More of What We do

We started teaching a Conversational English class on Thursday night.  We have spoken English our whole lives but we have never thought much about how to say the sounds. What shape your mouth should be, where to put your tongue, etc. It is different when we try to explain this to people who sometimes do not even have these sounds in their language. I usually teach the sounds and Anna teaches the grammar. They seem interested in the sounds, almost like a game to them. The Filipinos really like group games but the grammar is pretty boring. We are making an effort to keep everything interesting but grammar seems to be pretty boring no matter what you do. We had 16 students at times tonight (January 23rd). Sometimes they come and go depending on what other classes are being taught in the building. We keep getting different people to attend. We have now had a total of 28 different students attend at least one lesson.

There are many call centers here in the Philippines.  If you have ever called 1-800 Flowers, you talked to someone in the Philippines.  If people can speak English well, they can get a job in the call centers.  These jobs pay better than being a nurse.  So, it's good to learn to speak English better.

Here's a picture of the poster we put up to advertise our class:

  



 In January we started training for Priesthood leaders and teachers about the new Self-Reliance Services initiative.  Dale has been busy setting up the training and inviting people to attend.  We are training teachers to teach the Planning For Success Workshop which is a required course for anyone wanting to apply for a Perpetual Education Fund loan.  The Priesthood leaders are receiving training on setting up Self-Reliance Centers in their areas which will help the church members with education (PEF is included here), employment, and self-employment.

On Saturday, January 18th, we got up early and drove down to Dasmariñas, a town in the Cavite Province south of Manila, to participate in a training session.  People attending the training were coming from all over the Cavite Province.  Some had to ride jeepneys for over two hours just to get to the building.  When we arrived at the building we were greeted by the stake clerk and he had already set up tables for our meeting. He had also made a delicious porridge for us to eat. Dale had worked hard all week to make sure that the Dasma building would be open and ready for us. The stake president promised it would be ready.

The turn out for the meeting was great. There were about 20 people in the PFS training and another 11 or so who were in the SRS training with Jomel Villanueva, the SRS Manager for our area. Franco Advincula, the Operations Manager for the PEF in the Philippines, trained the teachers.  He explained all of the new directions for 2014 and encouraged the teachers to be dream makers and success planners. I hope they understand the importance of their calling to help these students plan and prepare for their future. Franco expressed how important it is for them to follow up with the students and encourage them. The teachers had several questions about the new incentives and how the new program will work.

It was a very good day.  Here's a picture taken during the training.  (We're the two gray-haired ones.)

  



 



We handed out training materials to all of the teachers and Priesthood leaders to take back with them to their stakes, wards, and branches (Mormon congregations).  We had people from four stakes and one district come for the training.  Below are pictures of the training materials:

Our Visit to Beautiful Tagaytay

Here's our group at one of the gardens

 

On Saturday, December 21st we met the PEF Office workers and went down to Tagaytay. We first drove to the Area Office and got in a van with Elder and Sister Tenney and Sister Doig. We picked up Jib at Market Market Mall and then drove to SM Bicutan Mall to pick up Franco, his wife, and his mother. We continued on down the SLEX toward Tagaytay. It was a very nice day and we really enjoyed the scenery. We drove up into the mountains and saw pineapple farms and we even saw a carabao right beside the road.

 

An encounter with a Carabao beside the road.

 We drove through Tagaytay and were able to see Taal Lake and the Taal volcano.

 

View from Tagaytay, up in the mountains, to Taal Lake and Taal Volcano (island in the lake)

 We went to Sonia's Bed and Breakfast to have breakfast. It was a buffet with small omelets, fruits, bacon and sausage, fish, and a few other things. They served us hot chocolate. The bed and breakfast has beautiful gardens around it. After we ate we walked around the gardens. It was a lovely place.

 

 Us in the gardens

 

We left there and then drove to another garden that had a church up on a hillside. The view across the hills was very nice. We walked around these gardens and then walked around a koi pond. The weather was somewhat cooler up in the mountains, so we didn't get sweaty walking around. It was so nice to get outside and enjoy the views.

 

Dale and others on the swinging bridge across a ravine.

 

This is what we thought the Philippines should look like and we're glad we were able to go on this trip.