I say that there is no Whirlpool in Malaybalay because we lived in St. Joseph, MI for 2 years, which is where the Whirlpool World Headquarters is located. Many of our close friends work for Whirlpool and I have seen nothing but Whirlpool appliances for the past 2 years.
An interesting experience that I have had here in the Philippines is the experience of doing laundry. Some people have washing machines, however, no one has a dryer because it is too expensive to run the electricity. When it was finally time for me to do laundry, I hiked all of our clothes up to the orphanage (the washer that guests would usually use is broken, so they are letting us use the same 2 washing machines that they use to wash the 26 kids and all of the staff’s clothes). Once I got there, I realized that I was absolutely clueless about how to actually use the washing machine.
It is a very basic form of a washing machine where you put the water in with a hose and you have to make sure it is plugged up before you start putting the water in because it will all drain out of another hose that spits out on your feet. Once your clothes are in and the water is in, you just turn a dial and it starts a spin cycle. After it is done spinning, you take the clothes out and ring them out and put them in a big bowl with a hose in it to rinse them. Once they are rinsed, you ring them out again and put them back in to the washing machine spin dryer and it spins most of the water out of the clothes.
This concept was very new to me. I stood in front of the washing machine for a few minutes wondering how on earth to use it when one of the house parents saw me and started helping me. She doesn’t speak very clear English, so I couldn’t really understand what she was telling me. So instead of telling me, she showed me and stayed with me the entire time it took for me to wash our clothes. This woman already washes enough clothes and she was busy making dinner for the kids but she took the time out of her day to help me wash our clothes.
I have been so blessed to be able to work with the staff of this orphanage. They are wonderful people who are dedicating their lives to help kids who don’t have any parents. Their job is definitely not easy, especially the people who work in the toddler room (I only say that because I have spent all of my time in the toddler room, the people who work with the older kids definitely have their work cut out for them too!) I think there are 4 ladies who work in the toddler room. There are 2 people working at a time and they take care of 9 kids all day, everyday! To me it seems an endless battle of changing diapers, feeding the babies, picking up toys, and giving them all baths and the process continues on and on! They have given up so much in order to spend their lives at an orphanage caring for kids.
I hope to someday be committed to doing what God tells me to do in the same manner that these ladies are committed to what God has told them to do.
I do have to say that there isn’t exactly NO Whirlpool in Malaybalay. I saw a Kitchen Aid egg slicer in a store the other day. It made me smile inside. A little piece of home.
