CONTINUATION IN LUCENA

 

  The afternoon of the first day of training involves a lot of on-hands experience. Most of the group was doing very well, but we had a few that struggled with English. The materials are written in English and of course that's all I speak, other than a 'Magandang Umaga'. The exercise they are performing here is a sensation test. We need to determine if they are lacking feeling in areas of there arms and hands and legs and feet.
  At the end of this day they should be able to do the interview with the client and initial tests required to use a wheel chair. Depending on the client's abilities, they may not qualify for a wheel chair.
  Our goal is not to ever make matters worse for a client. If a walker or a pair of crutches would work better, that's what we will give them. It is all about mobility and a walker is more mobile than a wheel chair.

WHEELCHAIR TRAINING IN LUCENA - OUR FIRST

  Our wheel chair training is a 2 day event. LDS Charities (us) work together with NGOs (non-government organizations) or LGUs (local government units) (collectively called partners) to sponsor an event. They set the date and venue and we do the training. Participants are invited to take the training, and if they pass the course, they become Certified Wheel Chair Technicians.
  In the training we teach proper assessment of individuals that may need a wheel chair. I was surprised that it took 2 days to teach the material, but after going through 2 training sessions I see the reason for it. They are presented a certificate and a certification number that they use whenever submitting for a wheel chair for a client.

 

  We had a large group for training from the surrounding area. Many of the participants had disabilities. Although it is now under control, there is a large segment of the people we work with that have had Polio. Also, Thalidomide birth defects are very common.
  In this group we also had club feet, amputees and spinal cord injuries.
 This group consisted of 20 participants mostly sponsored by an LGO.

OUR FIRST WHEELCHAIR TRAINING IN LUCENA

  We had only been here one week and we went to Lucena for our first wheel chair training. Lucena is located southeast of Manila. It took us 6 plus hours to get there, not that the distance was that great, the traffic is just that slow.
  It was a fun drive however, going through a lot of small villages. It was the first time I saw the rice fields, corn fields, sugar cane, brahma cattle, and Caribao (looks like a water buffalo). I will share pictures the next time we are out in the country. I wasn't prepared to take photos this time.
  We arrived in Lucena and of course missed the turn. Street signage is poor at best, but usually non-existent. After a u-turn and a little back tracking, we found our hotel.

 

  We stayed at the Queen Margarette Hotel. It was an older hotel, but would have been a very upscale place to stay in its time. Because the Spanish settled here, there is a lot of influence in building styles and even in their language. This hotel is definitely in that style.
  We get a good rest and anticipate what tomorrow will bring.

OUR WARD ASSIGNMENT

The first Sunday we were here we hadn't received a ward or branch assignment, so we attended the Tanay Branch with the Hardicks. It is about 1 1/4 hour drive from our apartment to the southeast. There was about 100+ in their congregation. They asked us to bear our testimonies at their Sacrament Meeting. They are very friendly and really made us feel welcome. (1st picture). This Branch is close to becoming a Ward.
  During the week we got a call from Pres. DeLaMare to assign us to the Tayuman Ward. The drive is only about 45 minutes and is southwest of our apartment. Bishop Urbano is in his early 30's and a returned missionary. Their activity went down after the last bishop left, but it is back up to about 90 again.

 

 

It must be standard procedure, but we bore our testimony again. We are going to really enjoy this experience. The picture on the bottom is us at the Tayuman Ward along with Paz San Juan, our Tagalog teacher. She is a member of the ward.

DAY OF SHOPPING

 

  We did some shopping for food and found they have almost everything. They have Oreos, fish heads, tiny baby bottles, almost anything you are looking for.

 

 

  Oh, did I mention fish heads?

JUST GOTTA SHOP

  We have not had much trouble finding things that we need, but I am glad I brought enough shirts and dress pants though. I searched for a pair of black closed-toe sandals in a size 11 and tried on a lot of different ones. There size 11 is not my size 11. However, I did find one pair that will work - I bought 'em.

 

  They have some very large malls here. MegaMall and the Mall of Asia being the biggest. I have enclosed a picture of Market Market to give you a feeling of how big they are. They contain almost everything a mall in America has and then some. This mall has all the main stream shops plus it also has areas for the native items to buy. There is all kinds of native clothes and wares available.

FIRST DAY OF WORK

  As we approached the Area Office for the first time, we came around the corner of White Plains Drive and Temple Drive, I got my first view of the Manila Temple. It is beautifully white with 6 tall spires. It was a great feeling to see it and it made us feel like we were at home.
  We have been settling in at the PAO (Philippine Area Office), but we won't have an office for several weeks. There is a lot of construction on the property with a new MTC and the remodel of the old MTC building. Many of the departments (eg Medical) are being relocated to the newly remodeled building.

 

 

We may have a temporary office by the end of this week. But who knows. We are now working out of the conference room and it's ok.