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Yesterday Eric joined myself and the team as we visited the Delgado area squatter village. This is the squatter village immediately behind the Sonshine Center. The kids who live here are some of the poorest of the poor. The Sonshine Center staff does weekly visitations to these neighborhoods so we can pray for the families, find out some of their needs, and just love on them. Eric made a friend, and she would not let go of his hand during our visit. I guess she needed some big brother affection.

A short-term missions team from Indiana is here to build a playground. Watch this space, soon to rise is a playground for the Sonshine Center kids. I will post more photos as the building progresses.

This is turning into an annual event.

The past few months I have been so concerned about the youth in the Scholarship Program. It seems that so many students are eager to enter preschool and go to grade school; but, when they get to high school, so few of them are able, or willing, to finish. I worried and wondered if there was something more that we could do here at Sonshine Center to help them make it. Then I read an article which had these staggering statistics: Philippine Department of Education records show that in every 100 pupils that enter first grade, only sixty-six will finish elementary school. Of that sixty-six, only fifty-eight will enroll in high school, and then only forty-three will graduate, and out of this, only fourteen will finish college. I wanted to compare these statistics with the dropout rates in the United States. According to the statistics website of the U.S. Department of Education, 10.9% of 16-24 year olds were high school dropouts in the year 2000. So, in the U.S. about 10% of children dro...

It is no secret that my kids love my Mom (their Lola--Lola is Filipino for grandmother). Her visit a few weeks ago was way too short. She spent some quality time with Eric and Faith, taking them to ride the rides at our local mall and also taking them to see National Treasure 2. She was also able to spend some quality time with her newest grandchild, Danny.

I really thought the Patriots had this one wrapped up. I agreed with most  that felt that the Giants had little chance to stop the Patriot's path to perfection. I am stunned. I was not really rooting for either team, I was just hoping for a good game. Thankfully the Patriots and the Giants delivered, Super Bowl XLII was an incredible game. How did Eli avoid this sack? AND, how did Tyree hold on to this catch? Say it again with me, A-MAY-ZING!

Here is a bit of Filipino culture. The Barong Tagalog is considered formal dress wear for Filipino men. This is what the men wear when they get married. The Philippines is way too hot for three piece suits and wool tuxedos. Barongs are made of translucent fabric, so they are quite cool to wear. They are worn untucked with an undershirt underneath. They are made of silk or other very fine and shimmering threads. They come in different colors. For the most formal events like the one mentioned in the previous post , cream or white is the color of choice. Eric looking like a proper Filipino gentleman Actually he was not as bored as the photo above suggests