3 -H Project and other things

Friday started by using Skype to talk to and see Janice.  It was good to here her voice and see her face.  The technology to make this happen is incredible.  I remember going to the World’s Fair in Flushing NY in 1964 and seeing an exhibit by Bell Telephone on how the future phone would have pictures.  I remember thinking that this seemed like an impossible task given the size of TVs at the time. But in less than fifty years this is now available to anyone with internet access.

Today we were off to Antipolo.  In particular we went to Calawis School to see the early stages of the 3-H Grant Project that the district has to improve self-sufficiency and the environment.  Here they are growing seedlings of Giant Bamboo to give to the local people that live in the mountains.  They will be able to plant the bamboo and in 5 years they will be able to harvest it as a crop.  The bamboo grows to be very large and can be used in furniture making and construction.  In addition, after harvesting the bamboo, it will grow back and make another crop.  The program also includes a vermiculture project that will be used to reduce waste that needs to be disposed of for the local indigenous people.  At this time, vermiculture compost is the most valuable type of compost because it is so nutritious for the soil. So there is another source of potential income for this very poor community.  In addition, they will be able to use the compost for there own organic gardening needs.

Last year, District 3830 did a GSE with a Rotary Club in Philadelphia.  As a result of the teams visit to this school and seeing the need for more math text books, they collected used text books from the US and shipped to the Rotary Club of Makati San Lorenzo, which is the lead club in this 3-H project.  We were fortunate enough to be able to share in their delivery and see how excited the principal and teachers were to receive them.

At lunch we went to Eduardo’s. This type of eatery is called a turo turo, which means, point – point.  And that is how you order the food, you point to what you like on the display and they will make it for you.  No menu.  The food was probably the most authentic Filipino food we have had so far and it was good.

We finished the day, by going to the Antipolo Church.  People make an annual pilgrimage here to pray for safety in their travels.  In the market outside the church property there was a display to honor the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese.  Antipolo was the site of some of the bloodiest battles in that liberating fight.  Much of the town was destroyed.

Traffic is still just crazy here.  Still haven’t seen an accident though.  Here is a new traffic pattern for you to think about.  We were going down this avenue.  There were 5 lanes with dashed lines, two way traffic with no center line.  When we started on this road there were 3 lanes going one way and 2 going the other way.  As soon as there was no oncoming traffic all 5 lanes were going our way.  I’ll bet you can guess what happened next. Someone was coming the other way and wanted a lane.  No accident occurred and everyone in the 5th lane just moved over a little to let the cars go by.  No one got mad or honked their horns; they just did what they had to do.  Intersections are still not a place for the faint of heart.