Catching Up

Well, I posted this last night and apparently there were problems with it so here goes again.

I am back from Manila. Here is the summary of the rest of that week. Thursday, we had more meetings, primarily with ICAB's board and it was a positive meeting. Friday we visited 3 orphanages. Friday night, I went and saw the Incredables, got popcorn and a pepsi all for just over 3 US dollars. Saturday morning we boarded the plane for the long trip home. We arrived about an hour late into Tri Cities airport.

It was so good to see Shannon and the kids again. The kids had hand made signs and a ballon for me. We went home and they unpacked their suprises. I am slowly getting my body clock right again.

Thangsgiving was spent with Ken & Melinda Bowlin and their kids and grandkids. The Bowlins have adopted us as family since we moved to Greeneville. They are such a blessing!

Thursday I had meant to call my younger brother who is turned 29. No really I promise it is 29. He has the unfortunate reality of sharing his birthday with a holiday ever few years. This one happened to correspond with a holiday when our family couldn't get together. Happy belated birthday David. I did think about calling the Crackerbarrel where ya'll were eating to arrange for them to sing happy birthday to you but I decided not to.

Auburn plays Tennessee Saturday. I am hoping for a big win and a loss by either O.U or USC. But if it doesn't happen, I will be satisfied as this season has exceeded expectations. I was impressed when I watched the Auburn Review of the Georgia game over the internet fromManila to see another song sung in the locker room after the traditional fight song "War Eagle". It was an old camp favorite of mine "Hard fighting Soldier". There is something special about this team and it is nice to see a spiritual element is part of it. I don't make too much about touchdown prayers and such, but I hope that some of the talk I hear and read about this team is translated in their walk. It is nice to be able to be proud of my old school and for them to be winning too.

Meeting with ICAB

It was a good day. We arrived at ICAB for our meeting early. This time the taxi driver knew the way. In the waiting area we talked again with Dennis Gunderson from Little Children’s Home again. He was going through families looking for matches. He shared information with us about ACCAP (Association of Child Care Agencies of the Philippines). This is an association of the 50 Non Governmental Agencies that provide care for the children that often end up being up for adoption. He mentioned that several FA’s (foreign agencies are members). He stated that this would allow for better name recognition among the agencies that actually do the first round of matching. He also shared feedback on one of our families who was very limited on what special needs they would be open to and what impression that made on the staff who matched.

We then met with Dr. Laraya and 4 of her staff for several hours. We went over our families, one by one. The common denominator of the three families who have been waiting so long is they wanted a young girl. We also learned more about the issues surrounding delays for American families after matching. One of which is the U. S. Visa medical. No other country requires this and this often takes several weeks. They shared a release form that families can sign that says they don’t want the Visa medical but will instead pursue a medical with their pediatrician when they return to the states. We will share this with our families and feel many will take advantage of this time saving measure. Especially since many drive to Vandy for the international adoption clinic anyway soon after they arrive.

Inter Country Adoption Board Staff

Dr. Laraya and her staff gave us a wealth of knowledge plus several resources to read. It was a good meeting. The best part of the meeting is we think we may have gotten a special needs match approved for one of our families.

This is a differnt world. Notice the haze that hangs over the city. Today is cloudy as well but it has been this hazy since Monday morning. (It is Wed. morning here now) I will be glad to get home to the fresh air of Tennessee.

Haze in Manila

Other differences I have seen include:

Security guards armed with machine guns in front of banks.
Security guards that check with mirrors under cars before they pull in the hotel lot.
Security guards that check purses, bags and people before they go into malls.
Bomb sniffing dog that patrols hotel checking cars and packages.
Male urinals on the sidewalk (see picture below).
A movie cost less than $2 (I plan to see The Incredibles before I leave!)
Diet coke is coke light.
Their malls have a greater variety of stores and only one anchor store per mall.
Six story malls.
Sunday Mass in the mall (see picture several post down)
The massive cultural variety of people here who are asian.

Things that are the same:
Kids hang at the mall.
Toddlers pitch tantrums in the check out line.
Families celebrate birthdays by going out to eat and getting a song sung to a family member and the rest of the resteraunt politely claps for a horrible rendition of happy birthday.
Life isn't fair.
People are in too much of a hurry in a vehicle.
Political corruption. (much worse here)
People want things to be better.
Most folks are nice.

The majority of things are the same but the differences sure stand out.

Today we enjoyed a wandering cab ride to the offices of the Inter Country Adoption Board. I say wandering because it took the driver asking for directions 3 times. At the first stop for directions, some other business was taken care of as well. You just don’t see outdoor male urinals in Greeneville.


What a way to go!

When we arrived, we met a lady from Concordia Children’s Home. We will be going there Friday afternoon. We also met Gina who is the second in command to Dr. Laraya, the Executive Director at ICAB. We were to observe a matching conference but some of the committee members were running late, so Dr. Laraya began an overview of ICAB with us. It was very informative.

At the matching conference, there were three children to be presented. The first case present had one of the Holston families as a 2nd choice. The committee chose to stay with the 1st choice. I had no problem with the decision. It was good to see the process. I was impressed with their desire to have the best home for the youth. Also visiting was a representative from Bethany. We tag teamed the team with our recommendations for ways to improve the process for families. The team was interested but said the board would need to make those changes. We will both be having lunch with the board on Thursday.

Our trip back was more direct but was slow due to traffic. I am feeling the effects of jet lag more today. Around 11 in the morning here (which is 10 pm back home) I get tired and start yawning and then once I get past 2 or 3 I am awake again and then have trouble going to sleep. It’s like I have made a shift change and am working 3rd shift.

The Little Children's Home

Today was the day we expected to get down to brass tacks and start getting to know about ICAB and checking on our family’s files. However, what we found out when we got our itinerary when we arrived was that today is a holiday (end of Ramadan). Yanah and I then made plans to try to contact some of the orphanages to meet with them. We will meet with 3 on Friday. There were some that we were not going to meet with that have selected Holston families before so we gave them a call. Dennis Gunderson of The Little Children’s Home invited us to come out to see them today. We took a taxi out of Manila into an area called Tickling. The cab driver had to stop and ask for directions. It was about a 30 minute ride and cost us 120 pesos (just over $2). They currently have 13 children in their program. Their was excitement in the air as a family had come to pick up a child today. There are 3 others about to go to other families. Two of those are brothers and were very eager to help me take pictures, pose for me and act as video camera men. The younger one also got great joy out of rubbing my belly. They are going to be adopted by a family in Fla.


The Little Children's Home in Tickling

He gave us a tour of the facility and introduced us to the child care workers and the children. He has the younger children in the basement near the office. They are segregated from the older youth for health issues. Since the older youth go to school and are exposed to illnesses that the younger children are not vaccinated against. Once they are walking, they move upstairs. Earlier in their work, there was a tragedy where measles was introduced to the shelter and 7 babies were lost.

Dennis also shared that it is this is a time of crisis for the shelter. When they began running the program, they didn’t know what was required. For several years they didn’t pay the required minimum wage or contribute to social security for the few staff they had. They now owe over 10,000 dollars (U.S.). Plus penalties that may be upwards of double what they owe. They go to court on December 14th. They are seeking help from every possible angle.

Dennis’ wife Jeri is a mid wife, so is their daughter. They have a birthing clinic, that consist of a small house with 3 birthing rooms and a small office next door to The Little Children’s home. They see 60 to 70 women a day for prenatal and birth control (IUD) care. They birth about 30 children a month. On this day 3 mothers were recovering and one was in labor. The mothers are given 6 to 7 hours of rest before going home. They make sure there is no bleeding and that breastfeeding is going well. Fathers are involved and it is a welcome service to the poor of the area.

On the way back, Dennis identified a FX for us to ride. It was a cheaper mode of transportation (25 pesos a person). An FX is a brand of SUV that is designed to be used as an inner city mini bus. It is designed to hold driver plus one passenger in front, 3 in middle and 2 on each of the two benches in back. Total of 9. We had 11 in ours. Yanah and I shared the front row with the driver after starting out packed with two other people in the middle seat for the first mile or so. Next, time I’ll pay the extra 70 pesos (just over $1.25) for a taxi! What an experience!

I feel like I have written a great deal but there is so much more I have left out.

This is a picture of the two brothers I met at The Little Children's Home in Tickling. They have a home waiting for them in Florida. They were so full of energy and smiles.


Brothers being adopted

This morning, my travel companion Yanah and I went to the Shangri La Plaza mall. It had six levels and everything from the traditional mall fair such as clothing, electronics, furniture, etc... to Sunday Mass. I would venture to guess by the time it ended, there were 300 or so people sitting in the lobby of this massive mall. The suspended fellow wasn't part of worship but a part of the Christmas decorations. It was interesting to see people ride the escalator to the level the mass was on and cross themselves. It turns out there was another group of christians meeting in the same mall on another level. I think there are spiritual implications to worshiping on another level but since I didn't observe that worship, I won't make too much out of it.

Mega Mall Mass

Arnold in Tokyo Airport 

First Night In Manila

Good Morning. It is almost 9 AM here in Manila. I got about 4 hours of sleep last night.

It has been a reality check between the have's and the have nots. The guy who drove us from the airport was a nice gentleman who managed the "jeepney" traffic well. When we got to the hotel, I tipped him 5 peso's, he face lit up! That is less than a US dime. Even my four year old, is beyond getting to excited over a dime. We are spoiled aren't we.

Today's agenda is to get adjusted to the 13 hour time difference and do alittle sightseeing.

Had a message this morning that my sweet son, James, sent me hugs and kisses out of his window last night. He turned to Shannon and said, "Daddy should be getting those in the Philippines in just a few minutes". Isn't that just the sweetest! And yes, I got them.

Just returned from shopping in a 6 story mall and ate lunch at Max's Restraunt (to honor my father). Experience Banana Ketchup for the first time. Dyed to look like regular ketchup but no tomato base all banana. Sweeter and runnier than our ketchup.

More updates to come.

We have arrived

We arrived in the Philippines after about 26 hours total travel time. The only excitement on the way over was seeing Arnold S. the Gov. of California in the Tokyo airport. I will try to post a pic I took tomorrow after I get some rest! By the way it is 12:11 Sunday Morning here now!

Trip Details

Here are the details of my trip to the Philippines:

Nov 12th:
Leave Tri Cities TN airport @ 6:15 aboard Delta 4297 to Atlanta
Leave ATL @ 10:00 aboard Delta 55 to Tokyo (Narita) arrive @ Nov 13th 2:25 pm Japan time
Leave Tokyo @ 6:15 pm aboard Japan Air Lines 745 to Manila arriave @ 10:05 Manila time

During my stay I will be at the:

EDSA Shangri La Hotel
Mandaluyoug City
Metro Manila, Philippines
Phone (63 2) 633 8888 (If you must have the number)

For my return trip:

Leave Manila on Nov 20th @ 9:50am aboard Japan Air Lines 746 to Tokyo Narita arrive @ 2:50 Japan time
Leave Tokyo aboard Delta flight 56 @ 4:30 pm Arriving in Atlanta @ 2:55pm (Going back in time now)
I will have to find a TV in the terminal to watch the first half of the Auburn v Alabama game.
Leave Atlanta @ 5:00 pm aboard Delta flight 4282 and land at Tri Cities @ 6:06 pm
Hug wife and kids by 6:15!

Please keep me in your prayers.

The phone rang this morning at 6:50. It was one of Grace's friends mom. Shannon had agreed to keep a younger sibling this morning for a while. The friend was calling to say that the favor wasn't needed.

The funny thing was the lady had forgotten my name. Don't you hate that when you call a friend, who you don't know their spouse as well, and the spouse answers the phone. You feel 0bligated to do small talk but as soon as they pick up the mind elves come and sweep the name from you mind. I have great empathy for her this morning.

Count Down To My Big Trip

On Friday November 12th, I will be boarding a plan for my first international trip. I will fly from Tri Cities to Atlanta to Tokyo to Manilla. While in Manilla I will be meeting with the Intercountry Adoption Board and visiting orphanages. Joining me on the trip with be our director of adoptions.

I covet you prayers for the following:

1. My safe travel
2. My families protection while I am gone
3. My wisdom to make sure that the trip is productive and I don't make any culteral gaffs.

I hope to blog from there.