Sir High School Science Teacher

Hello to the readers of my sporadic blog.  I have a lot of news to share.  Well mainly many thoughts on my only news:  the start of my high school teaching career.

I began my teaching career at the Community Technical College of Southeastern Mindanao two weeks ago.  Previously I had formally taught zero classes and received no training in how to be a secondary or primary educator.

My first week of school consisted of:

• Going to a faculty
• Finding out my teaching schedule and classes (6th, 7th, 9th,10th and 11th)
• Losing my appetite, stressing out and feeling anxious about how unprepared I am to teach
• Asking God to take me home 🙂
• Enjoying the company of the students
• Sweating profusely
• Getting rained on
• Sweating more
• Basically being soaked either from sweat or from rain.

I still feel rattled from my first week of teaching. I am only teaching Thursday and Friday but still getting a nice 10 hrs a week in.  I felt very unprepared, out of my element, worried my students wouldn’t learn anything, trying to learn the school system in the Philippines, trying to learn how to teach in English or Bisaya, learning how to do science labs in a zero resource classroom and adapting foreign  subject books to relevancy in my student’s lives and future.

I just finished my second week and am getting ready to go back on Wednesday, meanwhile while working the rest of the week applying for grants and aiding the InPeace Davao office.  I find I am having moments, like last night when I wondered if this is what my teachers were thinking/worried about when I was in high school?  Did they stay up at night worried I wasn’t going to learn anything.

One of my 6th graders interviews me on Climate Change for her composition assignment.

I gave my 6th graders a straightforward  quiz on Friday, made even easier by a review we had on Thursday..which I know about 70% cheated on or failed outright…how do I proceed from here?  I have decided to give them a talk about how imperialists and corporations will be happy they have decided not to study at all and skip class, that education one of the best ways to upgrade their struggle for self determination.  Is it too much of a reality check? Perhaps.

 

I find myself constantly thinking to what depth do I go for subject matter, especially for 6th and 7th my general science classes.  For my 9th grade Chemistry, my 10th grade Physics and my 11th grade Earth science,

My 9th grade chemistry class does an experiment using our only chemistry equipment…the vaunted graduated cylinder.

I wrack my brain and scour the internet looking for experiments & labs we can do in a zero resource classroom.

Lying in my hammock and mosquito net under the wooden  ‘kubo’ shack outside.

I feel like I won’t ever get used to being called “Sir.”  I bivouac on the campus for 2 nights, in my hammock and mosquito net. God knows I prefer sleeping outside because in the dorms it is so HOT! No fans, breeze or A/C.  Dawn finds me waking up early to scrawl out thoughts and trying not to stress out too much about teaching, whilst still feeling responsible for giving them the best education I can while doing the best I can.

I admit…I  wish I wasn’t teaching, I still don’ feel cut out for it. However, God equips all of us.  I undeniably care about these students and the struggle of their people…so I am going to stick it out a week at a time, frantically planning lessons, splitting my time between working behind the scenes in Davao and being hands on in Maco, caring about the present and futures of my students and feeling blessed to have an opportunity to learn and teach these children of God.

Students and teachers playing a pick up game of volleyball after the day’s classes finish.

National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission Findings – public statement

My previous post detailed my personal experience joining the Colonsabac, Matanao team of the National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission (NIHM.)  Yesterday I went to Ateneo de Davao University to attend the public presentation of overall findings of the NIHM to the four areas:  Marawi City, President Roxas North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Matanao.

I wish to share some of the data.

1.  The NIHM notes a total of 325,294 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mindanao.  For scale: that is a more of the entire population of NHL champion city Pittsburgh (pop 305,412 -2014 census)  The steady increase of IDPs is a result of the drawn out Marawi siege, the AFP’s love affair with airstrikes that cause massive property destruction and friendly casualties, as well as other aerial bombardments in other parts of mindanao to suppress terrorism.
2.  The NIHM was only able to provide for 1,222 families.  The IDP situation is made complex by the number of unaccounted home based evacuees who remain un-or underserved.
3. NIHM medical found the top 10 diseases in the evacuation center served to be Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, Skin Diseases, Pulmonary Tuberculosis suspected (Class III) and active (Class V), Acute Gastroenteritis, Peptic Ulcer Disease/Dyspepsia, Muscoskeletal pain, Hypertension, Headache, Pneumonia, Gyne cases and Pregnancy. Pregnancy isn’t a disease but it does require attention and a more stable environment then say, an evacuation center.  Health services are scarce in the centers and the ones that do exists are stretched thin and overloaded, thereby bringing the quality of healthcare down.
4. Aside from medical, mental health is a very real concern especially among children:

“as they witnessed heavily armed men, who they referred as ‘ISIS’, occupying their community and engaging in firefight with military elements. They express the same feeling and fear towards government soldiers. They witnessed helicopters hovering above Marawi City and dropping bombs on their communities. Their current temporary shelter in evacuation centers particularly those near Marawi City does not insulate them from the source of their fears as they continue to hear the sound of bombs especially at night time.”

In short, the NIHM finds that

• Martial Law and the AFP’s indiscriminate aerial bombardment approach has spawned massive human rights violations
• Martial Law’s adverse and grave impact on the human rights and welfare of civilians demonstrates its lack of effectivity and casts doubt on its appropriateness as a response to a small, armed, and foreign-affiliated terrorist group.
• Intensified indiscriminate aerial bombardment is the primary character of Martial Law.
• Martial Law demonstrates an anti-people and anti-insurgency motive, with the Moro and Lumad civilians and communities as its target.
• Victims call to lift Martial Law, end aerial to aerial bombardment, and stop to militarization.
• Alarming and condemnable criminal and terrorist acts of local terrorist groups which are reportedly funded, directed, and controlled by ISIS and foreign terrorist organizations
• Glaring involvement and violation of Philippine sovereignty by US involvement and participation in the Marawi siege and possibly in other “counter-terror” campaigns in Mindanao

 

I’ve taken the liberty of uploading the original document.  I hope you can find it useful. Special thanks to Kalinaw Mindanao for the report and organizing the NIHM, as well as all the volunteers, supporters and donors who made it happen.

Kalinaw Mindanao Mission Statement FINAL

Inside, Outside, Dry and Wet (or a national interfaith humanitarian mission)

That about sums up my travels to and from the National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission (NIHM) to Matanao, Davao del Sur.

Matanao was the third site for the NIHM mission, with the first two serving internally displaced Moro people affected by the conflict in Marawi city in Iligan City and in Maguindanao.

They left at 4am on June 13. Our site was much closer so we didn’t leave until the following afternoon.  About 8 people from Davao City joined the mission to Matanao, including journalists.  The leader of our group coordinated with those already at the bus terminal to reserve spots for us, as we waited by the highway to climb aboard, all kitted out and ready for the mission.

It was about an hour bus trip from Davao City to Digos City, where we got off the bus and waited for our rides.  After about 40 min of waiting, two big trucks pulled up to the station, an army surplus and an open flat bed “Saddam” truck.

The Lead Truck with our banner

Our Saddam truck

It was fun at first, but the road was quite bumpy

We piled on joining the 85 other folks from General Santos City and Sarangani province then continued on our way for about 1.5 hrs.  It was a beautiful drive once we got out of the city.  We drove until we arrived at Matanao proper where we stopped outside the Catholic church to greet the parish priest who would be our host for the next two days.  I joined the greet team and listened to the curfew rules that were in effect due to martial law.

NIHM leaders and guests meeting the hospitable parish priest who was putting us up for the duration of the mission.

From there we piled back onto the trucks and continued to the actual parish where we would be spending the night.  Along the way seeing a spectacular sunset reflecting off the rice fields.  I tried to capture it one handed with my phone, as we were bouncing over some rather rough roads at speed and I did not wish to lose my grip on the safety bars of the saddam truck.  Still, the view stood still long enough for me to enough photos that one of them turned out ok! 😉

I got lucky – the sky and earth stood still long enough.

After arriving at the church, we broke off into our various teams.  I joined the relief distribution team.  Some of the rice needed to be sorted into the 5kg family packs still. I joined the team outside, first preparing the bags, then I served as a mobile lamp post with my headlight providing decent light to allow the packers to see while they worked.

The next morning we got up very early, loading up the vehicles.  It was a 35 min drive up into the mountains before we arrived at Colonsabac, Matanao, Davao del Sur, where we would be having the mission actual in the school gym.  As we unloaded and set up banners, displaced persons started to arrive. There were representatives of all the 183 families to participate in the mission and receive relief goods.

Programmed activities began in earnest:

-First, the human rights violations documentation teams broke off with the different ‘puroks’ (think street neighborhoods – approximately 10-15 families)

-After that was concluded there was a time of sharing from the victims, as well as from representatives of the local clergy and national indigenous leaders from Manila.

-Lastly it was time for the relief to be handed out.

Just arrived at the school

Waiting for instructions at the gym

Putting up banners

HRV documentation in ‘puroks’

Sharing from HRV victims and national speakers

Organizing for relief distribution

Distributing family relief packs

Between the second and third activities a veritable  thunderstorm barreled down on us and the hot sun turned to cool wind with rain hammering down on the covered gym. I, personally, love the rain and the cool wind it brings…I did not take into account climbing back up into the now slippery and muddy saddam truck, nor having nowhere to hold on to nor room to stand. This was due to the makeshift plastic tarpaulin that covered the bed.  With nowhere to hold on, I steeled myself and sat on a banner, my poor back absorbing the shock of the bouncy road, feeling the water seep into my pants as we made our way back to the parish.

Still, this trip made an impression on me. Yes, due to the nature of my kidnap potential it was too dangerous for me to join the other relief mission locations, still, I was glad to be able to join the team to visit the Bl’aan displaced by war.  Even though I was on the relief team, I spend most of my time on a new team called the social team, which consisted of me talking to children and their parents, as well as elders from the community to share a moment of solidarity and listen to them.  It was a blessing to be part of the overall mission, joining grassroots leaders, students, farmers and other B’laan communities who had made the trip to be in solidarity with their brothers and sisters.  For me, even though I ended the trip exhausted, wet, bruised and quite probably sick (so people say after seeing my face today)  I am blessed to have been part of this experience.

 

 

 

National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission

National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission | June 13-16, 2017

Marawi City, Lanao del Sur| President Roxas, North Cotabato | Matan-ao, Davao del Sur

Kalinaw! Peace!

There are currently 235,000 internally displaced persons mostly in house-based settings and others scattered in at least 16 evacuation centers in Lanao del Sur (Bureau of Public Information-ARMM/June 4, 2017). An unaccounted number of people, mostly Maranaos, are feared stranded in conflict zones within the city.

On the other hand, the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao has unleashed military airstrikes in other parts of the island which has caused the displacement of 1,536 Maguindanaons in President Roxas town, North Cotabato and another 1,200 Blaans in Matan-ao, Davao del Sur. Aerial bombardments have also displaced an undetermined number of Moro civilians in Shariff Saydona, Mustapha, and Mamasapano towns in Maguindanao province.

There is an urgent need to step up our interfaith and humanitarian responses to the crisis in Marawi and the rest of Mindanao.

 May we invite you therefore to the NATIONAL INTERFAITH HUMANITARIAN MISSION led by Kalinaw Mindanao on June 13-16, 2017.

The Mission aims to:

1. Serve at least 16,000 IDPs in Lanao del Sur and another 2,700 in North Cotabato and Davao del Sur;
2. Help empower and organize survivors and victims of internal displacements and all-out war;
3. Document and collate the human rights situation in Marawi and other parts of Mindanao to demand accountability and indemnification;
4. Express interfaith solidarity and unity with IDPs and other victims of human rights violations;
5. Call for the release of Fr. Chito Suganob and other civilian hostages in Marawi;
6. Formulate recommendations on how to address communities impacted by terrorism and Martial Law in Mindanao.

Kalinaw Mindanao has been carrying out interfaith responses to Mindanao crises, including massive displacements caused by the all-out war campaign of the Estrada administration in Central Mindanao in 2000, in Sulu and Basilan by the Arroyo government in 2005, and in Central Mindanao in 2008 following the rejection of the MOA-AD.

This invitation enjoins you to:

ۥ Help generate/contribute relief support to the Mission areas

ۥ Volunteer for psychosocial, medical, and relief services

ۥ Enlist as human rights documentors

ۥ Participate in Duyog Ramadan and interfaith activities

Please inquire or register on or before June 10, 2017. For confirmations and inquiries please contact inpeace.info@yahoo.com or call/fax +63 082 2994964. We look forward to your affirmative response to this invitation.

For interfaith solidarity,

 

Marawi City, Martial Law and Mindanao

I don’t know what to write about anymore. First the devastating news about Marawi city, and now martial law declared…and worse it is welcomed by many people who should remember the lessons learned under President Dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

I have found myself explaining to Filipinos, people who I think would know better – that martial law is not a solution, and will not be any different under President Duterte than it was under Marcos, as the former said.  In fact, Duterte has since said he thought Marcos’ martial law was great and plans his to be exactly the same and just as harsh.

 

At InPeace, we are used to observing suspicious vehicles watching our offices even before martial law, and we expect this to continue and become more brazen as martial law now legitimizes the surveillance we are under.  As missionaries, myself and the Global Mission Fellows serving here, are to take extra precautions in being observers and strengthening our visible public ties to the Church – and always using a buddy system when going out.  We also implemented our own curfew at the office, but we expect an official curfew to come in the following weeks.  (This means also won’t be teaching as we are not supposed to travel)

 

President Duterte has floated the idea of expanding martial law to the rest of the country, to deal with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the New People’s Army. It worries me that martial  law will be used as a staging for operations against legitimate rebel groups, because surely it will be civilians who will be targeted. I just read today that Duterte will ignore Congress and the Supreme Court while carrying out martial law, even though the Philippine Constitution gives those two bodies oversight.  It is truly a troubling time in this nation.

 

Yet it is just as important for all of us to remain witness to what is happening in Mindanao.  We cannot allow the civil sector to be quieted or silenced by martial law. We must bear witness to the increased extra judicial killings, the forced disappearances, the trumped up charges, the illegal detentions and the violation of human rights that will inevitably happen to our colleagues and to peace activists under marshal law.  As long as we can bear witness without jeopardizing our physical safety, I believe it is our responsibility to do so.  We cannot let our Filipinos sisters and brothers bear this alone, and we cannot let our voices and our witness be silent, we cannot be apathetic or rationalize martial law.

 

Please keep all of Mindanao in your prayers, especially the people of Marawi city who are still caught between the extremists fighters and government troops.

Living alone sucks when sick.

I like living alone.  There are certain freedoms and qualities that I just can’t get enough of:  like doing whatever I want, when I want wearing what I want.  Having no one to blame or congratulate except myself when things go poorly or well.  Not having unspoken expectations and different standards of cleanliness irritate me.

The thing that sucks a lot, is when I am sick.  Ain’t no one gonna take care of Adam when he far away from home and feeling like something the cat dragged in.

I felt pretty good this time around in the Philippines, no immediate depression or intense culture shock or diet shock or rejecting rice as a meal 24/7.  No things were great until last week when I went to visit a school I’m to be volunteering at this June.

Now things aren’t so fun.  I don’t want to work, I want stay home, give up or go home (all the way home.)

Good health is one thing I haven’t taken for granted since 2011…looks like I will value non allergenic reactions with the treasured gaze from now on out as well.

 

Another time, a timeless place

One of the things that I value about music, or music that connects with me, is how it draws me out of myself, out of my location, time and place…either into a memory of another time or a timeless place.

My parents are both musicians, siblings all seem to be as well, aunts, uncles on both sides and cousins too – even ancestors.  For better or worse,  I am a musician as well.  For most other disciplines be they professional or otherwise: I would rather have a measure of decent skill in many and be exceptional in none…however for music, I would rather be exceptional in one instrument than many.

Having at one point in time or another undertaken piano, recorder, trumpet, voice and guitar; I have for the past 2.8 years been playing ‘ukulele.  This is the instrument that fits my lifestyle right now.  Compact to travel painlessly, suited for humid weather.  Easy to learn the basics, lifetime to master and yet, advanced techniques aren’t as far away as they were to me on other instruments.  I can combine it with my voice and sing songs…yet the ‘ukulele really calls me out into timelessness with its own voice.

I gravitate toward ukulele songwriters and instrumentalists more than singers, offering myself as audience, waiting to be drawn into a timeless cosmic recital of notes, chords, strings and singing wood.

The song that transported me today is this one, from the movie Amélie and adapted for two ‘ukeleles by Ka1a1aika two youtube duet brothers.  For me, it is cathartic.  I hope to play it one day with my own ‘ukulele and friend. (or brother *ahem John…🙂

On April 27, 2017April 27, 2017 By shawmishIn Lifestyle, ThoughtsLeave a comment

Warm feelings

“Sweet corn, Maaaaiize”

Saying it out loud like a sweet corn peddler as I walk into the office at 1pm makes me chuckle, thinking of all the people I could surprise into thinking I am Filipino with my voice.

The office is a little dead, the usual suspects are in the kitchen, making their lunches, chopping up pineapple to serve.  I get asked about my morning trip to the Bureau of Immigration and we catch up on things that happened since we last saw each other…namely recounting the InPeace staff beach day with those who were unable to join us.

Eventually – inevitably, someone – Francis in this case – grumbles about how hot it is in Davao.  Though I today too am wearing long pants, socks and shoes from my visit to immigration and am sweating my skin off, this grumble makes me feel good.  In  a weird way it is satisfying to know that I am not the only person who is suffering in the heat…that my filipino coworkers are also suffering in the hot hot sun, and in someway that I am more adapted to the heat, because it is ok to complain about how hot the sun is right now – look even sun hardened Filipinos are doing it.

I share my bathing tale from this morning:  how I went for my usual glorious cold water bath, the one that gets me through every hot day, and how the water was so warm it didn’t even feel cold, or cool but body temperature.

Around the lunch table people nod their heads sagely, commiserating and wondering why the summers are getting hotter.  Are we still feeling the effects of El Niño?  Is it related to pollution or more people and less trees?  Is it related to Global warming? That unbelievable liberal rumor…

Regardless, this brief hot moment makes me smile, knowing that I am not the only one who feels the heat…I might just be the only one who burns in 10 minutes of sun exposure. UV 12!!

Feeling Sunny!

 

 

Day 53

Waking up at 6:00 am to sunlight and frantic mad church-bell ringing ushering in the sun as if the sun were waiting for the bells to come.

Turn off the a/c and lie back down to sleep until my wrist vibrated warning me it was 7  am.

Turn if off and lie awake until I wake again at 8:35 am. Late…but not too late. Walked from the hot room to the hot hallway and into the hot bathroom. 

Cold water. Cold bucket full of water using a tabo  to douse myself with cold water. Cold at first, then soap and shampoo and suddenly the water isn’t all that cold.  Refreshingly not-so-cold.

Get out, shave, walk out into the not-so-hot hallway, back into the not-so-hot bedroom and get dressed.  Walk out into the not-so-hot kitchen, cleaning up the dishes from the night before.

Open the fridge and pull out my cold brew, walk to the stove and grab the sieve and a pot.  Return to the sink, and start to pour the brew through the sieve and into the pot.  Where is the oil skimmer?  Grab it, then pour the brew out of the pot and back into the glass jug through the oil skimmer, fine sieving it.  Repeat again for second jug.

Walk to the freezer, retrieve the ice. Turn around to face the sink, extract the ice from the jealous guardian of the cubes. Retrieve pink cup. “Everyday is Coffee Day”  So true so true.  Pour the brew over the ice and stir. Add nothing, just the infusion of cold refreshment.

Pack up the work bag, wipe the counter and the sink. Grab sunglasses, wallet, coin purse, sun hat and keys. Lock the door and close it behind me – find the electric bill.

Put on the sandals. Wrist vibrates reminding me to step 124 times for my hourly goal. Smile. Descend the stairs, whistle. Open the gate. There’s a bird. “Heyyy birdie!”  I would rather see a bird than another rat.

Walk around the corner past the honks of Taxis trying to catch my ear and eye. Round the corner in the sun, feeling the hot heat test the resiliency of my cold bath – who will win? Approach the bakery, remember my growling stomach – step inside the shady indent.

The bakery lady seems more friendly than the previous 6 times…perhaps I have achieved local bakery status. She smiles at my local language skills of counting what I want, sale over. “Salamat” I say and whistle on my way.

Look before I cross the street and turn the corner.  The construction workers wave as they wave every morning. “Hey Joe!” they say. “Maayung Buntag” says I and they reply laughing, “Maayung Buntag sab”

I smile even in the heat of the sun cooking off my cold shower and walk on my way turning the last corner, avoiding the tricycles and the dogs walking until I see the office.  No van outside – I wonder if anyone is there.  I ring the doorbell. “Hmm, I should get a key sometime…” I crouch behind the door, feeling playful, so my head doesn’t peak over the gate.  “Taas kaayo ka Adam!” Ate Cecil says laughing.

Standing up, peak through the bars. “Yea – I was trying to hide” She chuckles and lets me in.

Walk to the office kitchen. Ugh that dead rat smell persists still. Place the bread on the table outside, take a roll.  Greet colleagues. Head toward the work room. “Maayung Buntag Adam, komusta?”  “Okay lang” I reply, ” Just running late today”  “Okay lang kaayo” The boss says. “I like your cup! Is there a new coffee shop around?”

“Yea…’ I say grinning: “Cafe Adam”

March is here!

March is already here.  I’ve been here just over a month.  This past weekend I had an opportunity to reflect, interestingly enough it was initiated by going to church.

Tri-lingual church is a special place to be.  I don’t fully understand what all is said, likewise it is hard to keep up with a sermon that transitions from Tagalog to English to Bisaya and back again.  In general my understanding of the sermon comes in waves:  I concentrate trying to distinguish the fast flowing Tagalog from Bisaya before just spacing out wrapped in my own thoughts.  Then I hear English, and I perk up and sit straighter, listening carefully and often, Bisaya comes right after the English so I can follow along then…and sooner or later back to Tagalog we descend, and I am lost again, lost also in my own thoughts and reflecting on the part of the sermon I understood.  The application of that sermon in my own life.

Church then has become a place of reflection and guided instropection although I am missing large chunks of the message, I have to make do for now with what I am given to understand.

I have now almost fully settled here:  I have a place to live, I have a bed. I have a place to sit, a kitchen.  My budget was approved (YAY.)  I already have a church home.  Today I am having another meeting with InPeace to get a clearer understanding of my portfolio.  Tomorrow I am going to finally drop off my Missionary 9G visa which, if all goes well, will get me a 3 year visa to work and live in the Philippines.

March is a busy month around here.  Schools finish this month, beginning summer vacation.  We have a big conference next week that many people are busy preparing for = I am throwing in wherever I can.  It is also the 80th celebration of “Araw Ng Davao” translated to Day of Davao which is a weekend celebration of Davao City.

I find myself getting weird deja vu feelings as I walk around town.  I get confused sometimes what year it is as many places have many memories for me.  All in all this time adjusting has been different, and in many ways will continue to be different.  I am glad that so far is hasn’t included debilitating sickness or overwhelming sadness.

Yes I still miss places and people from previous lives elsewhere.  Yet overall, I am feeling extremely lucky to be back here.  Here’s to March, and the beginning of something new.