It's good to be back...

It’s only my third day back and already I feel like I never left! Getting off the plane at Davao it felt like I was here just yesterday but I think I’m more excited coming out this time than I was the first time. And, thankfully, the jetlag has been no-where near as bad…

I left the UK Friday evening and flew to Frankfurt for the flight out to Manila. I thought I’d been smart on the auto check-in by choosing a seat by the galley where you get a bit of extra leg room but as I got to my seat I realised that that extra bit of leg room can also accommodate a baby bassinette, and to my horror, I had parents with small children sitting either side of me. It was going to be a long flight!

But, amazingly, I fell asleep after dinner was served and didn’t wake up until we’d landed in Guangzhou! The plane changed crews and then it was just 3 hours to Manila. My friend at work had managed to book me into a hotel in Manila and I was collected from the airport and driven to the hotel by one of the hotel cars. Upon arrival the clerk on reception informed me that I had been upgraded from a Superior Double to a Deluxe Twin room, I now had a choice of 2 double beds to sleep in!

Knowing that this was probably the last time that I would have hot water for the next four months I ran myself a bath and soaked for a bit, and then showered for about half an hour and savoured every minute of it. I ordered a pizza, watched some TV and managed to sleep for 7 hours.

My flight from Manila to Davao was at 10.15 so I left the hotel early to go collect my ticket, remembering that Filipino’s rarely have a sense of urgency so I thought it best to allow some extra time. The flight down was just over an hour and a half and went without a hitch. I was met at the airport by Kuya Mang, Ben & Che Che and I felt like I was home (c:

I’m staying with the same family that I was before, although I’m in a different room this time. My room is teeny tiny but it feels like a little cocoon and I like it. I’ve started catching up with everyone and meeting the new SAW’s (Serve Asia Workers), I went and watched some of the drug rehab youth play tennis and went to have a bite to eat with them and just enjoyed their company. They’re really fun to be around.

This morning I headed into the community for the first time. As I got off the jeepney and walked down the road into the ramshackle muddle of shacks and tin roof homes I could feel tears come to my eyes, this is why I’m back here… I knocked on the door of the house where the pre-school is and was met by a sea of wide eyes and complete silence. Ka S, the teacher, gave me a huge hug and my heart just leapt, it was like being back with old friends. The children took a little while to get used to having me back but soon they were chatting away in Visayan and after a few verses of Old McDonald everything was just as it was.

After pre-school I went to join the feeding project that the team has started in this community. I’m really excited that the team (Taytayan) are getting more projects going there, it’s a really lovely, welcoming community and they are SO appreciative of our going there. Most of the children are malnourished so

the team has started a 3 month feeding project for 18 children from 0-3 so that they have a daily balanced meal and some milk. It was great to see so many kids eating together, they bring their own plates and spoons and sit at the tables that we use for pre-school. Some of them are brought by older siblings and the team make extra food so that they can eat as well, there was one boy there today who I thought was about 10 years old, turns out he’s 18!! I can’t comprehend what it must be like to not have 3 meals a day, or not knowing when you might next get to eat. It’s a different world…

I plan to spend the next week or so organising my new schedule and sorting out all the resource materials that I brought out. Tomorrow we meet with the drug rehab boys to see what they’d like us to do with them over the next few months, the community centre has been rebuilt now after the fire so it’ll be really different there. I can’t wait…