Monday

Here a picture of the pool I left off the previous blog entry.

Today was our last day in the Philippines. We leave with mixed emotions, sadness to leave our new found friends, pride in the successful completion of the infirmary, anticipation to get home and excitement to get back to school (I put that one in for Mr Cleary)

So today is our action packed shopping day, David and Peter could not be more excited about the prospect of 5 hours of shopping. We are being accompanied by 4 of the Sisters, to ensure we are safe and we get to the right price. We first visited Greenhill’s were the boys knew the lay of the land from our visit a week ago. An hour and a half here to quickly get the little bits we missed out on last time. After which we went to a larger more westernised mall (much the same as Westfield’s at home) there was no bargaining or bartering to be had, for some of the boys that was good for others not, depending how good you had become at haggling over the last weeks. There was not as much bought as the hype may have indicated, I think this was due to physical size of our bags and the lumming 20kg bag weight limit. With our retail therapy satisfied we jumped on our coaster for the crawl out of Manilla, towards the airport.

The check in was strict but we had it all covered due to the forward planning of Pip and the direction on the ground from Margie. Once in the terminal there is not a lot to do, 6 or so duty free shops many out of our price range. Our plane was an hour delayed but our boys were not perturbed, maybe the Filippino approach to time has been rubbed on them. Once on board the flight was uneventful and as expected. You think your sleeping but really you just toss and turn for 6 hours with your eyes shut, wondering if you will be able to get an appointment with your Chiropractor tomorrow. We all got through customs without incident; maybe it was the riffle club in front of us that made us look like angles? It was wonderful to see the smiling proud parents at the airport; I think our teenage males were even a little emotional, I said a little.

The boys are and should be proud of themselves the way they; worked on the building, conducted themselves, got on as a group, bounded with the children, respected the Filippino people, adhered to times and boundaries. It was a pleasure to travel with them and I am confident that when they put themselves forward for leadership position in our school next year, the College will be the better for their involvement and leadership.

It is my hope that the boys learnt through first hand experience that; if you start with an idea, establish it is achievable, plan for its execution, work steadily, be prepared for things to go wrong, be flexible to make changes, work hard, be focused on the goal, enjoy yourself along the way, work as part of a team and reflect on your progress. It does not matter whether it is sport, school, studies and in the future work, as with ‘Augustinian Orphanage Project’ if you apply the above model you will be successful.

To my colleges, thank you. You have made the good times great and the tough times bearable. Without your involvement this project would not have been the success that it was. Thank you for giving up your time, especially David and Peter who were on the ground long before us. Thank you for working tirelessly and setting that example to the students. Thank you for your company and the laughs shared.

I was going to write the last blog last night however the call of one’s own bed and pillow won out. It now seems appropriate that I be doing the last blog entry for this trip on ANZAC day, a day where Australians pay respect to the men and woman who have sacrificed to make this country great. I believe that after the last 3 weeks away all will have a new found respect for the ANZAC’s and a revised patriotism for being Australian. With all the natural resources and opportunities this land comes with.

Peter and I were privileged to have a talk with Sister Jade and 75 year old nun who was being shown through the completed infirmary on Sunday. She was very pleased with the result and full of gratitude to the team. She told us that this was a gift of love and not a gift of charity. At the orphanage they try to teach the children the difference between gifts of love and charity. Often charity is material objects and while they are needed, it is the gifts of love that sustain people for much longer than material offerings. I was disappointed that the boys were not present to hear this first hand as I knew that I would not be able to give justice to her words in passing them on later. This was wisdom that comes from years of first hand; experiences, reflection and dedication.

Over the next couple of weeks I will aim to collate all of the photos taken on the trip, as well as produce a dvd from the video footage. This will be passed onto the touring members as a physical reminder of their experience. However as Sister Jade would have me believe these are merely physical reminders of the experience, it is hoped that the emotion memories that cannot be burnt to disc or printed on paper will last much longer.

God Bless
Craig Jeffery


Prayers of St. Ignatius Loyola

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

Sunday

This morning 6 boys and I made an early morning (5am) run to markets, to by fish for this evening’s dinner. We got jeepnees in, as they are more comfortable than trike bikes and they cost 7 compared to 30 piso. The boys were surprised to see that the markets were just food. We made our way to the produce section; I spared them the meat section, as I know a couple of would struggle with the sites and smells that would confront them. The fish section is cleaner, as there is a lot of water flushing the tables. There was still some sites to be seen, the question was raised ‘how fresh are these fish?’ And without words it was answered as we passed a stall that had live fish flipping around on the table, this stall went one step further, as the lady while talking to her friend, fillets the live fish with a meat clever in front of you. It was about this time that a couple of the boys decided to go outside for some air. All in all we had fun however the 5 am start made it a very long day.

Craig

Today was an incredibly busy day. We met the TMMR children for Mass where we were welcomed by the Parish Priest and thanked for our work at the centre. We then went to the Paradise Resort, an assortment of pools with slides and a large wave pool, where we joined about 2000 Filipinos for the day of rest!! When they announced the wave pool was about to commence, the excitement and volume of the crowd began to build. Imagine a thousand people in an Olympic pool with more inflatable PVC than you’ve ever seen in your life! Then add 12 water savvy Aussies. For the next 25 minutes it’s like corks bobbing in the ocean every time a ‘wave’ came the roar of excitement goes up from the anticipating crowd. Our boys were fantastic as they looked after the young TMMR kids who hung onto their necks while they braved the waves. As the last wave is released, the crowd leaves the pool like punters exiting a footy match, each with their own stories of survival.

We then headed to TMMR for the blessing of the new building followed by a program (concert) and dinner.

There was a plethora of nuns, who came to inspect the new building. The boys displayed it proudly as the nuns thanked us profusely. During the blessing, Sr Niceta announced the name of the building; “Friendship Cottage” to recognise the bond between St Augustine’s College, the Sisters of Consolation, and all at TMMR. Fr Jimmy, the local PP came over for the blessing where he officially opened the building. This was followed by a great dinner of fish (from this morning’s market adventure) and then many tears as the boys said farewell to their new friends. The bond of friendship was mutual and therefore farewells were hard, for in reality these new found friends may never meet again.

The site took on a new look at night, with the white light coming out of the windows and the yellow through the bathroom skylight.

Margie et al.

Two more sleeps. that's if the boys sleep on the plane?

Saturday

This morning Peter and I caught a trike for the 9 km trip to TMMR. We wanted to finish off all of the structural bits before the team turned up to finish all the little bits. We introduced the Nuns and the children to the Australian tradies alarm clock, 6.30 Peter starts cutting door trimming on the drop saw and I was cutting strips with the circular saw. At that time of the morning there was a peaceful calm over the site. The delicate sunrays shone through what in Australia would be a fog but here was smoke, none the less it looked great.
Craig.

At 8.30, shift two arrived. We were under the rule of Commandant McLean. We had one job description. To finish off the job! We began by cleaning all the walls, windows, ceilings, skirting boards, architraves, in fact every surface. My standard of clean was not the same as theirs, but they soon learned. After this we started “No more gapping” this continued for hours until we heard the dulcet tones of Mr McLean preparing paint and brushes. Time for painting the internal woodwork. Most of us decided to forego our afternoon siesta to get the job done. By 3pm we were exhausted, but the beds were to be made. After a few minutes discussion on the plans they were made and set up in the rooms. The Infirmary looks great. Sr Rose, Tita (The Social Worker) and some of the children came in for an impromptu inspection. They were so excited and many decided that they felt sick and were so lucky to have a great place to get better.

Tomorrow is a day of rest! We finish the day with a formal blessing, followed by a celebration, farewell dinner. What an experience!
We have discovered that on Fridays the Internet goes down (and some mobile coverage.)

Margie

As Margie mentioned we have a very busy couple of days ahead of us. Tommorow I am taking a group to the 5am markets, as i offered to supply the fish for tommorrow blessing dinner, then we are going to mass with the children, then swimming at a better pool with more slides with the children, then back to TMMR for the opening and blessing, then our fish feast and then a program which means a sort of concert, a huge day. On Monday we pack n check out, and then hit the shops before we head to the airport to check in and fly.

So as you can see our next couple of days are full and with the internet becoming rarer and rarer (i am presently sitting in an underground internet cafe surrounded by young men who have spent way too much of their lives playing computer games) this maybe my last entery before we get home. I will take notes and place the last 2 enteries when the access and time are available. Thank for sharing this journey with us, all of the boys will have their own stories and experiences, this blog has been mine and the observations of those around me.

God bless and see you back in the lucky country.

Craig

Friday

If you have ever been involved in a building or renovation job, you will know that the last 5% of the job is often the hardest to complete. You always tell yourself that you’ll do that little bit of skirting in a couple of weeks (which ends up being 2 weeks before you sell) we don’t have that luxury of time, so we are pushing on to ensure all of the little bits are done now, for we know if we leave them that is how they will remain.

Because most of today’s work was internal, it started to get a little crazy in there a couple of times, so we decided to split the team. Half would stay and finish off all of the internal with Peter and I while the other half would return to the hotel to rest and visit the markets with David and Margie. The aim tomorrow is that the rested students will return to finish off the bits of painting and the others will have their turn to rest and shop.

David and Sister Rose went shopping for plants, they returned with 4 x3m palm trees and 4 hedge shrubs. They all looked great and instantly transformed the site, when I discovered how little the plants cost (comparatively to Australian prices) I decided to get the same amount again
The internal team worked like champions, Andrew, Mat. M, Jesse, Bayden, Max and Max have worked tirelessly and without complaint for 4 x 9 hr days on the internal fit out. Our aim was to get it all done by 5 ish so we could go back to BarCIE mission done. As hard as we tried we were not able to get that last bit done. It did not seem as hot today, or maybe it was hotter and I was hallucinating it was cooler, hard to know. We (i include myself in that) really hit the wall physically and mentally this arvo, at one point i notice that my motor skills were shot, at that stage went and hosed the plants for 10 minutes to clear my head. I do know that Mother Nature sent through a ‘congratulations’ at about 4.30 with a cool breeze, as if to reward the boys for a job well done.

Craig

Thursday

Sorry the last entry Tuesday was Wednesday, I have lost track of days long ago.

Another hot, busy day on site. Slave Driver Dave McLean was on incidentals again, a job the boys relish. It involves anything from moving garbage, painting, hauling rocks and ‘landscaping’. The boys now wear ‘a day with Dave’ as a badge of honour.

Craig was still on the internal walls (a job no one thought would take this long, the last panel of the three and half days stint was the one that broke Max Wood’s spirit. That panel felt the wrath of one angry gymnast. Many had a turn at this job over the past few days but only Max W and Max Burgess stuck it out. Well done!!

Peter’s team was still ‘architraving’ the doors and windows. If Pete could, he would close his eyes at the imperfections and inaccuracies that surround him. Yesterday he said he wouldn’t “pay anyone!” We reminded him that they are not builders, just Year 11 students ‘having a go.’ Phot show Matrty Moore proudly displaying his window skirting.

In building the infirmary, we know it will be used and valued by all at TMMR, however today we had a wonderful experience of seeing instant results. Tina is a beautiful young 15 year old at TMMR. As she was missing four front teeth she was hesitant in conversations and would hang back, covering her mouth and self consciously grinning rather than smiling. Last week Philippa and Julie were out with Sr Nicete. In their discussion they mentioned Tina, Sister told them her story, and that it would cost $3000 pisos ($75 AUD) to give her a denture. When they returned and told us, the St Aug staff’s instant reaction was, “let’s fix it before we go home.” So the six of us threw in the money and passed it onto the Sisters. This was kept a surprise from Tina until this week. The delight on her face when we arrived on Tuesday was incredible. This is a small excerpt from the thankyou note she wrote to thank us, “In God graces, my wishes to have a denture .. to make me beauty smile… now my God answer…. You’re the instrument of my wishes to have a denture… Again, a million thank yous. Thank you, thank you, God bless you always. love Tina (friend forever).
Today we arrived to see a different girl. She was beaming. (See photo)And proudly showing off her new teeth. It’s such an important age for all young people, we feel we have made an enormous difference to this one young girls life.

So whether it’s fixing a child’s smile or building an infirmary for a community….

One Hundred Years from now (excerpt from "Within My Power" by Forest Witcraft)
One Hundred Years from now It will not matter what kind of car I drove, What kind of house I lived in, how much money was in my bank account nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a better place because I was important in the life of a child.

We feel this quote is relevant to the Augustine Orphanage Project

P.S. Any thoughts on the name of the building?
Suggestions so far include, “House of pain” – after a brutal day on the hammers (Craig). “The Infirmary” (Andrew). “The Esky”, “The White House” “Kangaroo Cottage” “Rose Cottage” and other names, too bizarre to mention here.

PP.S Jesse took the opportunity to enjoy the bathroom areas that he and Andrew have been working on for 2 days.

Margie & Craig

Tuesday

This morning we far welled Phillipa and Julie who fly home tomorrow. They and Margie are spending today with the Sister’s at the motherhouse (which I think is code for shopping). Staying the night at the motherhouse and then probably a little more retain therapy in the morning, before jumping on the friendly kangaroo to return home. I would like to thank personally and on behalf of the touring group these 2 lovely ladies. Our boys and the orphans appreciated their generosity of spirit. Safe travels girls; see you back in Sydney town.

I know I have been harping on about ‘the first couple hours of work in the morning’ for a couple of entries, tonight I think I may be able to put it into a popular culture context. I the movie Arnold Schwarzenegger movie ‘predator’, Arnie is hiding under a log and the injured predator is above him, some green blood drips on the log and Arnie looks at it in disbelief. This morning I was working along with my internal wall sheet possie the Max’s (Wood and Burgess) and these 20 cent size drops of water are dropping all around me, in disbelief I had a look to see if the predator was on the new erected ceiling, but no it was just sweat from me. In a mosaicistic sort of way, if you think of it as a; detox, weight lose boot camp it is quite enjoyable.

Today was a great day. All of the boys really dug in deep. We had a meeting last night and discussed the urgency that we would like to see for the final 3 days of building, to ensure that we leave infirmary, as we would like it for ourselves. To the boys credit today they delivered.
Internal walls – the Max’s and I, bathroom walls- Mr Jones, Jesse and Andrew, No more gaps – Eddie, Roofing – Mat Moore, David and Bayden, Chain gang – Mr Mclean, Chris, Tom and Mat Lee, Tim had a rdo. Everyone stuck at their jobs, regardless of how hard or monotonous it was and as result it was a good day as things got done.

To describe today’s photos.
#1, in a former life David McLean was one of those guys with the wipes who were responsible for the pyramids being built on time. As Chris and tom discovered. Tom bet $5 it would not work, he lost.
#2, Jesse and Andrew worked under ‘Jones the builder’ who continues to insist on excellence of craftsmanship regardless. To the boys credit the bathroom and the toilet look fantastic.
#3, like a rodeo rider tipping his hat to the bull as sign of respect or Yoda passing on he light saver to a young Jedi. Andrew was payed the ultimate compliment when he was allowed to wear ‘Jones the builder’s’ felt hat.
#4, our aesthetic yet functional covered polycarbonate walkway connecting the infirmary to existing building. We plan to plant out either side of the walkway. In that Australian Jamie Durry ideal, of the outdoor room.

Peter is concerned that the pictures do not accurately show how hot it is, so we have devised a visual experiment for tomorrow. Stay tuned.

At dinner with sister Niceta last night we started to brainstorm a name for the infirmary. I want tell you our ideas as it may influence your creativity. Please if you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them and we’ll through them in the ring for consideration.

6 more sleeps and we’ll be home.

Craig

Tuesday

When we first arrived, Dave McLean told us that the weather has turned unseasonably cool. (It was 35 degrees plus, but there was a slight breeze.) We thought he was joking. This week we have had the true Filipino summer. Craig has taken to measuring the heat by how far the sweat soaks down his clothes; today was a new record – 2 cm from the bottom of his three quarter shorts!! The heat takes its toll on the work output, especially after lunch. We are trying to work a fine balance with work commitments and spending time with the children. This afternoon, many of the boys spent some quality time teaching the TMMR kids to ride their bikes around the local streets, which is fantastic on one hand, yet tomorrow we will have to pick up the pace to ensure we meet our deadline.

While the kids played with bikes, Sister Rose and Sister Nicete put on the College backpacks and burst into song with “I love to go a wandering.”

Tonight Sisters Nicete, Pinky and Florien, and our new friend Mercy joined us for a special farewell banquet. We feasted on amazing coconut prawns, fresh crabs, ginger beef and Singapore noodles, followed by fresh mangoes, rock melon and water melon.

Today was the last day with Pip and Julie at Malalos. Saying goodbye to all at TMMR was a teary experience. Tomorrow morning, as the boys board the bus for the worksite, no doubt there will be more tears. Thanks girls for your work and friendship over the past few weeks. We’ll miss you.

Margie

Monday

We have run out of adjectives to describe the heat, suffice to say today was brutal. Myself, I find the mornings to be the hardest as we hop of the air conditioned bus in clean clothes refreshed and ready for work and are hit with a wave of heat unfamiliar to us Aussies. You can literally see the sweat runners running down the chest and nose within minutes. Once your shirt is saturated and you are into your work routine you don’t seem to notice the heat after that first hour.

With that said today’s blog entry is going to be short and clinical as myself and the other 17 team members are stuffed and trying to conserve energy for the next 5 days of work.

The boys enjoyed a lot of interaction with the children today, filling out descriptions of themselves that the children had prepared, reading books, playing table soccer, having nap time with the kids and engraving their names in the wet concrete which had been prepared by Bayden and David.

Today we covered the eaves, put two ceiling in, painted the skirtings & constructed the covered walkways between the two buildings. We had two members down with tummy issues, so after a days rest at the hotel they are now comfortable and ready for work tomorrow. Despite the gruelling conditions all worked well, dinner was great and all are looking forward to an early night so they can be on deck tomorrow.

By tomorrow all of the exterior will be finished and then we can concentrate on the interior fit out.

Craig Jeffery

Sunday

Today the pollution was very high, which has made the temperature very hot, more so than any other day. Unfortunately, our lovely blue pool has turned lime which will soon turn brown, and then will take another 3 days to turn blue.

Today we split our team into 2; the SASS (Saint Augustine’s Secret Service) and the MNMC (mass n market crew). We could not afford to have a day off, so today a small team was chosen to go in and do a small amount of work, this is where the SASS was formed. A preliminary team Craig, Tom and Andy jumped on a tricycle at 7.30, the 3 of us smashed onto one bike which then squealed like a shot pig for the 20 min ride to the Church near TMMR. Were we went to Mass with the orphans. Whilst Team A was busy in a full Filipino Mass Team B consisting Pete, Dave, Jesse, David and Edward discreetly slipped into TMMR and started painting and fitting door jambs. For us it was a rest day as we only worked for 3 hours not 8 as per normal. While a lot was not done today the sight is prepared for all 12 boys and 6 staff to be fully employed tomorrow, walkway, eaves, painting the skirtings and fitting. Roger drove us back to Barcie Hotel, as a reward to the SASS team I took them to the Australian café and we enjoyed Sydney Harbour Bridge burgers and hot chips.

The MNMC main objective was to try & attend a mass in English and complete shopping at the markets for DVD’s. Our attempts to find an English Mass have not been very successful so we have resigned ourselves to participating in Filippino. Attempts to find DVD’s has been much more successful. We find the boys have discovered DVD’s that contain 12 movies for 80 pisos ($2.00). Due to the extreme heat today, even mad dogs and Englishmen got jeepneys or trikes back to their cool hotel rooms for an afternoon of R & R.

The boys were given a very relaxed day, as the next 6 days will be full on!!!

The way things are at TMMR

Some have asked about the bikes and the backpacks. We’ll try and explain the make up of TMMR. This centre was set up initially by Sr Nicete and Sr Rose to look after street kids (this was the original mission of the founding sisters Mothers Consuelo and Rita).

The children come from all walks of life; some have been abandoned by their parents (one in a shopping mall, another thrown from the family home into a canal). They have been witnesses to drugs, poverty, neglect and abuse. Living at TMMR is the best thing that has happened to these children. They are safe, clean, cared for and loved. Sr Rose (aged 78) is in charge; she has a wonderful team around her, Sisters Cecile and Elfin (who renewed their vows yesterday), Rosemary and Maria, who keep food on the table for all of us each day and Roger, our main man! He drives us around, helps us continually, does all the ‘man’ jobs around the centre and is a wonderful male role model for the children, in fact his own wife and child live in the southern provinces and he only sees them at Christmas.

The Centre receives no money from the government and all its day-to-day costs come from donations (remembering that while we are here they are providing lunch for at least an extra 20 people every day.) The surrounding neighbours are generous and supply them with some veggies and rice etc. Our Lenten Efforts from St Augustine’s each year provide them with cash to buy food for most of the year. There is no money for extras including doctors, dentists or what we would consider day-to-day luxuries. The children receive a small cake of soap and use it to its last bit and then write a letter to Sr. Rose asking for a new cake of soap, this also applies to pencils, therefore there is no wastage, and even garbage is recycled, including all our building off cuts. What we take for granted, is a luxury for these children and Sr Rose is very conscious of not wanting to spoil the children with a lifestyle they can’t sustain.

We arrived to build a much needed infirmary and whilst unpacking it was overwhelming for them to watch all the goods coming out of the container. The Sisters were away on retreat and we were unaware of the potential impact this would have on the children, we did not know how things are done at the centre. There were bikes, toys, stuffed animals and kids everywhere. There were more ‘things’ for the kids coming out of the container than most had seen in their lifetimes!

This is an experience for us, but this is a life for them and we have to be sympathetic to how life will be for them once we leave. This may seem extreme to us but these children are happy, polite, sociable and humble. So apart from day 1, a few bikes have been used but not all at once and safety is the main issue so the children are not injured in any way as there is no money for medical needs. We have given Sister many boxes of toys, educational resources and bikes etc and she will use them as she sees fit. And we as the visitors respect that.

To hear about this place from others and then to be a small part of its daily routine are very different things. The children are Sr Rose’s highest priority and she is their Lola (grandmother) and they love and respect her. She is giving these children a future.

Pip and Margie

Saturday

Today was not a workday, but that is not to say we had the day off. Today we had 3 things on our agenda; to attend the final profession of Sister Joanne’s vows; to go shopping for gifts at Greenhill’s shopping centre and to visit sister Gavie’s school for dinner and a game of basketball with her students.

The boys looked great in their school uniform, which they seemed to wear with pride. The girls and us guys scrubbed up all right as well. We felt like we were off to the races, especially as fashion sense has not been high on our list of priorities for the last week or so. We left the hotel at 7.30 and got the bus to the mother house in Manila (about an 1 ¼ away)
A couple of the boys were still not entirely sure what the purpose of the mass was, so when we explained it again, they interpreted it as sister Joanne was marring God. Which seemed right. We were given prime position at the front, sensibly for function reasons we were seated on the side, as the locals would not have been able to see over us.
Philippno’s are very religious and I knew there masses would be long especially with the addition of this important occasion. The mass went for just under 2 ½ hours. The boys were extremely well behaved and respectful of the occasion. They did themselves proud and were fine ambassadors for the college.
The service was lovely and it was great that we were able to be there to witness the service and add our support to our friend sister Joe. The girls must have had something in their eye, as they seemed to be using a few tissues. Sister Joe is always up bet and friendly but today she was even more so and to use the boy’s description of the event, she was a glowing bride.
We had lunch at the motherhouse after the ceremony, which was great; again for the sake of some of the boys, this was the reception after the wedding. We felt very privilege to be there with Sister Joanne’s family and fellow sisters. The food was great, until we discovered (after we had finished our lunch) that the beef stroganoff that we had enjoyed, was not in fact beef, it was ox tongue. Its funny how something you enjoyed in ignorance 10 minutes ago, suddenly was not that good? The wise Mr David McLean has learnt in his 4 weeks here in the Philippines “sure avoid, if you are not” that is Yoda talk for if you are not sure, avoid, wise words for us young and enthusiastic/

Some of the boys struggled with the fine print associated with the vows taken by Religious; poverty, chastity and obedience. There were many inquisitive and constructive conversations held on the bus between the motherhouse and Greenhill’s shopping centre. This shopping centre consisted of both market style stores as well as a department type area, like paddy’s markets and Westfield’s side by side. The market area was broken up into 4 main areas; jewellery, shoes, clothes and mobile phones. I know why Elmelda Macros had so many shoes, of concern is I think some of our boys have taken her lead, not mentioning any names – Tom Hill. The clothes section was so big and full. I saw a pretty shirt for my daughter, I learnt that if you saw something you liked, you had to impulse buy it or you would never find it again. Sorry Cleo, like a good fishing story, I’ll talk up how good it was but you’ll never know. While we could have stayed there for many more hours, the boys seemed be got most, if not their entire gift shopping requirements covered in one foul swoop.

I don’t want to spoil your present surprises, just know that the boys were very careful about choosing appropriate presents for you all. They soon mastered the art of bartering (some more so than others) Myself I found the disinterested walk away the most effective and least confrontational, normally in 3 casual steeps you could have 50% cut from the original asking price.

Like sea gulls squawking of a prized chip, they were all excited to show off their purchases. Occasionally this excitement was destroyed by the knowledge that someone else had got the same item for 100 piso cheaper. Which sounds a lot but at the end of the day is $2.50 AUS.

Back onto the bus and over to Sister Gavie's school. Sister Gavie was at St Augustine’s before Sister Joanne. She had invited us for dinner and to playa game of basketball against her school team. We had a lovely meal, followed by some dancing. We all attempted and subsequently embarrassed ourselves trying to do a tradition Philippino dance were you basically jump in and out of bamboo stick which are being banged and moved by other people, all to music. No one escaped trying musical elastics with sticks, not even Fr Tony Banks.

They looked very deck out and professional compared to our motley crew of players and ring ins. The game was a friendly game, however you know how boys and testosterone work, you can’t play for plays sake, there has to be a winner and a loser. It looked pretty even to me so I’m going to call it a tie. There was even compitition from the spectariors, the gentle natured Philippino’s cheered on their team, but they were soon introduced to ‘saints on 3, 1, 2, 3 SAINTS’.

Back on the bus and home James. Got back to the hotel about 8. The boys are tired after another long day. Tomorrow is a rest day however I have assembled a little swat team for a covert operation, can’t say too much as the Sisters may be monitoring this blog.
Craig Jeffery

Friday

Last night Peter, David and I sat down to assess the schedule for the building. While we are not behind time we are concerned that the energy levels of the boys have started to decline (understandably) after 5 days of building. So rather than running ourselves into the ground and then not having an opportunity to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labours, before we have to return to Australia. We have decided to reorganise our dates. The reality of our preposed break to Villa Escordaro is that it will be a 5-hour bus trip each way. This means that a 2-day holiday ends up being 1 when you take out travel. So we have decided to cancel this trip as the building is our number 1 priority and if time is up our sleave at the end of the building being complete we will look into doing a more local trip.
When we pitched our intentions to the boys at our meeting last night they understood and agreed with our rational.

Today we met the Children at a Resort at 8.30. It had three pools of varying sizes, with slides. The TMMR kids were so excited as this is a very special treat for them. The Aussie boys were just as excited, because they were not working this morning, and there were slides to be ridden, and young kids to entertain.

For a few hours Chaos reigned. 24 kids screaming and laughing and taking over the slides in the big pool. Some of the TMMR kids were decked out in floaties, with varying degrees of ability. That didn’t stop them joining the Aussies on the slides. It was a joy to watch the boys encouraging these frightened kids down the slides and catching them as they hit the water, or holding them carefully as they slid down together, in twos, threes and fours. After a while the TMMR kids were overtaking our boys on the stairs and sliding down unaccompanied much to everyone’s delight. By the time we left, we had one little boy (Christian) in tears as he saw the resort fade into the distance.
It was lovely to see to boys look after the children, making sure they were having fun and also felt safe. Pip, David and Margie ran swimming lessons, trying to teach the children some of the basics. Pip noted that Australian children pick up swimming easier as they have from an early age been used to having they head under water, were as the children have not and therefore struggle. The boys introduced the children and the locals the concert of the whirlpool in the hexagonal 5o cm deep pool, they were very efficient at their goal but I’m not sure what the children made of it? It was a great morning for us and for the children

Back to TMMR, just in time for lunch and then, back to cladding. The thought was daunting however; within a few minutes we had all hands on deck. It was a great work environment with everyone applying themselves to the tasks at hand. We almost completed the cladding and have painted three coats on the exterior of half the building.

The boys are maintaining their respect for the hammer. Necessity is the mother of invention; therefore the challenge was given to design a way to protect your thumb from the inevitable thwack. The boys soon learnt that leather; foam, plastic and packing are no match for the metal face of a hammer. After Craig and Matt M split their thumbs open, the ultimate solution was found, to use pliers to hold the nails so the thumb is four inches away from the impact zone. You have to realise that in the external cladding there are over 700 nails and all required about 7 hits to break through the Masonite and then 3 to hit it into the frame. All are hammered in by hand. That is 7000 opportunities to hit your thumb. “If you ain’t bleeding, you’ve been bludging.”

The aim of this afternoon was to finalise all our unfinished tasks: the roof, the cladding and to clean the site ready for the internal fit out. I am pleased to say that we achieved all of this by 4 and had a well-deserved early mark. Tomorrow is an action packed day, sister Joanne’s final vows, shopping and basketball & dinner at Sister Gavy’s school.

Margie & Craig Jeffery

P.S. Thanks to all who’ve managed to write a comment on the blog. The boys love hearing from you and their faces light up when they hear from you.


Hi All,

Big shout out to my little brother Mark, who turned 13 on Wednesday,
Thanks to dad for the timing belt, and Mum and Claire, I miss you both heaps.
Happy birthday little man, I’ll see you all soon.

Tim Woodhouse


Hey everyone

We are all stupidly tired, this project is pushing us all to our limits but the happiness we all see in the kids makes it all worthwhile.
Looking forward to seeing everyone when I get back!
Love Tom Hill


Hello to all

It’s been a tough couple of days, but one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. It’s amazing how quickly the building is being made before our eyes. Miss u all the family. By the way, you are allowed to write back, mum.

Andrew Connell


Hello family,
BOOYA.
From your loving son chris

Thursday

We start each day with a good breakfast at 7pm. By 8am we are on the bus to TMMR (The orphanage). We are usually at work by 8.30am.

Today was mainly spent on external cladding, a precise job which takes much man power, lots of measuring and nailing. The boys have been fabulous the way some of them can stick to a real building job for hours in extreme conditions. Today these boys learnt to respect and fear the hammer. Even after many had named theirs, (Excalibur, MC, Princess, Bolty, Nugget and lightening (who started this off).

Normally the staff at TMMR have ‘snacks’ for the boys at around 9.30, however as sometimes it’s difficult to get the boys back to work, today we decided to work through, as the boys are very good at stopping when they feel tired or need some water.

At 11.30 am the Lunch bell rings. All the children rush to wash up and be ready standing behind their places at the table. As we all arrive into the big kitchen, the children lead us in prayer, and with a beautiful good morning, we all sit down to eat together. The nuns, the staff, the Aussies, the children and usually half a dozen other visitors. It’s a real Augustinian community affair.

After lunch the Philippinos all have a siesta and they think we are mad to continue working in the midday sun – they’re right! The nuns always try to convince us to rest, that it’s too hot. So we encourage the boys to take a break, but when some are trying to rest and others choose to play cricket around them, it’s a good indication that they’re not tired. So we steer them in the direction of some light work.

Today was our fourth full day in a row and the boys are starting to feel it. We are looking at strategies of keeping the boys on task and meeting our targets.

By about 3pm we are all showing signs of fatigue. The sun has swung around the building and whilst working on the exterior, there is no escaping it. The outside of the building is nearly done, we have a little more cladding and the painting has begun. To an outsider they might think the whole project is almost completed, however we are only half way. There is so much more yet to do. The interior walls, ceilings and the interior fit out is yet be started, and the linking of the new building to the old.

The project has been an extremely worthwhile one. In the midst of hard work and heat exhaustion the boys say how fantastic this experience is and some have expressed a desire to return in the future to check up on the project.

The boys openly acknowledge how fortunate their lives are. They have homes, food, beds, education and loving families who have supported them in this adventure.

P.S. they’re all well behaved, no one has taken ill, everyone is still talking to everyone else and there is still the sound of laughter coming down the third floor corridor in the BarCIE hotel.

Margie Mac

Wednesday

Wednesday April 11th dawned as each Philippino day dawns, hot, hot and hot. Today was day three of construction and that meant roofing. Combine heat and white metal roofing and you get more heat. By lunchtime we had dragged half the roof into position and had it loosely pinned in place. I was not feeling much like celebration but these Augustinians have a way of changing the mood.

This came in the form of Chris Downey’s happy birthday songs. If you can imagine walking out of an inferno into a cool kitchen filled with 15 children and half dozen (a gaggle) of nuns singing three different birthday songs, all the while smiling and clapping, well you can see how that might lift the old spirits.

After lunch a breeze came up, the remainder of the roofing was put up and Fr Tony Banks, Fr Peter Jones, Sr Joan and Sr Josie showed up. Things were looking up.

The electrician was installing the lights and power. Bert the carpenter had a team of men finishing the sewer system, Peter Jones the builder was putting up wall sheets and the building was looking good.

I know what you’re saying. What about the boys? Oh…the boys!
They have been the star attraction from the first day. These boys are Trojans. They work all day in that heat and when they finish they take about ten seconds to recover and then launch into some equally energetic relaxation activity. Without their enthusiasm for work and willingness to learn we would have sunk into the heat haze. In his book Candide Voltaire writes “let us work without arguing, that’s the only way to make life bearable.” The boys appear to have discovered a very valuable lesson while here. Life for the average Philippino is extremely difficult. In that context of difficulty the Philippino people prosper. They work without arguing and that is what our boys are doing. I am extremely proud to be associated with them.

Philippinos are warm, friendly and happy people. I have spent four weeks here now and they have made me feel completely welcome.

After work it was time to continue with that birthday…. A surprise party for Chris at Jollibee’s (??????) At dinner that night Sr Nicete and Sr Pinky brought the most amazing cake and we celebrated some more.

After Dinner a few boys took part in a dancing lesson. Yes a real dancing lesson with a real “Professor of Dance” the flamboyant Emile. Imagine this if you can. 99% humidity in an external gym/shed. There were a dozen young Aussie boys and some staff learning the Cha-Cha and then the Rumba. Their enthusiasm for the sport was incredible as we shasse’d across the floor, complete with expressive arm movements. The video ransom demands are being discussed as we write. Hats off to the boys for taking on a real challenge and talking of continuing this sport when they arrive home!!