Training

We returned back to Manila for two weeks of training in February. 

The first week focused on learning our local language, Illongo. This was very helpful but exhausting.  The national language is Tagalog yet there are 175 local/native languages.  Something else that makes the Philippines unique is all national and local laws are written in English. The fisher folk registration forms that Lauren is using are in English which is great for her but not for the fisher folk.   We hope to be able to communicate just a little better with our community now after the training.

We would hate to not have any fun so many games were played in between and during sessions.   A game of capture the flag occurred, surprisingly no one was hurt even though a few of the older volunteers (anyone over 25) pulled muscles.

In the midst of all the training sessions we were able to take a field trip to the ancestral home of Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines.   The original house was destroyed but an exact replica has been built in its place.  The first floor was used as a store and the second floor is where the family lived.  It was a great opportunity for all the volunteers to learn a little more history of the Philippines. 

The University of Philippines, Los Banos campus was our second stop where we toured their museum of natural science and explored the botanical gardens.  Even though it is starting to ease into summer and not many flowers were blooming, the trees were breathtaking.  The sere size of the forest was incredible. All had ferns had vines growing on them and the ground was covered with an abundant amount of greenery. The spring however was the highlight of the gardens.

The second part of the training included our Filipino counterparts.  We learned how to design a project and what funding is available for our projects that we might implement.  Peace Corps doesn’t allow volunteers to implement projects until we complete this training.  Our first focus as volunteers is to integrate in our community and find out what our community wants and focus on a project that they want.  Lauren is looking into environmental education within schools at the third grade level.  Alan is looking into teaching basic business principals to his community; so many individuals have livelihood projects but no understanding of how to put themselves into an advantageous place in the market.

Now it’s time to put this into action.