Hope

Open Letter to Barack Obama from Alice Walker

Nov. 5, 2008

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real
success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and
are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And
your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,

Alice Walker

Would I Be Enchanted with Obama if he was White/Beige?

I was thinking about this tonight as I watched the tail-end of his acceptance speech.

Never before (except when I watched West Wing and that wasn't real... right?) have I cared what happened in politics in the 'states'. (Alright, alright, I admit it, I watched to learn who would win the second time GW won - what a sad day that was, for me, in Angola).

I've watched Hillary R-C and her husband speak and have been impressed by their poise and ability to rise to the higher purpose. All might not be forgiven or forgotten but they're all rowing in the same direction. Time will tell what difference that makes.

So back to the question. Some would say that we live in a world that has gotten past race/colour/ethnicity. But my experience in the world is that not everyone has moved past or come to terms or made their peace - whatever string of words you want to use for describing living in a post-race world. Have I moved past it is the more interesting question.

So how much does Obama's colour, his heritage make me follow his candidacy with such interest? Not too much, I think. I think it isn't his colour that attracts me to his ideas. Maybe at first it was.

How many of us were pleased when that 'great' nation to the south finally demonstrated that women and non-EuroCaucasian people are capable of becoming president? I know I was happy to finally see the nation live up to its rhetoric. But I remained captivated because of the message of Obama's campaign. It wouldn't matter if he was white (EuroCaucasian for those academically inclined readers;), beige, purple or green or if he was a woman or a man. What he talks about is what I miss from the leaders of the world.

Hope.

The ability to work together to overcome our common problems. Change for the higher good, not just the individual one. Hope that we are capable of making the world better and more just for more people.

It is the same message that Nelson Mandela provides; the same one that underlies what Al Gore has to say; the same message that Aung San Suu Kyi keeps alive for her nation (she is so patient!) and the same one that the Dalai Lama asks us to consider in his wonderfully gentle way. They know and believe that the same people who have worked together (consciously or unconsciously) to create the challenges we face are exactly the same people that are capable of coming together to create the solutions we will need.

So do I like Obama because he is black (African-American)? No... I like what he has to say and I want to believe that he will do as he says when he lives in the big white house. That is the challenge. Can he live the beliefs in a system that is not built for vision, for change?

I HOPE so.

Now if we could only find political leaders in Canada that were worth listening to (before we even consider believing in them). So much money wasted for so little meaningful change. (Sigh)

Real Life

I opened the blog this morning and realized that the 'ant picture' shouldn't be so all-defining.

Today we are all getting ready to depart Plaridel. Most of us have said, in one way or another, that we can't believe four weeks passed by so quickly. It has been an incredible experience in so many different ways. I'm sure all those ways won't be clear to us until after we've had some time and space to reflect.

Reflection has been a part of this course. We will (by the time we hand everything in) have written six reflective journal pieces and they will be worth 20% of the total mark. It has been interesting to attempt to be reflective in any meaningful way while in the midst of the whirlwind that has been this course. I hope our output has been interesting and useful for Nora. It has been great to have a small way to let off steam in the midst of the 'furnace'.

Here are some photos about how much fun this has been. Thank you to my eleven classmates and my small but terrible professor (I want to be YOU when I grow up!) for a unrepeatable experience!

Ingat!

ANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, before we get too far, this is NOT a picture of

my arm and hand.... I just wanted a picture to

illustrate my story.

Our presentations went very well yesterday. It was an extraordinarily long day, probably due to lack of sleep than anything else. We went out afterwards for a farewell/birthday dinner celebration hosted by the mayor. The band sang Happy Birthday, danced, sang out loud and received a lovely chocolate cake (with another happy birthday rendition). It was a tiring, overfilled, overwhelming, wonderful, joy-filled stupendous day! And at the end of it I spoke to my friends in Toronto which was like a HUGE strawberry on top (don't much like cherries, esp. those nuclear preserved ones:).

I was in bed by one and woke up feeling refreshed.

When I was up I noticed everyone was still asleep and thought "maybe I'll go back to bed". I decided to take this very wise advice (I gained wisdom at the turning of the clock on my years) and returned to bed. I was straightening the sheets and pulled a loose cloth (that I keep on my pillow, as my hair makes my head sweat) off the pillow and underneath was a scene from SWARM! Teeney-tiny ants, just like the picture ALL OVER MY PILLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I must admit, I lost it. I didn't scream or anything (everyone was still asleep) I shook my pillow, banged it against the wall to dislodge the ants and then actually started killing a few through my rough attempts to get them OFF MY BED!

What I can't understand is why they were underneath the cloth on my pillow? Mostly ants like to get something to take back to the nest. What is on my pillow that they want? I don't wear hair products, I don't use fragrance in this weather, my creams are with no fragrance..... And they weren't on my head (well, maybe a few) or on my body (again a few), they were on the pillow case of the pillow..... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Maybe my sweat is that sweet? Isn't that a symptom for diabetes? JUST what I need!!!! No, I'm sure I'm fine but it is most perplexing. I also wonder if there is a nest near or in my bed frame. They enter into a small crack in the bed frame but I didn't pay much mind since they hadn't actually attempted to conquer/colonize my bed. But maybe that is it. I'm on their home.

Anyhow, whatever the reason, it ended my wonderful idea of going back to bed and I headed to sitting hunched in a plastic chair attempting to work on THE REPORT (I'm thinking of it in capitals now).

Each time I tell the story I shudder. A different shudder than the shudder that the flying cockroaches elicit but a shudder all the same.

Eeeeuuuuuue (how does one spell that?).

Hugs.

Reality and my Birthday

Today, in about four hours, we begin the end of our time here in Plaridel.

I woke up about an hour ago but two of my friends were up already, never having reached their beds last night! I like being up before everyone else. It is often the only time I spend on my own.

We will begin the morning at 8 am with prayer and the national anthem and then the "Municipal Development Planning Seminar" will begin!

Raquel and I are last, at 2 pm! We realize that, by that time, folks will be tired, hungry and ready to stop listening to us speak in English. Our presentation is short and sweet and involves a participatory exercise. Just to get people up and moving and to make a point about collaboration.

Last night (this morning?), at two minutes after midnight, everyone came to me singing "Happy Birthday"!!!! It was so lovely! Especially given how tired and stress people have been. It was a great way to begin this shiny new year.

This is a group photo we took after our presentations on Saturday. Just so you can meet the whole group! Our professor is the one in the middle with the long necklace.

Wish us luck!

50 Youth Shaken and Stirred

On Sunday R. and I put on a workshop for the various youth groups and organizations in Plaridel. In our research we were finding that it is not common for youth or leaders to collaborate, coordinate or socialize across group and organization 'boundaries'. We wondered what might happen if we invited 50-odd youth (no adults allowed) from a variety of organizations and across socio-economic layers to participate in a day long workshop to be held on Sunday.

The municipality/school system allowed us to use a large room at a local elementary school and we collectively (all of the UBC students) or we, Raquel and I, funded the supplies, drinking water, lunch and merienda (2 snacks). Food is important, here and everywhere.

40 youth showed up and it was like 'sock-hop' day (do they have those anymore?) in any elementary school - clusters of people standing close together, stealing glances at each other (and of course their cell phones as this is the texting centre of the universe). We eventually persuaded them to join one of the four circles around the room and the adventure began.

We had promised them fun because we wanted to demonstrate that you can learn and laugh/have fun at the same time. Some of the youth haven't been in school for a time and all of them spoke Tagalog better than English (if not only Tagalog!) and all of them were smarter than us in terms of what works in the Philippines.

Our objective was to mix it up as much as we could and have them participate in substantive exercises so that they would hopefully break down some of the barriers that seem to exist. We also wanted to collect information FROM them so the morning was split into four topic areas (Transportation and Land Use, Sustainable Livelihoods, Solid Waste Management and Informal Settlements) and the youth were consulted by our fellow students (7 of 10 of them were part of the day and we COULD NOT have done it without them!).

We made sure that all the exercises were participatory. I even transformed the 'Build a Racist Community" exercise into "Build the Cleanest/Most Polluted Community" for the Solid Waste Management group - it worked like a charm!!!

This is a picture of the Most Polluted Barangay (Neighbourhood) and the youth who participated in creating it. They are explaining to the group how rules, institutions and structures support the neighbourhood to be polluted.

There were some highs and of course, some lows. Trying to conduct a training in a participatory way is much harder when interpretation is involved. And even with interpretation, the exercise might not work. Roleplaying games were the most challenging to implement.

One of the fun games that was also about collaboration and teamwork was "Knots". If you've played it, you know what I mean, if not, try and imagine being in a circle with five to ten people

holding the hands of two different people across from you and then trying to untangle yourself without any hands getting unjoined!

The youth told us after that it was the first such training they had ever been to and asked if we would provide other training. They said they enjoyed meeting their peers but that this was only just the first step. They told us that they wish they had the skills to be as involved as they'd like to be in their country.

Random: Here is a video of youth associated with an "Out of School Youth" organization (some of them pictured above). They performed a number of dance numbers as part of our welcome (last week). I include it because they are so good and they only had a few days notice to create this.

I started this post on Sunday and I am finishing it on Wednesday. Today we had a meeting/workshop with the adults involved in youth development planning - municipal staff and NGO staff/volunteers were invited. It was a very good afternoon. I think we moved forward a few steps, both in understanding and planning.

None of the other groups are holding workshops or coordination meetings. R. and I have decided that the insanity that is this course has infected our brains, especially the self-preservation area. Seriously, how else to explain participating in a four week, six credit (one years' worth of credit in FOUR WEEKS!!!!) in a foreign country to conduct community-based research that results in a report to the municipal government AND then to hold two workshops for over 55 people! Given all of that, we are still pretty tickled to have gone "above and beyond" and know that what we learned from the workshops will ensure we write from a more informed perspective.

We present our reports to Mayor and Council on August 13 (my birthday BTW) and the actual reports are due on August 15 so the pressure is on! Everyone is being extra kind and gentle to each other because nerves are frayed and very few of us are sleeping well. Thankfully the weather hasn't been in extremes, we had a tropical depression turned cyclone for a few days but today was largely overcast with hair-curling humidity.

Stay well and let me know what you think!

Ingat (take care in Tagolog)!

Creepy Crawlies

If you've travelled, or listened to traveller stories, you know that bugs (along with food and bodily functions) are one of the mainstay conversation topics. I'm going to regale you with a few tales.

Along with bats (not really creepy crawlies) and ants (tiny microscopic ones and regular ones that are EVERYWHERE), this past week has seen the emergence of cockroaches in our room. We are in a 400+ year old church in the tropics so I think they were lurking around anyway but we started to see them in the past few days. Along with the normal creepy crawly ones there are big a** flying ones. In North America, if you live a relatively comfortable life, you probably have not run into these creatures. Those living in poverty and other conditions know well of what I speak.

Here, the ones I have seen are about the size of a tablespoon or bigger (described later), brown, with antennae and move quickly. The quick movements are part of the reason I personally don't like them. And the flying ones. I don't like anything that can land on my head. (big shudder)

My way of dealing with bugs is to always use a mosquito net. That way, I will always get a good nights rest knowing the creepy crawlies are only circling my bed and are not IN my bed. Once I am awake, I can deal. Usually I just absent myself from where they are, if at all possible.

In Vietnam, I had two that lived under the stairs. In the morning, I used to stomp, loudly, down the stairs and then stomp loudly nearby. They respond to vibrations and since they don't much want to be around humans, I figured that I was giving fair warning. Given my upbringing and belief in karma, I hate killing bugs unless there is no other choice or if I am completely freaked out. This happened the other night.

For someone who loves sleeping with a mosquito net, I don't have my own. I had planned to buy one but ended up borrowing one from one of the other women until she needed it and then borrowed one from another until everyone needed their nets and I was without one. With a plan to buy one the following day, I was being brave and hoping for the best. Until the TWO-tablespoon-sized flying cockroach landed across from my bed. In a few short minutes I was covered up, cowering (bravely, of course) under my sheets as one of the other women tracked and killed it (with many high pitched screams - HIT it again!!! It's still moving! Oh no, it's over there - QUICK!!!! I slept well knowing I was safe for the night (or so I told myself).

Another way to deal with them is to block up where they might live or come from. Duct tape works well (thank you Red Green!). My first night in Luena (Moxico, Angola) I got up to use the bathroom, flashlight in hand as the generator was off, I opened the door to my room and there were FIVE cockroaches on my door! (amazing what you can see in a split second) I shut the door, none too quietly, all need to relieve myself gone, tucked myself into my mosquito net and went to bed. The next morning I learned they might live in my door as there were several large (fist-sized?) holes in my door. So I did what all good Canadian girls do - I taped over all the holes with industrial duct tape! Never again did I repeat that exact experience. Of course I saw them elsewhere....

Last night two of the other women hunted several down with Death-in-a-Can. Considering we can quote chapter and verse about sustainability and environmental protection and the evils of aerosols and using chemicals, etc. it was slightly ironic :)

This morning I woke with the teeny tiny ants in my bed. Not sure how to deal with them. I make sure there is no eating in my bed space but who knows what I bring to bed. or is blown onto my bed If anyone has an idea of how to gently get rid of them, I'd appreciate it!

Rice Prices

Just like India (wheat) and Mexico (corn), the Philippines is having a difficult time with the rising commodity prices. The price of rice is beyond those living on annual income of $300. At the market today, the price of rice ranged from 33 pesos to 48 pesos. That is 75 cents to 1.10 per kilo. And in Filipino culture, a meal is not complete unless there is rice.

The government provides subsidized rice. It is lower quality but it is more affordable. The church we live in is one of the distribution points. Here is the line up yesterday afternoon:

There are many distribution points around the municipality.

What makes the present reality more tragic is that Plaridel (where I am) and other towns and cities in the Philippines are rapidly converting their remaining agricultural land into industrial or residential land in order to 'modernize' and provide more jobs and prosperity to their citizens and the government.

As planning students we are struggling with this because we know that food security will provide the best choice over the long term but the municipality and the people want to improve, to modernize, to attract business. And for them that means industry, factories, subdivisions and roads. How to provide a sustainable alternative that is a middle ground between these two visions?

No travel blog would be complete without a picture or two of young children. These are photos a colleague/friend took. I've chosen some that don't completely reveal the identity of the children as we didn't ask them if we could post their photos. Enjoy.

Impressions

Now that I've been here almost two weeks, I wanted to write down my impressions and random thoughts as I'm sure they will be forgotten as new impressions clamour for attention considering the pace of our course.

I arrived in Manila on July 15 after a week in Vietnam. The trip to Vietnam was an indulgence. I was going to be SO close and with Petra and others still there I wanted a chance to see them again.

It is strange visiting a country as a tourist when you have lived there in the past. This was my first experience of that and I am unsettled by my feelings. You know so much and yet, as a tourist, you feel more on the outside looking in.

In spite of those musings, it was a great trip. I spent some time in Hanoi and then visited Hoi An - the old city in the centre of the country that is renowned for its tailors. My friends drove down to spend the weekend. Unfortunately, visits with the tailors outnumbered the hours spent with them as I had forgotten the time it takes to get clothes tailored! I'm pretty happy with the results (the clothes). It is such an indulgence to have outfits that fit like they were made for only you :) Oddly, I didn't see anyone I had directly worked with during my stay in Vietnam. Maybe it is true that you 'can't go home again'.

Manila is an experience! Earlier on I had thought that since I had visited Bangkok, Mexico City and New Dehli, that I might have a sense of Manila. Was I ever wrong!

Manila is (at time of writing) not at all loveable. It is HOT. Hot like I've never been hot. Last week I described it as "the heat that rolls off the roads like a vaporous steamroller intent on reducing you to your basics of water and oxygen." Vietnam is hot but Manila is really, really hot!

My friend Celerina (Sister Celerina to most of you) met me at the airport which was a wonderful way to be welcomed. I met Celerina more than 14 years ago. She was already a nun then and a fellow student at UVIC in the School of Social Work. There were six of us, Brandy, Tara, Donna, Celerina, Jeannette and me that comprised a project group that lasted the whole of first year. We named ourselves the Group from Hell because everyone told us that we couldn't manage the group process in such a large group. Those who know me well will know that 'couldn't' is not part of how my world operates. The others felt the same and we chose to complete our project together. Five of us have kept in touch and we try to get together once a year, although this is harder now that one is in Mexico, one is in the Philippines, one on the island, another in the Interior and there is me who never stays long in one place.

I hadn't seen Celerina in over four years so it was wonderful to spend time together and catch up and learn and share about who were now. She is based in Bataan, a province about two hours by bus from Manila. Because of the way the buses are routed, she is more than 1.5 hours from me although we are equidistant from Manila.

After a few days together, I decided that Manila, as a representation of the Philippines, was the noisiest place I had ever been. The jeepneys, the tricycles, other various vehicles, the music from the various businesses together in the soup of pollution and then the intense heat makes one feel rather faint from the sensory overload. (Jeepneys are these amazing vehicles used for mass transit. From the Lonely Planet it says they are reconditioned American jeeps that were left behind. They are decorated by the owners/leasees in the most kitchsy way possible. They are a cheap way to get around).

One of my more peak experiences was in a jeepney, with Celerina. It was my third day in Manila. It had only just rained so that the streets were wet and you could smell the vegetation. Night was falling. We were sitting in the back (near the exhaust and the only door), other people were around us on the bench seats. The driver was honking his horn, as others were in the traffic. The driver had chosen a soft rock station (Philippinos seem to enjoy 80s love ballads) and at my peak moment, the BeeGees were singing "Tragedy" at top volume through speakers that scratched the high notes. There came a moment where I just started to giggle and then laugh out loud. It was just too ridiculous and out of my normal experience. I just had to laugh. This experience encompassed so much of what Manila meant to me, to that point.

Here is a sign that saw from a bus at a random point in the city. Dr. Jose P. Rizal is a national hero. He advocated for reform during the Spanish colonial era. The quote is his.

The First Week Part One

Have you ever been somewhere and the days are so full that you look in astonishment at your nearest calendar when you realize only two days have passed because it feels like a week or more must have already expired? On Tuesday I had just that experience.

For those who do not know, I am in the Philippines on a 'studio course' for my master's program. It is a one month intensive six credit course. It is being held in Plaridel, a small (99,000+) municipality about 2 hours NW of Manila. We are twelve students and one professor and our purpose is to provide assistance to the municipal

government with their development plans in five key areas: informal settlements, livelihood development, solid waste management, transportation/urban design and youth development (my focus!).

We are living in a 400+ year old church that is in the centre of town (as old churches often are). Our accomodations are impressive. As you can see from the photo, there are a number of beds in one room. The ten women are in one room and the two men are in single rooms, one on either side of the resident priest (Father Dennis). Maybe they were expecting some trouble? :) The girls share two bathrooms, the boys have attached ones, one of which is shared. We have fans to cool the rooms (and ourselves!), although considering how much we 'glow' or sweat, depending on your sensibilities, the fans are not quite adequate (I think some of us dream of air conditioners) to the humidity of North Luzon. We have breakfast and dinner together in another large room on the same floor. If you are imagining that we are together almost all the hours of the day, you are right. Building community is challenging but it helps a great deal that we are genuinely fond of each other.

We all arrived in individually or in small groups on Sunday and that evening there was a dinner and welcome cultural performance for us. It is impossible to describe the show the community arranged for us. The dances seemed to all be performed by the same young people and yet they never looked exhausted. There were so many different performances! They were sharing all the different cultures of their country with us. Here are a few pictures (excuse the blurriness, the dancers move quickly):

And some more:

The hospitality and the kindness of the people we have met is difficult to adequately describe. This is not a town that receives many 'foreign' tourists and it seems the whole town is excited that we are here. Before the dinner we were actually introduced at the end of Friday mass to the congregation. We paraded one by one into the church as our names were called and stood in front facing everyone as they fanned the air and snuck peaks at the strangers. Each place we go people are interested in where we are from, what we are doing here and our physical differences. Several of our group are tall and either blond or quite fair and they are especially popular with the Filipinos - they are told they are beautiful, they are touched and of course they hear the obvious - "You're SO TALL!!!!" (many times a day). Those of who are shorter or darker are taken for Filipino, which is also a lovely way to wander in a new country.

Monday morning began at 7:30 am for the flag raising. We, as guests of honour, are seated in the front row. Here is the sign that greeted us:

More greetings. Here is the mayor, Mrs. Tessie Vistan. She is regarded as very progressive and is generally spoken with reverence and respect.








After the mayor, we had more welcoming performances. The children in both high school and elementary receive instruction in cultural activities - art, music, dance, etc. I have before seen such wonderfully confident elementary school children. They are beautiful and so talented.




























I'm going to stop here although I only got to about 10 am on Monday. As you'll notice I labelled this post Part One. I'll come back and give you some other highlights and maybe video a little later.

This is my first blog entry! I hope you enjoy it and I know that as I go along the entries will get better and even more enjoyable. I welcome your comments! Love and hugs.

PS If you notice the time and day this is posted, it is on Vancouver time. I'm about 15 hours ahead (if you want to do the math).