Compassion Trip #4 (Philippines 2013): Day 1, PH954 Bohol

Our first day, Sunday April 7, was a non-stop day, from start to finish. Looking back, if this had been my first overseas adventure, I don’t know how I would have gone, so I salute my travelling companions for making it through. Having spent the night in Manila, we began the day with another flight to an island 800km south east, called Bohol, where we would spend the next four days.

Bohol was a massive contrast to the hustle and bustle of Manila. There was less traffic and less crime, which made two big ticks in my book. Once we got off the plane, we headed straight for a Compassion Project. This is the name given to the place where sponsored children (and often parents) go, anywhere from once a week to five days a week to receive food, education, medical care, love, encouragement and, most importantly, the opportunity for a relationship with Jesus. Each Project has a unique identification code, based on its location and when it is registered.

During our trip, we were privileged to visit four Compassion Projects, in a combination of urban and rural areas. We were also able to visit the homes of four families connected with the Projects, visit the Compassion Office in Manila, and meet 6 LDP (Leadership Development Program) students and hear their stories.

This was our itinerary:
Day 1 (Sunday April 7): PH954 (CSP) Pagluam Sa Kabataan, Tagbilaran City, Bohol
Day 2 (Monday April 8): PH961, Word of Hope Church, Cogtong Candijay, Bohol
Day 3 (Tuesday April 9): PH959, Lift Up a Child Student Centre, Bugang UCCP Church
Day 4 (Wednesday April 10): Rest day – Bohol Bee Farm, beach/snorkelling
Day 5 (Thursday April 11): Fly back to Manila; Compassion Office visit; LDP Dinner
Day 6 (Friday April 12): Sponsor/child visit day at Manila Ocean Park
Day 7 (Saturday April 13): PH208 Marikina Foursquare Gospel Student Centre; Greenhills Market Visit (arvo), debrief

The Project we visited on Day 1 was called PH954, and we were here to observe the Child Survival Program (CSP) in action. Traditional child sponsorship programs have focused on supporting school-aged children. At some point, the good people at Compassion became aware of the need to address child mortality, and the importance of good health in the first five years of life in developing countries. Thus the CSP was born.

The CSP assists pregnant women and their babies up to 3 years of age with, among other things, health care, nutrition and hygiene. It is mainly home-based, where a staff member visits and assists the woman in her home. The mother is also taught income-generating skills, to help her lift herself out of poverty and give her children an opportunity at making a future for themselves. The CSP provides the “stepping-stone” to the CDSP (sponsorship program). Compassion knows if the child has spent the first three years of their life being cared for in the CSP, they are healthy and ready to enter the CDSP.

During the week, the procedure for when we arrived at each was pretty much standard.
- We arrived to a sea of beautiful, happy faces.
- Handshakes, hugs and high-fives followed, as we made our way into the church.
- There were a couple of testimonies from a parent and a child,
- The Project director and Pastor spoke
- There were some songs and performances from the kids and/or parents
- We finished with a performance from our group, which was led by me.

I made it clear from the start that I was happy to take a leading role in this area, having spent years as a music teacher. Also, a summer at Camp Tecumseh in Indiana in 2004 had given me an impressive repertoire of fun kids songs, some of which transcended language barriers. We had our first practise on the bus 10 minutes before arriving at the Project. Fortunately, this group was quite willing to abandon their inhibitions and make it fun for kids and adults alike. We performed “My God is So Big”, but the centrepiece and our unofficial “theme song” was an action song called “Baking a Cake”, which I have now taught to children in 13 countries.

At this project, a group of mothers performed a dance to the song “One Way, Jesus”. The toddler son of one of the mums came up on stage, trying to get her attention. He then brought a plastic chair on stage, and somehow got it stuck around his neck. He was taken care of by one of the Project workers, while the mum continued the dance, so keen was she to preserve her dignity and not disrupt the performance. ‘Twas quite funny.

The parent testimony at this Project was truly staggering and astonishing, not least by the fact it was given by a father. As is becoming more well-known and almost accepted, fathers are becoming more extinct and endangered, particularly in developing countries when it becomes apparent they cannot provide for their families. This father plucked up all the courage he could muster, stood in a church filled with mothers, babies, kids and foreign guests and shared his testimony. He was a factory worker, and used to beat and abuse his wife and kids (3 boys and a little girl). He contracted tuberculosis of the bowel, and became so sick he had to give his family to his brother, who was a Christian. During his illness, the father gave his life to God. He admitted it was initially an insurance policy, since he thought he was going to die. However, over time God healed him completely, and he stood in this church, completely vulnerable and open, and declared that he was a new creation, that God had set him free. This will stay with me for a long time.

After the official proceedings were over, it was now time to mingle (my favourite). The team was divided into three groups to enable us to interact with the mothers of the CSP and their babies. We were able to see them doing a cooking class, as well as making bags from cereal boxes, which they are able to sell to earn some money for themselves to provide for their family. Normally they use a sewing machine to put the bags together, but at the moment the machine is broken, so they were sewing by hand.

I’ll be honest and say that this session was way out of my comfort zone, and I took a long time to engage. I’m a single guy, and although I have nieces and nephews, engaging with women and very little kids of a different language and culture just seemed beyond my capabilities. I just didn’t feel like I could go up and start a conversation with them. Fortunately, and I’m sure it’s not sexist to say this, but the women of our group did a fantastic job of engaging and connecting with the mums and babies. I was in awe.

Eventually I got over myself and sat down next to a mum making a recycled-cereal-box-bag. We started a conversation with her and her shy friend, and it turned out I had chosen the cheekiest delight of a woman to engage with. Of course we ended up playing a guessing game about my age and then I faced the inevitable questions as to why I wasn’t married. I have become used to this by now, but my singleness at age 31 was greeted with particular surprise in the Philippinesmore than any other country I have visited.

After this it was time for a home visit, and we were once again divided into three groups. My group visited the home of the father who had shared his testimony at the church. I continue to shake my head at the courage of this man. The family, whose oldest son is sponsored, live in an elevated bamboo hut. I was invited inside the house. I didn’t stay inside for long. The floor was also made of bamboo, and in my running shoes I felt like I would fall through the floor. I know Filipinos are generally smaller, but I can’t imagine the logistics of six people living in that house. This family was so friendly, gracious at our presence, and so thankful for the difference God was using Compassion to make in their lives.

My group was also blessed to visit another family who lived two doors away. The incredibly young mum-of-four is part of the CSP. What struck me was her joy. They don’t have running water or walls on their house, but our hosts were cheerful and friendly, and our conversation was punctuated by giggles and cackles of laughter. This is purely the result of the hope that the help of Compassion gives.

That night we were able to attend the evening service of the church connected with the Project we had visited that day. One thing that was hard for me to get used to was people just chatting away during the service, and during the ceremony at the Project. We consider it a lack of respect, but that’s just the way they do things. The music was great, led by an all-female team of five, and the instruments were all up the back, high on the balcony. I had never seen that before. The message was hard to sit through, with the speaker effortlessly switching between English and his local dialect.

After church we enjoyed a dinner with some of the Compassion staff from PH954. I didn’t really connect with the staff on my table, but it wasn’t through lack of trying.

Thus endeth a very full and tiring Day 1.