A project bag for Mara

If you've been with me for a long time, you might remember when one of my friend's went out to the Philippines to visit Mara, a little girl he sponsors. Looking back , I made several things for her, including a little needlecase   - the tutorial is still on it's own tab at the top of the page. He had the most amazing and emotional time and promised her he would try and visit her again.
He will indeed be going for what will probably be his last visit to her - when she turns 18, sponsorship and therefore contact stops.
Naturally I wanted to make a little something for him to give her again and I opted for a project bag this time, which I then filled with embroidery threads, along with needles, scissors and a small hoop. I don't know if she even likes sewing, never mind embroidery but she can always pass them on to her Mum and friends. I'm sure they won't go to waste! I made it about the same size as the other project bags I've done and added a little felt label with her name (badly) embroidered on it.

I'm looking forward to hearing about his visit and seeing all the photos of their time together - what a trip it's going to be!

If you're interested in reading about what I made her before and his previous trip,  you could follow the link above , or go through the archive to around March and April 2015.
(I've just been having a look back myself and apart from it bringing back a lot of memories, I  was surprised at how much I used to write back then compared to now. I think that's down to instagram more than anything else. I've gotten so used to writing short little posts regularly,  I've sort of forgotten how to write a decent length one. Also, I normally write my posts on my tablet, so I'm doing it with one finger not a keyboard and it's hard to add links etc. I should make more effort to get the laptop powered up!!)

I wonder what the temperature is in her part of the world? It's been really cold here! It's supposedly around 6 degrees C but often feels so much colder with a biting wind. Brrr! I'm desperate to go for a long walk but I really don't want to brave the cold. At least it isn't raining today - I'm tired of the rain that seems to have been with us almost constantly for weeks. It hasn't really, it just feels like it. But the days are getting longer at least - it's so good to be able to drive to work and back in daylight - even if the traffic has been horrific!


I'll pop back later in the week with some pics of last week's dog coats being modeled by their new owners. They're a really good fit thank goodness but I'll be happier once I've heard if the buttons are easy to do up on a wriggling dog!!!

See you later.  T xXx

Philippines trip #4

Well he's back and he had the most amazing time. He had so many photos and memories to share  that I almost feel as if I've been there myself!! Here are just some snippets from week 2.

After the highlight of spending the day with Mara and her Mum, he and the rest of the group were privileged to enough to attend the graduation of 17 Compassion International Leadership Development Program participants. These are sponsored children who have overcome the insurmountable odds children living in extreme poverty face when trying to achieve their educational dreams. It was especially moving when the world-weary parents of these children were publicly honoured by these graduates for their love, support, and perseverance.
Don't they look fabulous, all dressed in their finery!! Not like UK graduates, all in black cloaks...


The group were able to visit the local Compassion office and a call centre that deals with the bulk of the calls from the US.

This photo shows letters from child sponsors being translated, ready to send out to the children.

The group were shown where everything is held ready to go out - all immaculately filed - and Andrew found his last letter waiting to be translated (dated March 5th) and added an extra 10 lines saying how much he enjoyed meeting Mara.

Depending where in the world the child lives, it can take 3 months for a letter to travel in either direction.

Andrew also became aware of the extreme poverty of some of the people near the hotel in Manila. Not just adults but very young children. Such a thing would never happen in this country - we would demand that the council house us. Then complain it wasn't good enough...

Whole families slept on card board in alleyways and even on a busy roundabout. In the morning, they folded everything up and tidied it away - they even had a makeshift broom to keep the area clean. You'd never know they had been there.

He spent the next couple of nights going out with food parcels and clothing for some of the families sleeping on the streets. He said they were lovely people and in spite of their circumstances they were still able to smile. I'll leave you with some of the photos of them...

 

Philippines trip #3

The BIG day finally arrived and this is just a little of what Andrew said about it - 

"Truly amazing day with my Mara.

We all met at Davao quayside and when Mara saw me she raced over with her mum and project worker and threw herself into a hug with me. She had the biggest smile ever on her face. We then went island hopping on a boat around the Philippines for 7 hours.

Mara was so polite and chatty, so affectionate and beautiful. She answered most of my questions via the project worker translator but some of the easier questions in English. Her mom came as well as Mara's Compassion project worker. She was lovely as well - unable to express her gratitude to me in words - really overawed.

Mara and her mum had never travelled more than an hour from their home, so all the following were firsts for both of them : going on a bus (8 hour journey), going to Davao City, sleeping in a hotel, sleeping in a bed, going in an elevator and on an escalator. Eating at Jollibees (equivalent of McDonald's), first time having French fries. Seeing the sea, going on a boat, and walking on sand. Can you imagine the overload of experiences Mara must be feeling!!

We stopped at a couple of coves and swam in the very warm sea.

We had lunch on what I can only describe as a Caribbean looking idyllic beach and played ball games and swam again.

The whole day was a wonderful dream and after 7 hours , it was sad to say goodbye.

I have so much more to tell but I'll leave it there. Needless to say, I have promised to return in 2-3 years on a personal home visit and can't wait.

PS The presents you made and gave were amazing. Mara and her mum were overwhelmed."

He still has another week in the Philippines, visiting other Compassion Projects, as well as having some free time for sightseeing but this was the day they had all been waiting for and I'm so pleased that they had "a truly amazing day" together. 

If you would like to learn more, make a donation or even Sponsor a child yourself, click HERE to go to Compassion's website. There's also a UK BLOG, where people like Andrew have recorded their experiences.

Philippines trip #2

More news from my friend in the Philippines with Compassion

Day 2

• "I have just got back from an awesome visit. We went to a Compassion project and were warmly greeted by the church and about 200 children. After a short service, we were taken in small groups to the home of the sponsored children. 
  
  They live down corrugated iron walkways, all crammed in. Their house (two rooms for a family of 10) is on stilts above the river - which also doubles up as the garbage disposal facility. And even so, the 17 year old sponsored child has ambitions to break away from poverty and be an architect.
• We had a fabulous meal laid on by the project and then led various activities for the children. I was in the sports team and somehow seemed to adopt the leading role. I have never sweat so much in my life after three 25 minute sessions with the kids. If I don't lose a stone in weight this vacation, I will be disappointed!!
  The kids are great. Many speak English
  
  and they just want to play and have photos taken. Little ten year old called Angel took a shine to me and we played lots of ball games and she ended up being carried most places on my sweaty back!! 
• Awesome time!"

• Day 3
  "Ten hour trip today saw us venture into the countryside and go to another project. Another set of immaculately behaved kids all benefiting from Compassion.  They sang and danced for us , allowed us to help them with their project learning activities.
  
  Then had a huge spread for dinner followed by the taste of a durian fruit. They say it smells like putrid flesh but tastes like heaven. To me, it didn't smell as bad as it could have and didn't taste as good as it could have. Left a caramelised onion taste. I found out that it is the fruit that keeps on giving - burping durian taste over and over again. Hmmmm!! 
• Then played some great sports with some of the kids. Bring out a basketball , a tennis ball and a frisby and its amazing the reaction.
  The home visit was a kilometre walk into a banana plantation.
• 
  The house was wooden construction on stilts with split bamboo floors that we were worried we would break. Filipino's are quite small and light - unlike us. A family of ten sleep in a 8ft x 8 ft room - eight of them on the floor. They did have a "living room" and a kitchen space. The outside toilet was interesting. 
  
Twice a day, they have to walk thirty minutes each way to collect dirty water from a river which then, thanks to Compassion's water filtration device, turns it into healthy clean water.
• Tomorrow is the BIG day. Meeting Mara and starting to get nervous."

       He sent me a message later to say that he will be spending the whole day with Mara - 7 hours - going on a boat trip, island hopping and going to beaches. And he doesn't even know if Mara has ever seen the sea! They're seven hours ahead of us, so by the time I get up for work he will already be with her...

Philippines trip

My friend is now in the Philippines on his visit to meet Mara, via the charity Compassion.
Luckily, thanks to the internet that has made the world so much smaller, I've been getting regular updates from him. Remember the days when someone went on holiday and you had to wait until they were home to hear about it? You didn't even know if they arrived safely...
Well, he did arrive safely and met the rest of the group he would be spending time with and said they are all lovely. The organisers have lots of things planned for them during their visit, including seeing local community projects they run and meeting the people that are helped by them, along with plenty of free time.

This is the message I've just had from him, along with a very short video -

"Today was full on. Visited a Compassion Project when it was a Mums and babies (pregnant or children up to 3) project day. They were fabulous and the toddlers absolutely gorgeous. Had a meal with them and then we split into twos and did a home visit to one of their homes. We walked through and over graves in a cemetery to get to where she lived - squeezed in a gap between the cemetery and a filthy stream. Lives in two rooms, wooden shack with corrugated iron but gets full health checks and good support for her and her two children from Compassion. Makes one realise just how privileged we are in the UK. "

Makes you think...