Incoming From the Philippines

Finally, in the last two days of my trip to the Philippines, I am able to get online to make a post. It has been an exciting, traumatic, exhausting, and enlightening time here. I will post more specific details once I get back to the U.S. (and no longer have to borrow other people's computers to make a post), but for now, let me sum up:

Arrival and 1st Stop:

Al, Ken (our host), and I arrived in the Philippines on the 20th of March, just exactly five weeks ago. We were met by Marie Panti, one of Ken's associates here. We traveled to her home, which would serve as the venue of our Insight Seminar. Between preparation and execution, the seminar lasted about two and a half weeks. We had delegates attending from the Philippines, Myanmar, and Hong Kong. When the seminar was over, the group from Hong Kong returned home, and the rest of us traveled north to our next scheduled stop.

2nd Stop - It All Breaks Down:

Our second stop was the home of Glo - one of the delegates who attended our seminar at Marie's home. The trip north took around eight hours by bus, and was fairly comfortable for a bus trip. Upon arrival, Ken and several nationals began preparation for the retreat they were running. Before the retreat began, however, there was the matter of a wedding to attend (and participate in - more about that in a later post). After the wedding, we kicked off the beginning of the retreat with Ken and the others.

Then Ken died.

The Aftermath:

Ken's death was both unexpected and traumatic. Everybody at the retreat loved and respected him, and he was liked by many people in the community as well. Everything came to a halt, until we could get his family there and determine how to handle memorial services and transportation of his remains. I will give additional information in a later post, but suffice to say it changed everything.

After all the arrangements were made and the funeral was conducted, Ken's family left with a few of the nationals for Manila. From there, the family took Ken's remains back to Hong Kong. Al and I remained behind, our previous plans cancelled, and spent our time working with the local people setting up a week-long community program. Al coached the locals to identify and develop solutions for their local issues, and by the time the remaining nationals returned from Manila, the program was being led by local leadership.

Now:

Now the extended community development program is winding up (the locals decided to extend the program an additional week to cover all the issues they were uncovering), and Al and I are getting ready to head back to Hong Kong on Friday. I plan to post another quick update as that leg of the trip winds up, then set up a more detailed account (with pictures, even!) once I get back to the U.S. and have easier access to the Internet.

That's it for now - stay tuned next month for details of the Hong Kong experience!