He tells me we have an appointment to be interviewed at the radio station DZRH in downtown Manila. We are suppose to give them information of the LDS Charities Wheelchair Initiative.
It's 12 noon and we are scheduled to be in Manila in one hour for our appointment. That is not going to happen on a Friday. Traffic in Manila on Friday is impossible. It will take us 2 hours to make that 12 to 15 mile drive.
OK, he called back and they will meet us at 2 pm. Even that is going to be tough.
I head for his office in Mandaluyong City Hall and hope traffic at least moves. He is ready to go.
I put his tricycle wheelchair in the trunk of our Toyota Altus and away we go.
We had a great conversation on the way in. He is a great guy with a great family.
We arrive at 2:10 pm and are lucky to do so. A member of the DZRH staff meets us and begins to interview us about the work we do at LDS Charities and how our partnerships help us. He gets called away and another "TYPE A" starts down the same road. I sit back as I see this guy go 100 miles an hour in every direction possible.
Then some staff member hands him a mic and we are on the air 'LIVE'. I was not prepared for this, but we go with it. It is an all Tagalog Radio Station, so I get lost in that conversation. Then the 'TYPE A' starts giving out all this info I gave him earlier and actually gets it mostly right. I didn't even think he was listening.
They must like what they hear, so they move us into the main studio. We meet the 'MAN' on the air that everybody in the Philippines knows but me. He is very good and gets the points across as far as I know. Pete assures me he is right on for the details.
The announcer then goes to English and I get interviewed on most of our projects. I feel pretty relaxed until he gives out all my information 'ON THE AIR'. There they are - my cell phone, e-mail and office phone - out to the public for all to know. Now, we always tell any group, have people call you and you can refer them to us.
NO GO. On the way home, I have 24 text messages all wanting a wheelchair and the next day I had 18 e-mails. Talk about a barrage. I sent everyone of them to Pete so at least he could interpret and get assessors assigned to them.
Now that the initial shock is over, it didn't turn out to bad. I still get requests now and again and I send them to Pete. He's the MAN.
No comments:
Post a Comment