Pics to Ponder by Mair

The Ati children, who have no toys, make  play houses out of sticks and rocks.  Note the cooking fire. They create games wherever they go.  Including one game that looks like baseball and is played with a flip flop and a stick.

I love the honesty of this poster!

One day we went cliff jumping.  The Gaults did not jump off this high, but we did all jump off one of the lower cliffs.  I just included this pic of our friend because I thought it was fun.

I guess liability is an issue in the Philippines as well. :)

When we go to our weekly feeding site at one of the local villages I do basic first aid, mostly cleaning small wounds, treating with topical antibiotic cream and covering with bandaids.  Recently a parent brought her little toddler to me to clean this wound.  It was a severe burn on the boys foot that was infected.  I could not even attempt to touch it as obviously it was beyond the scope of my ability to treat.  With the mission's help she was encouraged (strongly) to take her child to the doctor.  Next feeding I will look for this child to monitor his foot.  Imagine your child having this burn and you not having the resources to help him.

The qualification of a woman being 5'4" to get a waitressing job basically eliminates most Filipina women!

Read these prerequisites carefully.  Just what do you do for a job here if you are a short married women over the age of 30?  My Filipino friends were amazed when I told them that postings like this would be illegal in Canada. Also note that to be a cashier they are requiring a four year degree/diploma. Not many can afford this level of education.

Read the bottles carefully.  In the Philippines it is very difficult to find a skin cream that does not have a whitening agent in it.  (Even deodorants have whitening cream to make underarms white!) Being white is considered beautiful.  My Filipina friends cannot believe it when I tell them that in Canada there are creams to make our skin brown.  Why aren't any of us happy with who God made us to be?

This has got to be one of my favourite pictures yet.  I was in Manila keeping an ill friend company as she sought medical treatment.  There was a McDonalds across the road from the hospital.  Even though both of us would rarely go into McDonalds at home, we just had to go when we had the chance.  It felt like home. (Okay, I know that thought is very disturbing, and could be analyzed further... but I don't have time to pursue it right now!)  Anyway, as we walked in the door, this is what we saw.  An armed guard, standing beside Ronald, checking his cell. I had to snap a picture, before he saw me. The combination of innocence, danger, and Western influence, so like home, but so not like home, struck a very strong cord in me. You can bet that the next thing this guy did was open the door for us and greet us with a big smile and a friendly "Hello!".  This is so the Philippines.

See all these children, dressed in yellow, as far as the eye can see?  This is a group of grade one students about to do a Christmas dance at a local public school event. These children have very little money, but parents will go into debt to have their children participate in these school events.  They are a very important part of the culture.  This is one class.  Look again.  One class, one teacher.  Can you imagine?

Last Christmas there was a product on sale at Chapters.  It was called "Instant Snow in a Can... Just add Water"  I brought it from home, kept it hidden and brought it out for my kids on Christmas Eve.  It felt and looked just like warm snow.  It smelled like nasty toxic chemicals... but come on, you can't have 35 degree heat and good smelling snow!

I don't know if you can see this... but it is the edge of a beautiful infinity pool at a local resort.  To the right, amongst the trees is a rather nice, small Filipino community. Each house could have 5 to 8 people living in it. The community is surrounded on all sides by resorts.  This is a common picture on Boracay.

Malcolm and I at church Christmas Day, 2011... my 44th birthday.  This little guy is one of our friend's baby. I just want to put him in my pocket.  We adore him!  (And his whole family!)

A fun picture from the beach.  According to some Australian tourists we met, more people are killed by falling coconuts in a year than lightening.  I'm not sure if that is a global stat or not??   I mean, what about all those campers in Northern Ontario...  not a coconut in sight!

All over the island they advertise "Blind Massage"... I have yet to discover what this means.  Are they literally blind? Is this considered an advantage because they can't see our back fat?  I'm so confused!

Not the best picture quality, but a record all the same.  This is a sand castle on the beach.  Some of the local children make them daily, with the date, and you can give them a bit of money and have your picture taken with it.  Very industrious I say.  (This one had been deserted for the night... perhaps because the "m" in Merry was shot.  More likely because it was raining... most Filipinos hate the rain! )  We thought it was a cool castle and a good record of how we spend Christmas night.

I had to show you this. (This is not our pool or anything, just a local resort pool.) It was so cool the day after Christmas, I wore hoodie.  I couldn't believe with the breeze and clouds that I was actually cold.  When I looked up the temp from the day I was shocked to learn it was in the mid 20s!!  I guess I am now officially a Filipina!

This is an example of how the acquisition of the English language in the Philippines was impacted by the presence of the American army.  We would say "Please make a line, or get into line."  They say "Please fall in line."  I laugh at school when the children are told to "Fall in line."  It makes me smile.

A very Merry "White Beach" Christmas from the Gault Family!