consolation

my last two weeks on mission...really transforming, and worth recapping - i don't want to forget these fun experiences i had...sometimes i don't like taking pictures, cause i don't want to feel like a tourist, and usually, i don't - but sometimes i have to take pictures, cause well...the moments are THAT good :)

we are called. i think i sing this in my sleep. really.

sr. terezinha and i recently started teaching religion to a small elementary school, about half an hour outside of baguio city. we got connected to this school because sr. terezinha is involved as part of the leadership team at one of the parishes, and the secretary there used to teach religion classes there, but now she can't, so she asked sr. terzinha, and the rest is history...so every week, there we are...sr. terezinha teaches grades 1-3, and i teach grades 4-6. i'm pretty sure every time i leave my day of classes, walking up to the main road with sr. terezinha, i say, "wow, i would teach here, for real." it's that good.

it's pretty amazing how all of these opportunities for ministry have come up for sr. terezinha and i. at first it was really difficult, cause i did not really know where to even begin - but sure enough, when you stay inside 4 walls, you miss out on the world outside. something that i have also been reflecting on, is "too small a world." mother cabrini is right on with that...and that is how i feel right now. i am so thankful to have discovered this school with sr. t and to be able to venture from place to place, spreading the love of God. but not even just at this school...there is just, so much here. i am realizing it's all about going with your heart, and if your intentions are good, if your desire is there - God will use it, and so...to all of these barangays we are headed, and all of these experiences i have had so far!

the 5th graders working hard on the project i assigned em!

in terms of lesson planning, it's really interesting, but working at the high school last year, and receiving training from response ability last year, really prepared me for teaching right now. even though now i am teaching elementary school, wow, i am getting so much experience! a lot of the times i step into the class, and i think to myself, ok, here we go!! and i don't even have time to think, i just GO! or most the time i think on my feet with my materials in hand. :) i think the teachers like when i come in, cause it gives them a break too. haha!

the classes here are SO respectful. as soon as i step foot into the door - they all stand up and say, "goooooodddd morning ateeeeee crystalllllll" haha when i brought one of my friends there they other day, she said, "wow! they know you!" and they do. :) and i love it! and then when you leave, they all stand up and say, "thank you and have a nice dayyyy ateeeee crystallllll"

yes. this is my spontaneous activity i brought up for the balili bible study.                                                                                         it's ok, they knew it was a light bulb, despite it's awesome lopsidedness.

it's really good too, because i end up recycling my lesson plans - plan the saturday activity for the kids here at SOSCFI, and then do the same activity with each of the classes at the school. and then for our bible studies, we use the same ones for the week for the cathedral, balili and irisan. oh! AND we have turned our balili bible study into a bible study for the children! the parents have not been as active, but the children are ALWAYS there! and so...we adapt to the situation :) can't wait to come up with a name for that community! needless to say, i think i heard sunday's gospel, i WANT to say, 8 times this week. SERIOUSLY. haha it's ok, repetition is good. sometimes. :)

mass at the high school!

the other week, sr. terezinha taught the religion portion for the day to the classes, and then i taught them the music for the mass that they would be having for the first friday. that next day, sr. t and i joined the parish priest, another seminarian and the music director, and we ventured off to celebrate mass at the school. well, we asked them to drop us off at the main road, and then they said they were heading to another high school to do mass. and sooo we came along for the ride! it was so fun! it was my first experience being the commentator, and though it is not a role that i super love, it was needed, and now i am officially trained :) YES! i also learned more songs in ilocano. woohoo! i think these past couple of weeks, i really felt like a missionary on the go. and i realize, i really like it.

mass at the elementary school! :)

and so, i'm looking forward to what is next. there's a need, and so we go. that's kinda our motto. thank you, mother cabrini!

view of the cordilleras. beautiful.

learning and talking baguio.

sr. cress // in the back, BAGUIO CITY!

on january 27th, i had the great privilege of attending the Philippine Ecunemical Peace Platform (PEPP). The PEPP is made up of religious leaders from most of the religions represented here in the Cordilleras, and even outside of the area - born agains, catholics, lutherans, episcopalians, anglicans...the majority of christians were represented! it was such an enlightening experience, and i learned so much!

sr. terezinha and i were only able to attend one of the days because we had meetings the rest of the days the conference was happening, but it was all worth it!

one of the exercises that sticks out in my mind, is when we separated into our different regions - where we were from. sr. t and i were part of the "baguio city" group along with 4 of other sisters, an episcopal priest, and a lutheran pastor. in these groups, our task was to decide what were the 3 root causes in society that created un-peace, rather than our desired peace, for society.

when we got together in our group, at first i was really intimidated, cause wow - these religious were all super educated, articulate, knew obviously baguio city way more than i did, and i felt like a student, eyes wide open, wanting to learn more! after going in circles, haha, it was funny cause again, i somewhat ended up facilitating the conversation cause i noticed that we were just repeating ourselves! so we were told that we had to write down our "3 root causes" on 3 separate sheets of paper...and so, i figured, that could be my contribution, along with my sharing my insights from working with the CICL at the jail. :) and so, the three we came up with were....Poverty, Maldevelopment (if that's a word), and Moral Decadence. haha, can you tell these were not in own words?

baguio city a couple of years ago, was NOT what it is today. today, there are about 400,000 people living here, when previously this province had a population of only about 25,000...however, more and more people flocked towards this area, and now, it is what it is today - polluted, impoverished in many areas, and as a result, with an increase of population, the more likely it is to have "moral decay." but that's what happens when baguio city is given the name, "summer capital of the philippines" :)

after i taped these sheets of paper on the wall, we were told we needed a spokesperson. and so, almost instantly, the whole group looked to ME! i was like, uh uh, no thanks! it's ok, you guys go ahead! and they said...no! you learned a lot, so you can share with everyone what we talked about. so immediately, i was like, sr. terezinha! ahhh! and so, i took more notes for myself...and the next thing you know, i talked about our "3 root causes" and threw in some of my own thoughts and insights :) haha, and then, i realized, whoa, i just got to share and represent baguio city with a room of 60 religious. awesome :) it was great! my group gave me high fives right after. i smiled big. HAHA :)

here are some of our thoughts from our discussion:

poverty: dysfunctional families are on the rise, and especially with the increase of OFWs (overseas filipino workers), there is more break-up within the family. i also learned that during examination times for the colleges (right now, especially), in order to pay tuition, a lot of students will prostitute themselves, many times on the college campuses themselves. it's really sad, and it happens. when in poverty, people will do anything for money. :( and so, the cycle of poverty continues.

maldevelopment: due to the urbanization of baguio city and the increase of people here --> corruption. lands are now being fought over as more land is having greater monetary value too. baguio city did not PLAN to have such a high population, and so, everyone is dealing with the consequences.

moral decadence: root values of the cordillera people are being watered down, and this is also leading to the break-up of families. robbery and theft is on the rise, especially during the holiday season (i don't even want to think about how many CICL will be in the jail after the panagbenga season).  something that was also brought up was westernization, and how this is contributing to gangsterism. i learned a lot about the gang life here in baguio. really interesting.

a lot of the matters we discussed were consequences of these root causes...and it was really overwhelming. but what was really good, was that we all learned lots. it was very inspiring!

here are some of the things said by various people at the platform:

• we have the water, others are drinking it - the philippines is FULL of natural resources!
• how do we overturn un-peace to peace?
• the preferential option for the poor, is no longer an option. this is IMPERATIVE.
• "if we are not with the poor, then we are not part of the process towards the peaceful transformation in society." - sr. cress

amen! :)

hands. praying hands. together.

i was reminded of this beautiful reflection by henri nouwen. no explanation is needed. :)

"Many human relationships are like the interlocking fingers of two hands. Our loneliness makes us cling to each other, and this mutual clinging makes us suffer immensely because it does not take our loneliness away. But the harder we try, the more desperate we become. Many of these "interlocking" relationships fall apart because they become suffocating and oppressive. Human relationships are meant to be like two hands folded together. They can move away from each other while still touching with the fingertips. They can create space between themselves, a little tent, a home, a safe place to be. True relationships among people point to God. They are like prayers in the world. Sometimes the hands that pray are fully touching; sometimes there is distance between them. They always move to and from each other, but they never lose touch. They keep praying to the One who brought them together." - henri nouwen