Every Wednesday my team gets to go to the province of Samar for a feeding. Ever since the first Wednesday of our time in Tacloban, something has been special about this community. I can’t even really pinpoint what it is, but they have this life and spark about them that our team has connected with in a way that’s almost supernatural. They invite us into their homes and go out of their way to make us feel loved and welcome. Our times on our feedings in Samar usually last a lot longer than they should and they consist of/have consisted of
- Handing out “lugaw” of course
- Teaching the girls “give me a break” and the girls teaching me “chicken curry” in return (some intense hand-clapping games)
- Blowing up balloons and handing out stickers and candy
- Sitting and chatting with sweet Maribeth and her son Hilton
- Providing the school with much needed school supplies
- Teaching a dance lesson with twenty very attentive kids staring at me.. which then turned into the wildest dance party you can imagine
- Getting a dance presentation prepared for us by the kids of the community
- Waray lessons, being told to say “Maganda ako” over and over again (I am beautiful) only to hear the kids laugh their heads off
- Teaching a break dancing routine to Albert, worlds cutest Filipino dancer
Through these simple things the community blessed our team in ways we don’t even know how to communicate to them. I’m so thankful for the relationships we built there and the needs we were able to meet. Maribeth told us how much they looked forward to us coming every week and how we were different than other groups that had come before. It’s amazing what taking a genuine interest in someone’s way of living can do. This upcoming Wednesday will be our last time seeing them before leaving the Philippines.
A message from one of the girls, Marjorie, so sweet
And one from Stephanie.
