A few new adventures since the last update

21/7: Yuichi’s and my bienvenida to Manila
A great party, with fabulous people, food and entertainment. We had 2 fortune tellers present, who put down tarot cards, ordinary cards, read your hand and aura. A bit anxious at first (I didn’t want to hear bad news), I went to both… But no worries there for me, my future will be great! I definitely hope so!

2/8 till 5/8: trip to Bantangas
After working for 10 days in a row, we thought we deserved a break so Raffy, Nana and myself ventured out to San Juan, in the province of Batangas (south of Manila, about 3 hours drive) for a rest and relaxation break. We went to a really nice beach resort, chilled and ate a lot! Saturday night we supported local economy again by getting a body massage, fantastic! On Sunday, after a pancake and syrup breakfast, we headed back to Manila so we could start the week afresh.

This week
Mainly working, as I have to finalise the new action plan for 2008-2010 before my colleagues come back from their holiday. I’m also preparing for India, I’m leaving for Mumbai on August 20 and will visit NDWM, an organisation that works on labour rights for domestic workers in several states in India. Jeanne Devos, the founder of the organisation, is Belgian and was nominated for the Nobel Price for Peace in 2005 but did not win… Nevertheless, she’s an inspiration to many and I’m really looking forward to meet her and her staff and visit their projects.

This week there is also a typhoon here in the Philippines, but the eye of the storm is in Batanes, an island way north of the Philippines, close to Taiwan. Here in Manila we have heavy rainfalls but no strong winds, and some areas are flooded but it comes not even close to the floodings in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Thousands of people are homeless, have lost their livelihoods, jobs, crops and food, all their possessions. I’d like to wish them strength and courage to start again.

And finally, an event in Cebu caught the eye of the international press… Thriller, performed by inmates in the Cebu prison (also the prison where Nana shot her movie about children in prison). Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o