Philippines

Went to the Red Cross to give blood today but the doctor had been called away so it was no-go.

The Red Cross is slightly out of the downtown centre so we had to get a tricycle, like a motorbike with a sidecar type thing on the side. I was a bit worried about 3 adults fitting in but apparently it is common to carry 7! But Filipinos are ALOT smaller than me - think about how small my mum is! There is also a similar type of transport called a pedicab which is similar but with a pushbike instead of motorbike.

Went shopping in the afternoon, most of it in the department store which is massive and full of bargains! We also ate lunch there, for both of us including drinks, it cost about 95p, I can't get over how cheap everything is.

OK so I knew it would be hot, the temperature in Manila before we left was 32 degrees and although I think Tacloban is not quite as hot, it is not far off.

Had to have a shower in the middle of the day because I was feeling soooooo hot and then promptly started with a cough – just a tickle I hope!

We are getting a little better at teaching the kids, some of the older boys are really bright and I kind of feel guilty that we are all they have got at the moment. To go to school in the Philippines costs money and not everyone can afford it so all the kids are really eager to learn (well most of the time!).

We had our 3rd Waray lesson today, I’m not finding it any easier but hopefully practice will help! We can travel on a jeepney on our own now with no worries which is good.

Agreed to donate blood tomorrow – hope my tolerance for this is not affected by heat!

...that having a shower here is not what we are used to? There is a bucket which you fill up with cold water and then a smaller tub to use to pour the water over you? Even in this heat, this can make you gasp in the morning when half asleep but it is quite refreshing - honest!

Our second day at the orphanage felt more successful as we kept the kids entertained for at least an hour! Also helped with the laundry again, the task of having to wash clothes and bedding for 62 kids by hand is huge and there are always people washing, squeezing, scrubbing, hanging up or taking down laundry – it is never ending. The house mothers didn’t come over too welcoming at first, maybe because we come and go when we like and they do the proper hard work but most of them seem to be friendlier now.

We spent the afternoon in town again, preparing worksheets for Wednesday on food with the words in waray and in English. Talking about food, our homestay mother Nanay Marlyn provides us with breakfast and dinner and she feeds us so well, we haven’t yet managed lunch!

Despite using extra strong insect repellant, the mozzies seem to have taken a liking to me, but the bites aren’t too itchy and disappear fairly quickly so I can’t complain…

Went to a local internet café in the evening, using them is as cheap as chips, it is just finding the time…

Monday (19th March) was our first day at our placement - the Missionaries of Charity orphanage, which is run by nuns. We had been on a jeepney the previous day to the placement with Lorena but we were still relieved when Matt, another volunteer there who works there, offered to meet us near to where we live so we could travel there together.

We arrived at about 7:30am and were greeted by 62 kids, aged between a few months old and about 13 years old. Most of the kids are malnourished and/or sick, some children have been abandoned all together and some are just there temporarily until they get better and can go back to their family. It was quite overwhelming at first as nobody particularly explained what we should be doing - we just had to get stuck in.

So we did just that - up to our elbows in laundry in the backyard. We had already been told that the nuns expected us to help where we could, whether that was with the kids or with the washing, cleaning or feeding.

I don't remember seeing any of the nuns that first day but there are other house-mothers who look after the children.

At about 9am, it was class time for the older children, about 25 children piled into an outdoors, upstairs classroom. This is when it started to get scary as Bella, the lady who usually teaches them, sat them in front of the blackboard and said "Right everyone, listen to what Ate Joy and Ate Grace have to say..." - but we had absolutely nothing prepared at all! We improvised a bit with the alphabet and numbers etc but it was difficult keeping the kids entertained with the age range that there is. ("Ate" is what you call an older female in the Philippines)

They have a few books in the classroom and it is so cute seeing them at all ages intently reading junior encyclopedias - even if they are too young to read, they still like looking at the pictures and asking you what it is - very tiring and taxing on the brain going through 9 odd volumes!

It is very difficult to resist the temptation to pick up a kid every time you see or hear them crying as we don't want them to get used to this if nobody else will carry on doing so when we are gone. I think we have both picked up kids and found that when you come to put them down because they have stopped crying, they start again. The trouble is they all have such lovely big brown eyes and when they put their arms up to be cuddled - what can you do?!

We had a Waray lesson that afternoon (the local language dialect) and afterwards, we prepared worksheets for the next day at the volunteer centre.

Tacloban airport is so small that there is no baggage carousel, just a platform where all the luggage is placed and you help yourself! We got stuck in and managed to retrieve our stuff quite quickly and then it was outside to see who was there to meet us!

Lorena (who works for VFV) and Natasha (another volunteer) were there with a sign with our names on, I don't know about Joy but I was relieved, who knows what we would have done if there had been no-one there, especially due to the delay. Then we got to experience our first ride in a Jeepney (the most common for of transport here). I'll post a photo soon as they are really cool!

It was already dark when we landed so it made our first impressions quite overwhelming as there are not many street lights. The area of Tacloban where we are staying is called Bliss and as soon as we pulled up, there were many hands to help us with our bags which is just as well, because they wouldn't have wheeled easily. A photo is needed to really explain why so I'll add one asap. The case that struggled to wheel seemed no problem for the very strong person who carried it about his head to our house!

We are staying with the Llanto family, most of who were there to greet us and Nanay Marlyn had prepared us dinner. Being introduced to everyone, I was worried I would never remember everyone’s name the next day - and I didn't! Our first dinner was rice, two veg dishes and a mango, all welcomed after our long trip!