If one were to describe Heaven on Earth, this idyllic scene
has to be tops. This small island, set
aside from the rest of the world, is truly unique. We are located just outside Ferrol, about one
hour south of San Andres where we were a year ago.
 |
| View from inside the Villa |
 |
| Our Villa! |
Beyond luck, Chris Beck arranged for us to stay at Michaela’s
Villas by the Sea. Willy, originally
from Germany and Machela (born in the Philippines) have built and are continuing to build a place
to dream about. We are in one of two
villa that Willy, an engineer by training designed. Shaped as an octagon with a thatched roof,
three large electronically controlled doors, screened windows at chin height
assuring privacy, solar heated hot water, the unit gives us a great place to
work and sleep well! They have a great
staff who are busy tending to the lovely grounds and building two new additions. Meals are freshly prepared. Unlike last year when we looked the live
chickens from a distance, we have had lovely, fresh chicken, fresh fish, German
sausages with good mustard and sauerkraut, good bread, freshly made mango
shakes each morning, great vegetables stir fried, lots of good bananas. Real luxury!
Cecile, a retired Social Worker with family roots in Tablas,
has helped women in this area organize to form the Tablas Womans Livelihood
Association (TAWLA). Cecile describes
them as mothers of
Cash Assistance Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) who receive Php 1,500.00 monthly for the whole family composed usually
of 7 to 10 members (a little over a dollar a day Canadian). Initially there were going to be 35 taking
our 10 days of workshops but as the numbers increased, their small Barangay
hall was inadequate. The Mayor of Farrol
arranged for a meeting room to accommodate us but the first seminar day, the
room was not available. We had our first
morning in the stadium, a open air basketball court with concrete
bleachers. By noon, we insisted that we
needed a room! They soon found a temporary spot, the
day care facility for the afternoon barely holding all 40 of us!
The second workshop day we had our meeting room, a very large, bare room. The day begins with the women carrying the tables and chairs from a storage building to the seminar room. We have our own computers, projector, voltage regulator, surge protector but no screen. Electricity this year so far has been much more reliable than last year.
The first seminar day in the afternoon we used a bed sheet to
try and project an image from our digital projector. Day two, Willy gave us a freshly scrubbed
white canvas that is working well. Fifty
people. Oh my goodness but they don’t
seem to mind. They were on the edge of
their seats for Allan’s morning presentations, enjoying all the local
illustrations from the markets. They
enjoyed Allan’s reading in Talago, their
local language from several ads!
Lydia really had to think hard and is still thinking of skills
that might be of help for the women. She
is working on hand painted tshirts of Tablas Island as the first activity
(designing stencils). We were amazed at the hardware store in Odiongan had fabric paint, tshirts, fabric, brushes,
stencil making material by the yard.
What an amazing experience. When
you enter the hardware store, you make your way through the narrow passage way lined
with just everything piled, supplies hanging from the ceiling, organized
shelves filled to the top but that is only the outside. Willy calls it the cave in back. These aisles are floor to ceiling with organized
supplies. It is very dark. We could barely decipher the colors of fabric
paint available. So for $122 Canadian, Lydia bought 40 tshirts,
five jars of fabric paint, stencilling film, etc. We will see how it goes. Nothing to lose. The organization could really strengthen if
they were able to establish a money making business.
Our first Sunday, before breakfast, we were invited to go to
the market in Odiongan with Willy. Willy
said it would take 1 ½ hours. Off we went. The Sunday market is special. This is the day when farmers spread their
fresh produce out on the ground, there is more fresh meat and fish available. Willy took their cooler, supplemented their
ice with block ice and bought fresh chicken, pork and beef, things we only dreamed of last year. We took pictures of the hand woven hammocks,
colorful baskets, mats, lots of local color.
Willy gets a call from Chris Beck. Where are the Sorflatens? He was inviting us for a special Sunday
outing. Indeed, we live in two worlds. So, we transfer to Chris’ Lexus and were
quickly wisked to Chris’ resort where we were treated to the best pizza
(Lydia’s without cheese was delicious too!).
Our friends, two couples who are building homes here, arrived for our
luxury trip to Flavios, an Italian Resort on a nearby island. Chris warned us not to eat too much
pizza. They had a full course Italian
meal ready for us (each a separate course)-pesto on Italian bread fingers, pasta
with tomato sauce, (then Chris said, the main course is coming)-yes, three big
homemade meatballs followed by homemade ice cream (lemon, mango flavors).
Children selling jewelry made of shells were waiting at the
gate. When Lydia approached them to buy,
they were very shy. Lydia chose three necklaces and
finally the little boy (probably age 9) managed to say 150 pecos.
We ended the weekend by visiting the building site William and Eudora have chosen. A very ambitious project. Located on the top of a cliff overlooking the sea, the view is great. They plan to bring soil in to cover the irregular coral rocks and build their house set back from the cliff (good plan!)
We ended the weekend by visiting the building site William and Eudora have chosen. A very ambitious project. Located on the top of a cliff overlooking the sea, the view is great. They plan to bring soil in to cover the irregular coral rocks and build their house set back from the cliff (good plan!)
