Today was the second day of our 2012 year 10 Philippines immersion. The day started with a rewarding trip to the Malate Parish. This trip to the parish really opened everyone's eyes as to how religious the Filipino people are and how much faith they have in their God and in Jesus. The church had some very interesting paintings and was a great stop off.
The second stop that we made was a guided tour around the Malate Parish museum. Our tour guide gave us a very insightful and informed tour about the Manila area. The third stop of that we had today was at the surrounding primary schools. This trip made Nudgee classrooms look like full sized buildings. These classrooms had just the basic necessities for a normal classroom to function. All that there was in the classrooms were a chalkboard and very basic, wooden seats compared to Nudgee's interactive white boards and comfortable chairs. The next part of the trip was the most touching and rewarding moment that I have ever had in my life. We visited the slums of Manila. The slums of Manila where extremely basic buildings with around six people living in such small accommodation. These people have next to nothing, but they seem to be happy with their lives the way they are. I found this to be a challenge to try and hold myself together. There were animals locked in cages that looke about half the size of the animal. Imagine that, being locked in a cage that is way to small for you to fit in properly!! A quote that helped me not cry whilst I was visiting these people was quoted by Fr Dom Nolen, he said
"Nothing is better or worse about the Philippines, it's just different".
This quote helped me surpress my feelings and made me get through the rest of the day pretty easily. The people of the slums looked like they where enjoying life and they treated us like we where apart of their family. This really made me enjoy the trip.
We then had lunch and had a walk along the beach. The water was absolutely filthy. There was rubbish and pollution everywhere. This was a confronting scene with dirty water splashing everywhere. The water tasted and smelt awful!!!
The snapshot memory for me today was seeing those people live their lives in the slums. The people who live in the slums seem to have a happy life. This makes you wonder whether we need all these western technologies that we currently use for the everyday basics.
In conclusion, today was an extremely rewarding day and a day that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Miss Webber told the group a quote that will really summarise what is going to happen for the rest of the immersion.
"Today was a sensory overload"
This will be the main message/quote of our immersion.
The second stop that we made was a guided tour around the Malate Parish museum. Our tour guide gave us a very insightful and informed tour about the Manila area. The third stop of that we had today was at the surrounding primary schools. This trip made Nudgee classrooms look like full sized buildings. These classrooms had just the basic necessities for a normal classroom to function. All that there was in the classrooms were a chalkboard and very basic, wooden seats compared to Nudgee's interactive white boards and comfortable chairs. The next part of the trip was the most touching and rewarding moment that I have ever had in my life. We visited the slums of Manila. The slums of Manila where extremely basic buildings with around six people living in such small accommodation. These people have next to nothing, but they seem to be happy with their lives the way they are. I found this to be a challenge to try and hold myself together. There were animals locked in cages that looke about half the size of the animal. Imagine that, being locked in a cage that is way to small for you to fit in properly!! A quote that helped me not cry whilst I was visiting these people was quoted by Fr Dom Nolen, he said
"Nothing is better or worse about the Philippines, it's just different".
This quote helped me surpress my feelings and made me get through the rest of the day pretty easily. The people of the slums looked like they where enjoying life and they treated us like we where apart of their family. This really made me enjoy the trip.
We then had lunch and had a walk along the beach. The water was absolutely filthy. There was rubbish and pollution everywhere. This was a confronting scene with dirty water splashing everywhere. The water tasted and smelt awful!!!
The snapshot memory for me today was seeing those people live their lives in the slums. The people who live in the slums seem to have a happy life. This makes you wonder whether we need all these western technologies that we currently use for the everyday basics.
In conclusion, today was an extremely rewarding day and a day that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Miss Webber told the group a quote that will really summarise what is going to happen for the rest of the immersion.
"Today was a sensory overload"
This will be the main message/quote of our immersion.
We're off
Malate Church
Malate Church
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