We were able to sleep in a little and have a nice breakfast before heading up to the ground breaking ceremony for a new bridge.
View of the beach from our inn.
Maricar, Betsy, B
The garden where we were staying was in full bloom!
Terry and Randy are ready to go!
Multi tasking Rose kept us on time and in the right place all weekend long!
She s a local school teacher who volunteers her time to be a local Rotarian liason and assistant.
The Rotary is building a foot bridge over a river bed which is dry for part of the year, but fills and becomes quite high during the rainy season. In the past years children have drowned as they cross the high river by foot trying to get to school. The bridge should be done in 2 months before the rains begin.
the bridge will span this river bed
They lowered a time capsule into the ground near where the bridge will be built.
Tobacco is grown in this part of the island.
We returned from the ground breaking ceremony and quickly changed for our boat trip out to Ilin Island.
For seven years Joe, one of the members of our group who is not associated with Rotary, has been working with the people of Ilin island to reestablish the rain forest there which had been completely devastated by deforestation. He and his local Filipino partner, Adel, have been educating the indigenous people about conserving the natural resources of the island. A major problem all throughout the Philippines, as well as many other tropical countries of the world, is deforestation.
The local people cut down the forest and sell the wood to make a living. Then the rains come and wash the unprotected soil into the ocean killing the coral reef which fishermen counted on to make a living. The deforestation of the islands is the primary reason for the terrible, deadly landslides during torrential rains. Joe, Adel, and the ten local families which have joined them have planted mahogany trees which are fast growing and provide a short canopy within 6 or 7 years. The ground cover begins to grow in the shade and young endemic plants and trees are reintroduced and are able to survive in the shade of the mahogany trees. The plan is for the natural plants to thrive and grow, then the mahogany trees will be harvested and sold when the forest is showing the abilily to thrive on its own.
strugging mahogany trees
Thriving mahogany forest with endemic ground cover reemerging.
We hiked for about 3 hours all over the island.
High School
Pavilion and soon to be covered basketball court used for community events
This really long bamboo bridge skirts the mangrove trees
around the perimeter of the island.
The mangrove trees are being replanted on the protected shoreline of the island.
An important aspect in helping this project work is supplying the local people with a way to make a living that will not destroy their environment. One project going on here is the making of hammocks. These are made by the fishermen who use their skill and knowledge of making fishing nets to knot hammocks.
Another venture has been the collection and use of natural debris: discarded parts of the coconut, palm, and bamboo plants to make charcoal brickets.
This machine presses and forms the charcoal into uniform brickets.
Thanks Joe for a great learning experience!
We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on our way back to San Jose.
A perfect ending to an incredible weekend experience!
Read more about the rainforest project.
Download Attachment:
3rd Generation Rainforest.pdf Saturday, March 18, 2006
The first stop today was at the dedication of a new high school about an hour north of San Jose.
old building
new building
We then went another hours into the mountains north of San Jose to visit the Mangyan Tribe for which rotary is sponsoring a water project. They are piping water to the village from a fresh water spring at Black Mountain.
This woman practices the chewing of beetle nut.
It makes their teeth black and is seen as beautiful.
Another recently finished Rotary project was the building of a
pavilion and small building used as the school and the health clinic.
This is the small school building which is also used as the village clinic.
These children are graduating from grade 1
Before leaving we distributed the clothing, shoes, and school supplies we had
collected for the children. Unfortunately, there were many more children
than we expected so we will have to bring more the next time we visit.
Our next activity was to visit the two Tamaraw which are an endangered species and are in captivity in this area. We took a "monkey bridge over a ravine to get to the area.
It was pretty far down there! See the children swimming?
Baby Tamaraw- 7 years old. Looks like a cross between a caribou and a water buffalo.
Mother Tamaraw Mimi
There is plenty of security everywhere we go here in Minduro.
B, Celia, Maricar, Betsy, Michelle
We had beautiful weather and beautiful scenery!
We were able to go to our hotel and take a quick shower before heading out to our final engagement of the day, a kindergarten graduation. This is the second graduating class for this little school started to help poor children get ready for first grade. It is very difficult for children to qualify for first grade in this country without some kind of preschool education. This school concentrates on the skills needed to be successful in first grade. Last year 25 graduated, this year 47 graduated. There were two classes with two teachers.
After the graduation we had an incredible dinner of shrimp, crab, pansit, mango salad, and flan for dessert. Lito (in above picture) is a local administrator for Rotary who lives across the street from the school. He and his mother arranged for the feast for about 20 of us. What a great time!
Allison decided to stay at the inn and read a book while we went to the graduation.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
We were up and at the airport at 4 AM for our flight to Occidental (western) Minduro for a weekend of full of interesting and exciting adventures. We arrived and had breakfast before boarding a banca boat for another island where we visited the with the village people, toured their school, and hiked down into a cave to see the beautiful crystals and clear pool of spring water.
Michelle, Wilma, Roland, Joe, B, Allison, Ryan, Randy
On our way! Celia, Terry, Betsy, Davis, Michelle, Randy, B
Our welcoming committee
School here goes to 3 third year high school which is 9th grade. Only 5 students from this village have graduated go on to graduate from college, which is only two years more.
When it was time to board the boat back to San Jose, the tide had gone out so we had to take turns riding on a small raft to get us back to the banca.
San Jose Market, lots of fish for sale!
Roland, Michelle, Maricar, Celia, Wilma, Randy, Betsy, Terry, B
The end of a great first day! Wilma Redder, back, is the current president of Manila Rotary and she arranged this wonderful adventure for us. Under her leadership Rotary is supporting the projects we are visiting this weekend.
For more details and pictures on this great trip, check out Michelle's journal http://mamarshall.livejournal.com/
Kenny and friends
The four Michelles
This was graduation day!
As we were driving to our restaurant for lunch, we passed the Presidental Palace- Malacanyang
We had lunch at Cocina de Tita Moning which is a private
