ate Roxanne, die gefühlt die einzige Person im ganzen Dorf mit einigermaßen guten Englischkenntnissen war und uns die ausgeklügelten Techniken der Frauen etwas näher brachte. So wurden die gewaschenen Sachen am Ende auf Grund der Ästhetik auf links gedreht, nach Art des Wäschegegenstandes und Länge sortiert auf die durchs ganze Dorf gespannten Wäscheleinen aufgehängt. Da noch kein Meister vom Himmel gefallen ist wurden wir dauerhaft dabei von schaulustigen Kindern und Eltern beobachtet, die sich auch nicht scheuten uns bei unserer sehr langwierigen Aufgabe von 1 bis 2 Stunden zu begleiten.

Während unseres Aufenthaltes kamen wir nicht nur der Dorfgemeinschaft, sondern auch den einheimischen Insekten ein wenig näher. Da die Toilette nach oben hin geöffnet und das gesamte Haus sehr offen war, schraken die Kakerlaken mehrmals nicht davor zurück, uns teilweise zu sechst abends auf der Toilette zu überraschen. Auch das ständige Jucken nachts, verursacht durch einige kleine Freunde im Bett, konnte von uns auf Grund der Müdigkeit schnell überwunden werden, im Gegensatz zu Ameisenhaufen, mit denen Franzi wiederholt Bekanntschaft machte. Wir lernten auch, etwas zu Essen besser keine 15 Minuten unbeobachtet liegen zu lassen, da die Ameisenstraße dorthin nicht so einfach zu beseitigen ist.

Zwischen der Arbeit von Montag bis Samstag bekamen wir auch die Gelegenheit, einige Ausflüge nicht nur mit dem Tricycle, sondern auch mit einem Carabao (Wasserbüffel) zu machen und somit auch Reis zu pflanzen und Mangos zu ernten.

Während unserer Zeit in der GK-Community in Jaen haben wir nicht nur Vieles gelernt und erlebt, sondern auch die Zeit mit den Kindern und überaus höflichen und aufgeschlossenen Bewohnern sehr genossen. Der tägliche Umgang mit den Kindern, das Helfen beim Hausbau für nachfolgende Familien, das Volleyballspielen am frühen Abend, der Sonnenuntergang an den Reisfeldern oder etwa das Lagerfeuer aus getrockneten Palmenblättern sind nur einige Beispiele dafür, wie sehr es uns trotz des zugegebenermaßen simplen Lebensstandards gefallen hat.

Kindergarten classes

Von Corinna und Franzi

Die letzten Wochen vor unseren Weihnachtsferien verbrachten wir in der Fairview Elementarry School, in der wir die Kindergartenlehrerinnen bei ihrer Arbeit mit den Kindern unterstützten.
Dabei wurden jedem von uns zwei Klassen zugeteilt (die Kinder der Kindergartenklassen werden in vier Schichten a vier Klassen über den Tag verteilt) und wir wurden von den Lehrern aber auch von den Kindern sehr herzlich empfangen.  Da wir die Kinder direkt ins Herz geschlossen haben, haben wir uns auch an den Wochenendaktionen zum Beispiel der girl scouts beteiligt und mitgeholfen.

Während unserer Zeit fand auch die Parade of Characters als Teil des englischen Monats statt, bei der unsere Kinder sich verkleiden und eine eingeübte Choreographie präsentieren mussten. In deren Vorbereitung waren wir voll involviert, sodass wir am Tag der Aufführung spontan von den Lehrerinnen dazu animiert wurden, mit ihnen auf der Bühne vor versammelter Schulgemeinschaft einen weiteren Tanz aufgeführt haben.

Während die meisten der Kindergartenkinder ihre ersten Wörter Englisch lernten, nutzten wir die Gelegenheit, um unser zugegebenermaßen sehr schlechtes Tagalog um ein paar einfache Wörter zu erweitern. Ansonsten verbrachten wir die restliche Zeit mit tanzen, basteln, malen und singen.
Während unseres Aufenthalts erlebten wir auch eine kulinarische Erfahrung der besonderen Art. Mit dem Gedanken, Reis mit zur Schule zu nehmen und vor dem Gebäude in einem Fensterladenrestaurant eine Beilage zu bestellen, probierten wir ein nach Hackfleisch aussehendes Gericht. Bei dem ersten Bissen konnte man jedoch merken, dass es sich NICHT um Hackfleisch handelte. Franzi hatte das Glück, erst nach dem Essen von ,,Bopis‘‘ festzustellen, was sich tatsächlich dahinter verbarg. Corinna wurde der Appetit jedoch vorher verdorben, nachdem ihr ihre Lehrerin erklärte, dass es sich um gehackte Schweine und Kuhlungen, sowie deren Herzen handelte (wonach die Konsistenz und der hohe Blutgehalt auch schmeckte). Unsere von Balut und anderen Spezialitäten schon abgehärteten Mägen trafen bei diesem Gedanken jedoch auf Widerstand, sodass dieses Gericht auf unserer roten Liste steht.
Abgesehen davon verbrachten wir zwei erlebnisreiche aber auch anstrengende Wochen, die uns viel Spaß bereiteten.

Monatsbericht November von Corinna

public transportation in the philippines

Due to the fact that we live in Ateneo de Manila, which is on Katipunan Avenue, there is heavy traffic every day. Heavy traffic in the Philippines can not be compared with heavy traffic in Germany. Not only that the traffic rules are sometimes not very visible, but there is such a high amount of cars on the street that traffic jams are the rule not the exception.
To reach your destination with public transportation, as some people in the offices do, you have many opportunities to do so. But you have to say that people here sometimes have to get up at 5 a.m. to be at work at 8 a.m. when they ride public transportations, because of the traffic even when it would be a 15 minutes ride without traffic.
First, there is the LRT which is comparable with normal trains, so that there are stations for example one on Katipunan which drives in two directions. If you arrive in other areas for instance in Cubao, there are more trains you can take to reach more destinations. Compared to german prices, the LRT is way cheaper. You have to pay around 25 PHP (converted not even 50 ct at the moment) to go to the final destination. Upside of the LRT is the air condition in the trains, even if the effect of it is narrowed by the high quantity of people in it, and the speed, because there is no traffic on the rail tracks.
Another opportunity for people who do not fear the mixture of the heat outside and body heat of 20 people around you, there are jeepneys as well. The typical and popular transportation for the Philippines is again very cheap, so that you will pay 7 PHP for the shortest distance until 17 PHP if you really ride it around 1 hour. At the front glass pane they usually have a sign with their destination on it like ‘’fairview’’, ‘’LITEX’’ or ‘’UP’’, so you approximately know where they go. They don’t have exact stations or stops. Consequently, to enter a jeepney, you just have to lift your arm and they will stop. In the jeepney your payment will be consigned across it to the driver and if you want to leave, you just scream that you want to go out. Since you can not look the timetable or anything else up in the internet, foreigners are having a hard time to know where to go with which jeepney, therefore it would be necessary to drive the whole route with a Filipio once to know where to go out and enter.

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To reach a short distance destination, one can also use motorized tricycles, in which – surprisingly – 5 or 6 passengers fit. By reason they always have their specific areas you can not use it like a cab. Of course you can say your destination, but if it is outside of their district they will not bring you there. For tall people like me, riding with 5 persons is sometimes uncomfortable since you do not have any space for your legs, but this kind of transportation is cheap (depending on your destination and if they want to take advantage of foreigners between 8 – 50 PHP) and relatively fast as well, because the small tricycles are having a better chance in a traffic jam drive ahead.

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A bit more comfortable are the buses with air condition and around 20 PHP or more for one ride. Of course they do not have stations as well and do not drive in the outer districts but in the huge roads like Katipunan or Commonwealth. Pretty similar to this, there are vans – a mixture of cab and bus – which one can use. As well as the others, they do not have stations and just drive the same route over and over again.
If people want to spend more money on more comfortable transportation, there is the opportunity to take a cab – which is the most expensive one – or to take an uber or grab, which is not that expensive. The prices for cabs in general are still not that expensive like they are in Germany, but in comparison to other public transportations it is expensive nevertheless.
Unfortunately, the air pollution especially in tight populated areas is extremely high, because of the huge amount of cars and old facilities of the public transportations like jeepneys. However there are rudiments of sustainability seen in the city. For example the ‘’Comet’’, which is an electric jeep and a first step to a sustainable development.

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In conclusion, on the Philippines, more precisely in Manila, there are way more opportunities of public transportation than there are in Germany. Also in comparison it is much cheaper to reach your destination here, even if it is most of the times not that comfortable. This is mostly reasoned by the heavy traffic and the climate, which makes the long time sitting in public transportation even more exhausting.

Monatsberich November von Franzi

                          Public short-distance traffic in the Philippines

The public short-distance traffic in the Philippines is way different than it is in Germany or in other European countries. Here in Manila you have much more opportunities if you want to use the public transport system. You can take jeepney (or in short just “jeep”), a tricycle, sometimes a bicycle or of course a train, a bus or a cab.

Jeepneys have been traditional Willys-Jeeps, left by the Americans. Now they are one of the most common and also the cheapest form of public transport. Today the Filipinos rebuilt these trucks on their own but the technology is still is not the best. That’s why they are very noisy and often blamed as one of the major sources of air pollution in big cities. The Jeeps always ride the same route like a bus but they don’t have stops. They pick you up and drop you off wherever you want, along this specific route the jeep uses. If you want to ride one you just have to wait next to the street until a jeep, which goes into the direction you want to go, passes by. (They have small signs which say where they will go.) Then you have to wave the driver and if he thinks that there is room left for another person he will stop and you can climb in. You can pay whenever you want. Just shout “bayad po” which means “paying” and pass the money to the driver. If you want to get out of the Jeep you have to shout “para po” which means “stop” and the driver will stop so that you can go off. For Corinna and me the drop off is always the most difficult part because if the jeep is full (and the jeeps are almost every time full) it is so hard to see something trough the little windows, so we are always wondering if we have to go off already.

Since our fist ride I really admire the jeepney drivers. They have to handle so much things at one time. They have to drive trough Manila’s traffic, have to hear trough all the noises if someone wants to go off or wants to pay. Then they have to take the money and give the change and at the same time they have to have a look if someone on the street is waving them. For this difficult work, the drivers receive 10-40 Cents (6-17 Php) per passenger (depending on how long their ride is). If they own their jeep on their own, then they can keep everything but often they have to pay a daily rent to the person who owns the jeep.

A typical Jeepney
A typical Jeepney

The second cheapest form of public transportation are the tricycles (or in short just “tric”). Tricycles are Motorbikes with small cabins next to them, in which passengers can be carried. They work almost like a taxi with the difference that they will not go out of a certain area (or only for a lot of money). Furthermore they are not allowed to use highways because they are to slow. If you want to ride one you can wait next to the street until an empty tric passes by or go to special tricycle terminals, where empty trics wait for passengers. But then the drivers usually wait until the tric is full, which means that there are three persons sitting in the small cabin and one or two are sitting behind the driver.

Picture of some trics taken out of one
Picture of some trics taken out of one

In some areas there are also bicycles, which are tricycles with a bike instead of the motorbikes.

The big cities like Manila of course have also trains buses and cabs. They are pretty similar to the ones we know expect that everything is way cheaper. Last weekend we took a cab for about 20 minutes and paid together only 100 Pesos, which is round 2 €.

But what you don’t have here are good side walks. Sometimes there are no side walks at all, so you have to walk along the right side of the street. Often the side walks are blocked by parking cars or street vendors and very often the side walks are in a very bad condition with a lot of bumps and holes. In the beginning I asked myself the question: “Why does the government here doesn’t invest in building better side walks?” Maybe then people would walk more often, or take their bike and the horrible traffic could be reduced at least a little bit. The answer to this question is very easy. In the Philippines it is to hot to walk or bike outside. The temperature here usually never falls under 25 degrees. You can not go to work or to school by feet if you don’t want to arrive there completely soaked with sweat.

That and also the steady growing of the population in the cities leads to a lot of heavy traffic, which is a big problem here in Manila. During the rush hour in the morning and in the afternoon there are huge traffic jams every day. Since we arrived we met so many people, who need 1-2 hours to work just because of the traffic jams. That’s why on the one hand it is good that there is a huge variety of public transportation options but on the other hand the jeeps and trics, who always load and unload passengers at the side of the street make this problem even worse, as they then block the vehicles behind them. Another problem with the public transportation is, that even if there are so many public vehicles you can use, they aren’t enough. During the rush hour buses, trains and jeeps are so crowded that you often have to wait for the next one and in the tric terminals there are long queues. This problem causes that wealthy people, who don’t want to lose much time in traffic every day, have own cars with a driver so that they can use the time in traffic for sleeping or working. While having a driver in Germany is something only very very rich people can afford, here it is a lot more common. We met a lot of students, employees and even grad school pupils here in Ateneo, who have their own driver.

All in all you can say, that traffic in general is a big problem in the Philippines. The huge variety of public short-distance traffic options is a step in the right direction, to reduce the the traffic. But for working on the reduce of greenhouse gas emissions, the country should be more strict with the emissions of their public transportation vehicles (especially the jeeps and trics).

BMI Measurement in MLQ und Fairview

Von Corinna und Franzi

Nach unserer Rückkehr aus Anilao hatten wir letzten Mittwoch im Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED) das BMI Measurement Training mit Ryan Adalem, unserem Begleiter für die nächsten zwei Wochen in der MLQ und Fairview Elementary School, der uns an Hand einer PowerPoint Präsentation und einigen Selbstversuchen das Messen von BMI näher bringen wollte.
Für die Arbeit des feeding programs ist die Errechnung der BMIs der Kinder sehr wichtig, um Fortschritte in der Unterernährung der Kinder messen zu können. Daher sind wir die letzten Tage erst zur MLQ Elementary School gefahren, um beim Kochen der Mahlzeit zu helfen und haben im Anschluss daran mit Maßband und Waage die Größe und das Gewicht der Kinder aus dem feeding programm der Jahrgangsstufen 1-6 in MLQ, als auch in Fairview auszumessen.
In den nächsten zwei Wochen werden wir dasselbe mit der Elementary School aus Bagong Silangan unternehmen, in der wir bereits am Anfang in der Küche gearbeitet haben.

Einige Kinder der MLQ Elementary School beim Essen
Einige Kinder der MLQ Elementary School beim Essen
Während des Messens der Größe mit Ryan
Während des Messens der Größe mit Ryan

 

Die Umgebung der MLQ aus dem 4. Stockwerk
Die Umgebung der MLQ aus dem 4. Stockwerk
Nach dem Messen mit Ryan, einer Lehrerin und einigen Kindern der Schule
Nach dem Messen mit Ryan, einer Lehrerin und einigen Kindern der Schule
Die Küche der MLQ Elementary School
Die Küche der MLQ Elementary School

Monatsbericht Oktober von Franzi

Our arrival, first impressions, orientation and our daily life

Our adventure here on the Philippines started with a very relaxed fist week at the campus of the Ateneo de Manila University. We weren’t allowed to leave the Campus at this time and got to know a lot of different people from many different offices, with which we will work together during our time here. Moreover the whole Campus (which includes a high school, a grade school, a college, many different offices, cafeterias and even a church -in short: it is very big) was shown to us and we got to know the main rules of campus life. For example that every morning the national anthem is played on the whole campus and as soon as you hear it you have to stand still. This rule counts for everybody and everything, so every morning from now to then every vehicle, every student who was jogging to his class a second before and everyone else stops and doesn’t move anymore until the national anthem is over.

In our second and third week we started working in the feeding program of ACED (=Ateneo Center for Educational Development). This program makes it possible that undernourished children get the chance to have a full meal at least once a day in school. Every morning we had to get up at 5am and then take jeepnys (jeepnys are vehicles, which are originally former US military jeeps, left over from world war one and today one of the most common forms of public transport in the Philippines) and  tricycles to get to Bagong Silanan Elementary school in our first, and Cainta Elementary School in our second week. Both areas Cainta and Bagong Silanan are poorer parts of Metro Manila. There we cooked lunch for 6oo children together with other volunteers, mostly parents who have children at this schools. We helped with preparing vegetables and chicken, filling the food into the lunch boxes and cleaning up everything after the kids are gone.

Bagong Silanan Elementary School
Bagong Silanan Elementary School
Cainta Elementary School
Cainta Elementary School

Besides cooking, one of our tasks during the feeding program is to interact with the children, check their names and convince them to finish their meal, because they often don’t like vegetables and therefore refuse to eat them. While checking the names of the children we recognized that many filipino parents love to give their children special names. There were kinds who had Julius Caesar, John Lennon, King James or Kurt Cobain as their first name. Later this day we asked a member of the ACED office and found out that it is a common thing to give your kids such names.

While working in the kitchen we had a lot of time to talk to the parents who worked with us. Sometimes we had some struggles with understanding each other because English is their second language as well but all in all it worked. We asked them why some children who are in the feeding program don’t come and they told us that it doesn’t matter if the children go to school or stay at home. So sometimes the kids stay at home because they have to help their parents and sometimes especially after a Taifun it is difficult to get to school because of the floodings and the traffic. Then it would take too long to get there, so they rather stay at home.

In our fourth week we worked on Campus in the AIS (Ateneo Institute of Sustainability). There we had to collect data for a campus microclimate profiling project. Four times a day we had to walk a specific route across the campus and measure the air temperature, the current wind speed, the relative humidity, the barometric pressure and the heat stress index at several stops. Afterward we typed the date in an exel file and analyzed it.

Working on the microclimate profiling
Working on the microclimate profiling

One of my first impressions in general was the very hot and humid climate which makes everything so exhausting. At our fist campus tour we walked about 15 minutes outside and back in our dorm it felt like a marathon. Afterwards the supervisor of our dorm told us that right now the weather is „cold“ because it is rainy season at the moment and that it will be way worse in February.

Another impressive experience in our fist days working outside the campus was, that we as white foreigners attract a lot of attention (especially in the poorer areas). Some people on the street turned heads when they saw us, the children, who nearly never see foreigners in ‚real life‘ sometimes can’t stop looking at us and even a few teachers came just to take pictures with us.  At the same time we were sometimes treated very respectfully. For example at one of our first days when we were on our way to Bagong Silanan we walked along the sidewalk and there were two women standing in front of us, talking to each other. One of them saw us and pulled the other one to the side so that we have enough space to pass by. Then they started whispering and looked amazed at us. That was such a strange situation and I felt a bit insecure.

But normally the people we meet are very very friendly and kind, the parents and teachers in the schools as well as the people from Ateneo. We were invited for lunch or dinner so often, the parents brought traditional filipino finger food to the kitchens and we were taken to different places in Manila on the weekends by students or members of the different offices here.

Furthermore we tried as many different typical Filipino dishes as possible in our first few weeks. One of the most exotic snacks we had, are the so called ‚one day old chicks‘. These small one day old chicks are eaten butter-fried together with a vinegar or sweet chili dip. I was surprised how delicious they are if you force yourself to not think about what you are eating.  It just tastes like a crunchy piece of fried chicken meat.

One day old chicks
One day old chicks

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Another experience was eating Filipino spaghetti because they are sweet. Before, I could not imagine that this is possible but it is. Filipinos like sweet food at all that’s why spaghetti isn’t the only dish which is sweet. We also had sweet sausages, sweet bread, Taho and even sweet cheese ice cream.

All in all our first month here on the Philippines was a huge experience for me. I met so many different people, heard so many different stories and experienced a lot. That’s why I am really looking forward to the next seven months, which hopefully will be as amazing as my first one.

 

Monatsbericht Oktober von Corinna

Arrival, first impressions, orientation, rules and daily life

Due to the fact that Asian countries and especially the Philippines are different to our home country Germany, we had to get along with cultural differences on the one hand and distinction of our surroundings on the other hand. Two of the main topics for us are the climate and the food.
When it comes to the climate you could say that you need a very long time to get used to that, so that we do not feel completely comfortable yet. In our first days even walking or just sitting around were so exhausting that we had to rest almost the whole day although the temperatures now are quite ,,cold’’ in comparison with the rest of the year. Step by step we adjust to the climate so that we are able to work outside without bigger problems. Though we are sweating a lot more than in Germany wherefore we have to take a shower directly after finishing with work and change our clothes more often.
Our first experiences with food were almost entirely positive, so that we established together with Irene, a 25-years old Disaster Recovery Management student from the Netherlands, a list of food we want to try including things like Taho, Kwek Kwek or Balut at one of our first days here. During the first week, we already tried things like Kwek Kwek, Lobsterballs, Squidballs or Taho but also Adobo, squid with tentacles, the One-Day-Old, Halo Halo and other traditional or popular meals. Thereby we experienced that almost everything in the Philippines tastes sweet, even for example spaghetti and other food which is normally spicy in Europe. Of course there were dishes that we did not like at all, but that was rather the exception.

In the Riverbanks Mall, tasting some Philippine snacks
In the Riverbanks Mall, tasting some Philippine snacks

What directly comes to my mind when I think about the mindset of Philippine people is their obliging, helpful and especially happy attitude even if their life is not easy in some cases. The people we met are always anxious to help us in every situation and with every problem that arose up during our first weeks. For instance, Ricky and Julia, who are students at Ateneo, accompanied us to the University and answered all our questions. Afterward Julia also advised us in joining sport opportunities and also had dinner with us in the evenings. Moreover Michelle showed us the campus on our first day and the members of the office of sustainability always kept an eye on us and tried to help us as much as they could. Our supervisor Jaime was always exerted to help us in every concern that appeared during our first weeks. Not to enumerate all the people who helped us to settle in the new surroundings.
What really got to us was the jetlag we had for a few days. It was quite exhausting to adjust to the climate and  the time difference at once. In our first night after around 30 hours without sleep we just slept for four hours and were awake the whole night. In our second night the procedure was almost the same, so that we were really tired during the day. Therefore it took us around seven days to sleep the whole night.

In our first week at the Ateneo de Manila University we got instructed by representatives of the Ateneo offices like the ACED (Ateneo Center for Educational Development), Pathways To Better Education, Gawad Kalinga and AIS (Ateneo Institute of Sustainability), which are important for our volunteer work.
As we got to know, contents of our daily work in our first months in the feeding program of the ACED will be kitchen and feeding operations as well as data collection, visiting kindergarten classes and, at the beginning of the next year, Brigada Eskwela. However, one of the main topics of the feeding program is the reduction of malnutrition, stunting and wasting among children in poor areas of Manila. So far we visited the Bagong Silangan Elementary School and the Elementary School in Cainta, where we supported the parent volunteers and the ACED kitchen staff in preparing and packing the food and also handing the meal to the children and cleaning afterwards.

In Bagong Silangang with the parent volunteers
In Bagong Silangang with the parent
volunteers
The kitchen in Bagong Silangan
The kitchen in Bagong Silangan
Packing the boxes in Cainta
Packing the boxes in Cainta

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Included in our first instructions was a presentation by Abby Favis about disaster management in the philippines. She points out that many people in endangered areas are not aware of the safety measures and do not have a foresight on possible future disasters. To improve the situation people in power have to separate the three factors hazard, exposure and vulnerability to minimize the risk for humans and their possessions.
Additionally the Office of Pathways to Better Education tries to balance the lack of confidence, financial problems and lack of academic preparation of students in public schools, where the learning conditions are often not acceptable to educate appropriate. Maybe we will have the chance to join some of their weekend activities during our stay.
In our fourth week we worked in the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability, where we made campus microclimate profiling. To create a map, we had two routes on campus, one which includes traffic and open fields and one in a forest on campus. On these routes we had several stops – every two hours at the same time at the same place – where we measured indicators like current wind speed, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure and heat stress index. On the basis of this results, Abby constructed charts of their development during the day.

On the campus while gathering data for the microclimate profile
On the campus while gathering data for the microclimate profile
With Gladys, Irene and James from the Manila Observatory in Cubao
With Gladys, Irene and James from the Manila Observatory in Cubao

Based on cultural differences, there are different rules and norms to obey. For example is the patriotism way more distinct than in Germany, so that you have to stop and just wait when the national hymn is played in the mornings. Of course there are other behaviors you have to follow, just as avoiding conflicts whenever you can and using a mediator instead of facing the other person, or respect the very religious attitude of the inhabitants. Moreover some gestures are rather typical for the Philippines, for instance the mano to show your respect for authorities like priests or older people.
In general we really enjoyed our first weeks in the capital of the Philippines. So far we received so many impressions by living here, trying to experience the culture, talking to people and working in these new surroundings that we are looking forward to explore the multifaceted country not only in a tourist way but also through the view of locals.

Impressionen aus Manila

Die Küche in der Bagong Silangan Elementary School, in der wir in der ersten Woche mitgearbeitet haben
Die Küche in der Bagong Silangan Elementary School, in der wir in der ersten Woche mitgearbeitet haben
Zusammen mit Lehrern und freiwilligen Eltern in Bagong Silangan
Zusammen mit Lehrern und freiwilligen Eltern in Bagong Silangan

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Einige der 600 Kinder, die jeden Tag durch das Feeding Program eine warme Mahlzeit bekommen
Einige der 600 Kinder, die jeden Tag durch das Feeding Program eine warme Mahlzeit bekommen
Verkehr auf der Katipunan Avenue bei Nacht
Verkehr auf der Katipunan Avenue bei Nacht
Diesmal mit freiwilligen Eltern der Cainta Elementary School
Diesmal mit freiwilligen Eltern der Cainta Elementary School
Während des Essens in der Felix Elementary School
Während des Essens in der Felix Elementary School
Ein Tisch in der Küche in Cainta , der durch die Fluten gebogen wurde
Ein Tisch in der Küche in Cainta , der durch die Fluten gebogen wurde
Ein kulinarischer Ausflug auf einen Fischmarkt in Cubao mit Gladys, Irene und James, auf dem wir die Zutaten frisch gekauft und dann in einem Restaurant zubereiten lassen haben
Ein kulinarischer Ausflug auf einen Fischmarkt in Cubao mit Gladys, Irene und James, auf dem wir die Zutaten frisch gekauft und dann in einem Restaurant zubereiten lassen haben
Philippinische Snacks in der Riverbanks Mall. Unter anderem Kwek Kwek, Lobsterballs, Sharksfin, Squidballs und ein One-day-old
Philippinische Snacks in der Riverbanks Mall. Unter anderem Kwek Kwek, Lobsterballs, Sharksfin, Squidballs und ein One-day-old

Erste Erlebnisse aus Manila

von Franzi und Corinna

Nach einer Reise beginnend in Kaldenkirchen/Leinfelden über Frankfurt und Doha erreichten wir nach ca. 30 Stunden den Flughafen von Manila.  Das überraschend gute Essen im Flugzeug, der luxuriöse Flughafen in Doha, kurze Sporteinheiten im Silent-Room dort und mehr oder weniger interessante Bekanntschaften im Flugzeug und an den Flughäfe ließen uns die Reisezeit jedoch deutlich kürzer erscheinen.

Der erste Zwischenfall erwartete uns bereits am Flughafen in Manila, als wir festellen mussten, dass Corinnas – sorgfältig in Zellophanfolie verpackter – Koffer nicht richtig verschlossen und ohne Folie am Gepäckband an uns vorbei fuhr. Wie sich herausstellte hatte der frankfurter Zoll ihren Koffer geöffnet, angeblich gewisse Gegenstände entnommen und diesen anschließend nicht richtig verschlossen. Auch nach mehrmaligem Durchschauen des Gepäcks konnten wir jedoch keine fehlenden Gegenstände ausmachen.
Nach einigen aufgrund des Jetlags schlaflosen Nächten versuchen wir uns momentan auf dem Campusgelände der Ateneo de Manila University (dort sind wir in einem Studentenwohnheim untergebracht) zurechtzufinden und uns an Klima und Essen zu gewöhnen.  Vor allem die Mischung aus hoher Luftfeuchtigkeit und andauernder Hitze (allerdings soll es laut Einheimischen zur Zeit eher kühl sein) und das teilweise sehr süße und für deutsche Verhältnisse exotische Essen sind im Moment noch sehr ungewohnt.

 

Taho, ein Snack unter anderem aus braunem Zucker, weichem Tofu und Sago Perlen
Taho, ein Snack unter anderem aus braunem Zucker,
weichem Tofu und Sago Perlen

 

Die aufgeschlossenen, gastfreundlichen und zuvorkommenden Filipinos und Filipinas, die wir bis jetzt kennen gelernt haben helfen uns jedoch sehr bei der Eingewöhnung. Besonders Abbey und Gladys kümmern sich momentan sehr herzlich um uns und die holländische Studentin Irene, die für vier Monate ihr Auslandssemester hier absolviert.
Durch die Lage der Universität und somit auch unseres Wohnheimes, die sich auf einem Hügel befinden, sind wir nicht nur vor Fluten gesichert, sondern genießen aus unserem Zimmer heraus auch einen weitreichenden Blick auf einen Stadtteil Manilas.

20161005-1 Ausblick