A quick snapshot...

Wow so much has happened in the last few days, it has been crazy busy and it's hard to know where to start. To be honest I really smell gross so I think I will have to be quick and just post some pictures so that I can have a shower and hit the hay!

So here is a snapshot of the last 48 or so hours....

I spent a night at the Jazz Home. It's a home for teenage girls who can not live at home due to abuse. The home only began in July and houses 26 girls aged 9-17. It's slightly different from the children's home as these girls come to the home straight from the community rather than through the welfare system. The girls are all so joyful, chatty, and so fun to be around. While only 26 'Josie's angels' live at the home, there are about 100 Josie's angels girls in the community who are linked in and participate in special events and youth groups.

As with most days, I spent some time in the children's home, we're all going on the motto that it's holidays therefore we'll be a little lax with the rules. Therefore we've had water-fights most days, very fun.

Community Feedings
There is just so much that happens here at Kids International Ministries. Everyday day at 10am and 4pm several people head out with two big plastic tubs full of a rice and vegetable stew and feed those who are need. The food is prepared here at the YMC (Ministry Centre) and is taken to a different area at every time-slot. It has been a privilege to be able to help out at these feedings and interact with the women and children in the different communities.

This morning we went to an area called 'tent city'. It is about 20 kilometers away near an area called Teresa. It is called 'tent city' because the 1000 families who now live there lost their homes during the 2009 Typhoon and flooding and the government re-located them to this area and they lived in tents for many months. The government then demolished what was left of their homes and built shacks for them in this new area implying that they would be able to start a fresh here. Because the area is quite isolated there are few opportunities for work and while each family a small shelter, there are often over 8 children in each family and therefore significant poverty. Today we were able to give out the food, which ran out very quickly, but also adults and children's clothes (thanks Mon, Meeya and Lozz). It was a little crazy and the clothes also ran out quickly.



Auntie Rona giving out medicines... (more on amazing Auntie Rona later)

 Also in the last few days...

It's only just starting up but once a week they hold a pre-natal clinic here at the YMC, where pregnant soon to be mums come and receive a general check with a foetal hart monitor, get weighed and receive a healthy meal and some pre-natal vitamins. It is such a great way to impact a community and I loved being able to hang out with the ladies, some as young as 15 and chat with them as they waited for their check-ups. They are such beautiful women.

So much happening!! Really love seeing and hearing about the impact the ministry here is having on people's lives in so many ways and that people are experiencing a hope and love that is only because of the love that God has for us.

More soon. xox

Daranak Falls

Today we got the awesome opportunity to visit Daranak Falls, a series of stunning waterfalls and swimming holes about 45 minute drive from the children's home. It was a super fun day swimming and jumping off rocks and great to see such a beautiful part of Manila as we travelled through the mountains to get there. We also all commented on the fact that we felt so clean and sweat free.

We finished the day with another impromptu game of basketball at the school stadium so we are now all well and truly worn out!

Maligayang Pesko (Merry Christmas)

Merry Christmas to everyone from Manila! What an awesome Christmas it was!!

This is now day three and I feel like we've settled in and become use to how everything works. We all sleep and have our meals in the Ministry Centre, which has great wi-fi. About 50 metres down the road is the children's home which has a girls wing and a boys wing with all together about 30 children aged 4-15 and also a nursery with 9 children aged 0-4. Further down the road is the teenage girls home which has about 26 girls living there. The thing i'm still getting use to is the crazy heat and humidity. I feel like I drink about five litres of water a day and sweat out six! My pee is always yellow (too much information?).

The ministry centre and children's home are located in a fairly densely populated community and therefore something is always happening in the street and people milling around. The t-intersection nearby serves as a basketball court and community meeting point. Last night a street band played there until about 2am and there are basketball games there most days with traffic kindly stopping until after a point is scored.

Basketball is massive here and most days we spend some time with the teenage girls helping them get ready for a tournament which has been really fun and one of my highlights so far.

So it's been a fun and different way to spend Christmas this year. We started the day with a shift in the children's home. Shifts in the children's home can be a little crazy, it's like babysitting 30 children who due to their culture have little concept of discipline or time, have bucket loads of energy and speak only a little English .Christmas day with them was very fun and really lovely to see them experience so much joy with their gifts. We then had a massive Christmas lunch. It rates up there with the best of them. Turkey, ribs, vegetables and pumpkin pie!! Yum! We then were able to have a little down time before we traded the Australian tradition of backyard cricket with a 2 hour game of basketball with the Long family and other English workers here. So much fun and much needed after our big lunch. I've now just finished my Christmas night with a shift in the nursery. I cannot tell you how many times I've sung 'Jesus Loves You' to get children to go to sleep. Seems to work well!

Looking forward to hearing about everyone's christmas's back home! xo

Kuala Lumpur

So we've arrived in Manila and experienced our first day here. We've got our schedules for the next two weeks which will be keeping us busy helping out in the different rooms of the children's homes, coaching and playing basketball and doing community feedings as well as fitting in the odd trip to the markets etc. We've had a pretty busy day here today and the sights and culture of the area has actually been quite a bit to take in. It's amazing, the children are awesome and the people are lovely but it's a completely different world and I'm surprised how much the poverty has smacked me in the face. Will be sure to go into more details, including the insanely crazy way of driving here, later.

First a little update on our trip over. We left late Wednesday night, I found the flight to be ok, some of us were able to sleep, others not to much. We landed in Kuala Lumpur and had an 11 hour lay over so decided to hit up the city. After finding our way out of the massive airport, which was I think the most challenging part of the day, we got ourselves a taxi, I have to admit I felt a little like I was on the amazing race getting us the cheapest rate and haggling with strange men. It worked well because our taxi driver not only offered us a great price he drove insanely fast and got us their very quickly (we thought his driving was a little nuts but turns out it's nothing compared to here).

Once in KL we came across a super mall, hit up the Petrona Towers and visited the 86th floor for a view of the city, went into chinatown to check out some markets and experience some real asian food, briony tried her hand at bartering and we managed to find our way back to the airport, even though we took a slightly scenic route after our taxi driver missed the turn. Here are some pics.

someone has to stay awake to make sure we stay alive in the taxi

Off to the Philippines....

Tonight we leave for the Manila in the Philippines. I am super excited and really looking forward to getting there. I'll be travelling with three other lovely girls, Georgia (my sis), Briony and Ellen, two other girls Nic and Bec have arrived there already, and we'll be going over to help out with the organisation Kids International Ministries (http://www.kidsinternationalministries.org/). They run a children's home, a school, do lots of community outreach and work tirelessly with those who are experiencing poverty and disadvantage. So more on that later....

Last night we had a little mini Christmas family dinner which was lovely. However before much else was said my brother made it very clear that he wouldn't be coming over to rescue us if anything happened and also that we wouldn't be allowing any funds to be taken out of the farm for ransom payments. So generous! While there are some dangers, as there are with travelling anywhere in the world, forget the threat of natural disasters or kidnapping, I'm more worried about the fact that you can buy 70 fireworks for $2. Those things can be dangerous!

Yesterday I called Testra to have my data on my phone turned off. The lady on the phone asks me where I'll be travelling and I tell her the Philippines, she then goes on to tell me that she's Filipino and that the call centre where I've called is actually located in the Philippines. Hilarious. She goes on to gives me tips on things I should try and Christmas traditions. She was very lovely. She ended the call saying 'Hope to bump into you here'.. a lovely sentiment but in a city of over 19 million it's probably not likely.

Really looking forward to this experience and I hope we are able to helpful and contribute in a meaningful way also. I'm sure it will be an impacting time and I look forward to sharing more soon....

Bogan

I have a confession to make. I love being a little bogan.

While I don't have the acid wash jeans and mullet, or have a beer gut...yet, I am quite comfortable with many a bogan way. I'm not saying Boort is bogan at all... but it is here during harvest where I adapt the bogan lifestyle to its greatest. I love not wearing any make-up, rarely washing or brushing my hair and I'll happily pick up and wear whatever clothes that are lying on the bedroom floor. I love not having to waste any mental energy considering my appearence and as long as I'm still showering most days surely there's no problem right!

Cappuccinos and Bircher and Fruit Toast... Oh My!

I have always loved going out for breakfast but this past year I feel like I have hit up more new cafes than I ever have before... At the moment my standard order is the bircher muesli and a cappuccino... mmmm mmmm!

I love visiting new cafes, plus combine it with a great friend and some yummy coffee and how could you spend a morning any better...

Here are some of the places I remember visiting recently...

The Firehouse - Ringwood
Miss Polly - Mitcham
The Peddler - Nunawading
Seven Seeds - Carlton
Proud Marys - Collingwood
Three Bags Full - Abbotsford (one of my favs)
Spot n Nosh - Heathmont
Replete - Kew
The Red Cup - Box Hill

I've started stripping....

It's that time of year again. Harvest.

Unlike last year, where due to the rain and flooding harvest dragged on for many months, this year we've been going hard and fast and in only just 5 weeks it's nearly over. Tyler will probably say that his new bigger header had something to do with it where as I like to think that my skilled chaser bin driving also contributed.

Here are a few pics from Harvest this year which I took with my iphone.

While the hours can be a little long there are many things I love about harvest. I love being in such open spaces, there are beautiful skies and sunsets, I feel like I'm always learning something new about farming and being able to do things I hadn't previously been able to do. This year I was promoted, for the weekend to drive the header while Tyler was away at a wedding. While he didn't really have any other options I really enjoyed the challenge and I am happy to say that all fences, field bins and trees remained intact.

I love the word 'stripping'.... it just another way of saying harvesting... aka stripping the grain... but I just can't help myself but chuckle sometimes when it is used. It is not uncommon to hear my brother say 'I've started stripping' or 'I'll strip over here' or the other night one of Tyler's mates said over the CB to him 'Have a good night stripping'. Love it!

I love that there is no traffic here, that I can go a significant period of time without remembering when i last washed my hair. The downsides are that every night you get home and you think you're finally developing a tan but then it washes of in the shower, your legs look like you've walked through two kilometres of rose bushes and the other downside.. you have to pee in a paddock.

Twenty-Eleven

So it's been a little over 12 months since I last wrote in this blog, which I am quite comfortable with the fact that no one but my mother reads. I am very envious of the many stylishly creative and cool blogs of my friends but as with most things I'm content (and a little lazy) with it being simple.

"If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves." - Maria Edgeworth 

2011 has given me some great moments so far. It is well known that I don't have the greatest memory so a 12 month wrap up for the benefit of my 45 year old self when I want to reminisce one day is probably best...

I lived in Ringwood East in my generous friend's Andi and Cathie's house while they took of on an adventure teaching in a remote aboriginal community and wrote their own super cool blog about it. I lived with another lovely friend Amy in their house and had bucket loads of good times. I visited Noosa with my gorgeous friend Steph. I worked in Collingwood with many of the migrant and disadvantaged families in Richmond, Fitzroy and Collingwood where I learned a lot and got a good dose of the inner city culture. I played basketball and netball a few times a week, met such lovely new friends, ate way too many breakfast's at yummy cafes and learned more of God's goodness.

My beautiful crazy friend Lorinda's wedding April 2011

Noosa with Steph

The beautiful Sunshine Coast

I have now swapped good cafes, yummy coffees, the 1000 steps, my many beautiful friends and the daily 40 minutes of crawling morning traffic with the big skies, fresh air and peaceful simple lifestyle of the country. Only in Collingwood would you see an enormous frypan strapped to the back of an Asian man's bicycle as he weaved through traffic, a young man striding confidently down smith street wearing skinny jeans and a captain's hat, and a Labrador carrying his owner;s groceries in a bag in his mouth... potentially all in one day! Only in Boort would you see.... well not alot!

I loved this time last year and am looking forward to putting on my bluntstones, packing my lunch box, tuning up the tunes, enjoying glorious sunsets every night and discussing the radio topics, weather and crossword clues over the CB with Tyler.