Can't Sleep So Here's Some More Photos...

Well, it's 2:30  am and I can't sleep, so I thought I'd catch up by posting some photos from Dumaguete.  The photo above is from my enthusiastic class at LCP - the Little Children of the Philippines, where Alana worked for two years in the Peace Corps.  Lovely folks.  Some of them are women who represent rural districts, as part of an empowerment program for women.
The gal in the front with two hands up on her head, she came back the next day and brought her niece who is still traumatized by a flood that wiped out her home.
We had an awesome session and then worked on the Aunt's Bell's Palsy.

Fun Facts on the Philippines:  If you squeezed the island nation into one land mass, it would be just slightly bigger than the state of Arizona, but would contain the population of our 5 biggest states: California, New York, Texas, Florida and that 5th one I can't remember.  That's a lot of folks.
Unfortunately, they've achieved a deforestation rate of about 95% and that's why the flooding is so horrific here.

And of course the cheapest land, or free land, is along the rivers.  Not good!



And here is my first, 2 day class at NORSU - Negro Oriental State University.  This was a much tougher class, with less participation.  Here I met the culture shock head on, and yet there were some folks here who I'm certain will take the teachings to their community in a very big way.  By the end I was so happy to be there.




Okay, this is a shopping mall in Manila.  I don't go to malls in the US much, so I'm not sure if this looks unusual or weird, but this is in a third world county, with beggars and families living on flattened cardboard on the sidewalk!  I saw them on the walk over to this place, which was super air conditioned, of course.
Alana, who has been here for two years, said "we still don't know who can afford to shop here".  We had a lovely dinner at one of the restaurants.  My first meal in the Philippines.  I took home leftovers and on the way back to our pension a little boy beggar tried to grab it from me!
Welcome to the third world, which is built upon vast disparity of income.