off to the mountains!

hey all,

our team (minus Tim, Hana, and Patrick who stayed to help out more with the business development/micro-financing part of the trip) just returned from a 2 day trip in the mountains. the purpose was twofold: help plant banana trees, and assist medical staff with their clinic. the hike up was about 2 hours in humid, muddy, steep conditions. the hike alone was enough to tire one for a day, but we trekked on. we split up into 2 teams...one with the trees, and the other helping with the medical clinic. the community we served had about 100 people, many of whom were young children. there was a recent epidemic there that required immediate attention, hence the medical staff attending. the community's water source also recently stopped working. many of the problems that we saw were fevers, coughs, diarrhea, and open sores/inflammed skin. i think we all agreed that the most difficult thing was knowing that many of these conditions could have been prevented if there was clean running water. to date, the closest water source is a river about 1 km away.

i think the trip provided an excellent perspective regarding the degree of poverty we find ourselves amidst here in the Philippines. it's sometimes hard to gauge what "poor" really means until you see a different version of it.

i think will be posting a little bit later about some other things we did during last week - specifically the business development and early childhood education workshops.

it's hard to believe that our time here in the Philippines is coming to an end. tomorrow, our team will be heading off for our debrief. this will be a time to prepare for re-entry back into Canada, and our Western lifestyle. the most important things about debrief would have to be reflecting on what you learned, and what you will do with it when you return home.

please pray for our team as this is arguably one of the most important parts of a short-term missions trip.

much love,
deb