So after 30 hours or so of traveling my team and I have finally made it to the Philippines!!! It was a very long and exhausting journey but we have arrived safely. We met our contact at the airport who then drove us to the ministry site where we will be staying for the next 3 weeks in manila before heading out to tacloban, Which is another 26ish hour bus ride!!!
The organization we are working with is Kids International Ministries. They have been very hospitable to us providing a roof over our heads and beds!!
We are working in an orphanage and a school in a pretty poor neighborhood. My day schedule varies but most of the day looks like me going to the childrens home spending time and loving on them, also I have been scrubbing the walls of the home cleaning and doing things to make it look nice.
Then some of my day is spent at the local school tutoring the kids, reading to them helping them sound and spell out english words which in manila most people know. Since everyone knows english here it makes ministry so much more easier ( no need for translators).
Culture shock:
So there are a few things in the Philippines that I’ve noticed is not like home.
-public bathrooms don't have toliet paper and sometimes soap (bring your own)
– There is a mall 5 minutes from the ministry site where everyone lives in shacks
– 43.50 peso is equal to $1 making everything cheaper/ I get a burger, a drink, and fries for just over $1 or so.
-public transportation consists of trikes and jeepney’s(converted WW2 vehicles)
-everyone here is short, like shorter than me
