Planning my return to the Philippines

Planning my return to the Philippines

21^st May 2007
I had many reasons for returning to the Philippines for a second time. They were:

Attend the Pulao Graduation
Done and dusted!
Catch up with folks in Dumangas
Done, but not quite how I thought it would work out.
Sort out a child to sponsor from Pulao
Done!
Check out Romblon
Also done.
Help out with a random project
Hard work but done!
Investigate the child trafficking problem and prostitution
Still a little embarrassed for going into such places, but done!

There is a slight update at the bottom of the Angeles page for those you are interested in such things.

All these activities were done against a backdrop of trying to work out what I was going to do when I return to the Philippines. I plan to save a ton of money in South Korea and then use this money to stay for something like two years in the Philippines. Food and accommodation should cost me about 1,000 pesos a week ($NZ 30).

So what do I plan to do?

Not base myself in Romblon

Romblon is beautiful. No doubt about it. But I don't think I can base myself there. One of the things I crave and enjoy is dormitory style living and hanging out with other volunteers. The accommodation in Romblon is typically in isolated home-stays. Lorelei and I stayed in the same house, which was cool. But Chris was a good hour or so away from us. Not so cool.

The nice thing about living in Dumangas, was that I stayed with a Filipino family and surrounded with other volunteers who were also staying with volunteer families. Eden had her own place that was nearby and this became a volunteer hangout. This is my perfect setup. I just can't see Romblon providing that.

Instead, I will live with this motley crew at the dormitory in Quezon City (Manila and Quezon City are basically one city). Some volunteers will stay there, some will stay there briefly on their way to Romblon. I suspect I will end up accompanying some of the volunteers to Romblon. A friendly white face can go a long way towards comforting nervous volunteers.

Human Rights stuff
While I was in Manila, my good mate Raymund was kind enough to hook me up with some human rights types. After talking to them for a bit and doing my own research I've come up with two Big Ideas to do when I get back.

Political Refugees
The current administration in the Philippines has killed around 900 people for politically motivated reasons. Here is one example of the type of nastiness they get up to.

Many of those currently targeted choose to live together in small communities where they can help and support each other. They know that if they return to the villages they will, at worst get shot, at best get endlessly harassed by government goons. Getting a job is next to impossible.

Which is where I come in. I plan to work with at least one of these communities and set up some sort of incoming generating projects with them. Something similar to www.GrassRootsUganda.com is envisaged. That way, they can stay in the relative safety of their compound, learn a craft, and then have it sold for them.
Child and Women Trafficking 6540
This article might have given you a clue about this plan.

This plan is a little bit harder to nail down. I'm not really sure what I will be doing, only that I will be getting involved.

A lot of young Filipina girls are shipped to South Korea and are forced to become either wives (read sex slaves) or prostitutes. I plan to help out on the Korean side of the "export" problem while I am in South Korea. Hopefully I'll learn a lot and be in a better position to help out when I get back to the Philippines.

So, that's my plan! I still have to work hard for a year in South Korea and earn some dosh before I can head back.

Do you like the work that I am doing?

Wanna help in a real and tangible way?

Then visit GrassRootsUganda.com and purchase some crafts made by Ugandan ladies. 100% of the profits are returned to the ladies

Questions? Comments? Try contacting me.
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(c) 2005, 2006 and 2007 Malcolm Trevena.
All the stuff on this site is written by me, Malcolm Trevena. Feel free to link to this page. Heck, you can even copy stuff from here if you want. Just make sure you sight me as a reference.