Painting Birdhouses

Before we moved here I researched different charities within metro Manila and found a shelter for young girls who had been sexually abused/exploited. The shelter requests donations such as toiletries, clothes, food, and school supplies, but what caught my was that they also want volunteers to teach the girls arts and crafts, introduce them to sports or as stated on their website: "anything that will help them recover from their dark pasts and transform them into renewed citizens and children of God." Before our move I found some little birdhouses on sale at the Michael's craft store and thought they would be fun to bring to the shelter for the girls to paint. A couple days ago I went to the shelter with Addy, Torah, and also a friend and her three children. It was a wonderful experience. The girls at the shelter seemed a little shy at first, yet by the end they were smiling and playing with our kids, some of them asked us to take their picture, and they requested we stay a little longer so they could do a dance performance for us. They did two cute dance numbers and then they asked us to join in and dance with them for the third. Torah enjoyed the dancing while Adelaide was hungry by this point and ready to go home. She refused to watch them dance at the time, but I filmed them (you can watch the video at end of this post)and now she asks to watch it again and again. Seeing them smile and giggle while dancing you would never guess they have been through so much. The director mentioned how it is sometimes very hard for the girls to even stay in the shelter because they are used to living on the streets where they have the freedom to do whatever they want. It is an adjustment for them to suddenly have so much structure and even simple things such getting up early in the morning and cleaning up after themselves can be a challenge. Anyway, I look forward to going back. Please let me know if you have any arts/crafts ideas that we could do with them. Addy's colorful birdhouse. Addy heard me compliment a girl about her birdhouses being beautiful and a while later I noticed her walking from girl to girl pointing to each birdhouse saying "I like your roof," or "Wow, that's pretty."

Tagaytay

Our car arrived three weeks ago and we have been anxious to take a little road trip out of Manila. Yesterday we decided to drive to Tagaytay City which is about 60 km from Manila. Tagatay is a popular destination here because it has a higher elevation and a cooler climate with wonderful clean air. It was great to escape the pollution of Manila for a while. It was more beautiful than I expected and I'm already looking forward to going back to hike the volcano. The little island in the lake is Taal Volcano. People take a boat ride to the volcano and then hike or ride a donkey to the crater lake at the top. The volcano is actually still active and has erupted several times in the past and killed and estimated 5,000 to 6,000 people. (The most recent eruption was in 1977) Stopping to buy some plants on the way home. Picking up a yummy Buko (coconut) pie at Colette's Bakery. I was focused on taking a picture of the sign to send to my cousin named Collette and I didn't really notice the man selling knives until I looked at the photo. Just in case you're wondering what he's doing with all those weapons. :)

Museo Pambata (Children's Museum)

Siquijor

Butterfly Sanctuary