Hello Again;

This is our second week at ECPAT and the cockroach war wages on. I cornered one in kitchen and we battled it out. He tried to run but I was too quick with the newspaper. I gave him a bug’s burial in the garbage. That is another one for our team!

Back to the fellowship, since I last blogged, Jina and I have been assisting Attorney, Tin Sevilla.
One of our tasks was to draft a motion to transfer the object evidence from one court to another. The writing of the motion took less than one hour although delivering the motion took an entire day. The traffic in Metro Manila is beyond anything Canadians have been exposed to.

Besides helping with the motion, Atty. Tin asked us to observe the questioning of a child, human trafficking survivor. The questioning was the sixth case to be heard that day. While there are a number of cases, Jina and I were moved as the reality of sexual exploitation was unravelled and exposed throughout the questioning. The victim’s tears, filled a noisy court room with an uncomfortable silence.

Following that day, Jina and I went with the sisters at ECPAT to Boracay Island. It is there in Boracay that many foreign pedophiles travel to exploit young and usually impoverished children. The problem in Boracay ranges from awareness of the issue, implementation of the laws and local ordinances that do not adequately address child sexual exploitation. ECPAT was holding a 2 day police training in order to address the implementation issue. Part of the training included a practicum where, of course, I played the foreign pedophile. It was kind of odd, but funny at the same time. Apparently, according to the ECPAT sisters and the police, I may have a career in acting.

Anyway, Jina and I have finally identified our main project. It will include us drafting local ordinances that address problems that are specific to Boracay. We have interviewed a number of officials in Boracay already and will talk to many more. The purpose of the interviews is to become acquainted with the local culture and specific problems Boracay faces. After drafting the ordinances, we will pass them off to another NGO in Boracay to lobby for their implementation. Unfortunately, since our project is specific to beautiful, amazing, Boracay, we may need to go there a few more times…NICE! The only thing that scares me is the aggressive lady boy prostitutes who have tried, on a number of occasions to entice me! In Boracay especially, Western men should beware of the night!

Apart from work, we have been on a few adventures. The first includes the generic snorkeling and swimming thing. I had spotted an island in the near distance yet no one, including Jina wanted to swim with me. They claim it was 2km away. It WAS NOT!!! Anyway, we also visited Mount Pinatubo with Shivani and Tim. That was incredible. It took a lot to get there: 2.5 hrs drive to the village, 1.5 hour 4x4 up the mountain and a 1 hour trek through the rain forest! However, the view from the mountain was well worth challenge. Inside the volcano is a lake and so we decided to swim. Anyway, I am rambling sooooooo…..
Things are great here and I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer. Talk to everyone soon!

Ps… Brooke, I know I said I would bother on this blog thing, but despite how much you were looking forward to it, I think you had enough throughout the year!