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We spent Mother's Day in a small resort (Escosas) in Amlan, Negros Occidental. On our way from Dumaguete (where we were staying for the weekend), my daughter Justine slipped something in my hands which looked like this.

Guess who this is from.

this is what was written at the back by my 7 y.o. Jom who is not as expressive as his Manang Jus yet.

And this can really bring tears of joy to any mother's eye.  I love my kids! 

Happy Mother's Day to my Mamang who in one way or another brought me up the way I could not find any fault with. I LOVE YOU!

It's one thing I would really love to play and work with.  I would gladly forgo a Louis Vuitton for this (they cost the same).  It seems to be the planner/e-book reader/emailer/ browser that I had been thinking (wanting )of in my mind and dreaming that one day there will be a gadget to fulfill this need of a career "wo-mom".  I hope the 8/16/64GB memory will suffice............ I can't wait for April.

Two years back, I was a member of the Rotary Club's GSE (Group Study Exchange Program RI D3850 to D2710) to Japan.  The objective of this exchange was multifaceted, from cultural to professional, personal and international fellowship.  One major advantage of this program it usually opens a chance for a certain club to make projects geared toward helping different sectors in the community.  The enrichment of our personal experiences and gaining new friends during the program was the cherry on top of the icing.

I was lucky enough to be hosted by then Chair for International Projects, Dr. Shigeo Tsuchimoto of the RC Hiroshima South West during our exchange.  Besides being a surgeon like me, he also spoke good English and we were able to communicate well.  He showed me that walking beside one of Hiroshima's rivers was good exercise and a relaxing activity at the same time. 

Last September, I was very happy to get an email from him. He was asking me to look for a club or group to which they could donate second hand but well conditioned computers and laptops.  I did not have second thoughts to refer the foundation I am involved in.  Stichting Anak Negros, Inc. (SANI) was founded by two Dutch students who used to study here in Bacolod City, Philippines and made efforts to gain sponsors from the Nederlands to help financially deprived but deserving students to finish schooling and improve their way of living.  To date, we have 33 regular scholars (formal high school and college education), 13 scholars for skills training (short term technical courses) as well as a group of 20 street children regularly visiting our public reading library (click here for PRP) for reading and learning activites.  Currently, it is being run by a group of professionals as a Board. (click here to see the Anak Negros Board)

Soon enough, a flurry of email exchanged between me and Tsuchimoto Sensei, and the first batch of boxes arrived containing the nine laptops.  With a little arrangement from the Customs, we were able to transport them to our office.  Sensei sent money to cover for whatever expense we needed.  That very evening, all nine laptops were reprogrammed and running smoothly.

With the success of shipping using our own postal system, Sensei decided to send the next batch of desktop computers, monitors and keyboards.  It arrived last February and we had to borrow the delivery van of then SANI Chairman, Marius Hechanova's business. We were quite overwhelmed with the number of boxes we got. 

Two of the computers were tested and we had a little problem with the electrical requirements.  It took quite sometime for this to be fixed as the summer season brought about two batches of scholar exchange from Holland and the reoraganization required of us by the Dutch Board. One of the new projects we were tasked was the Skills Training Program.  The first of the series, Cell Phone Repair Training has started the last week of October 2009.   This is a free course for interested individuals from any age. We found the need to fasttrack the reformatting of the desktop computers so that the trainees will each have a computer to work with.  We are so glad all of the computers were working.  Finally, aside from just scholar research and school projects, we were able to put the computers to a better use for skills training.

This report is long overdue, but the wait was worth it.  I am very proud that I was able to be a part of this.  Thank you very much Rotary Club of Hiroshima Southwest and Dr. Shigeo Tsuchimoto! I look forward to taking a walk beside the rivers of Hiroshima again.

2009 February                                                 

Visit of Mr. Hiroshi Oka(click here) of RC Hagi City                                           

Stichting Anak Office,  Bacolod City

So that I will be able to get my fill of these rambutan fruits, I had to make a LAW that no one can get a fruit (yes, even only one piece!) until it ripens (or at least shows its reddish coloring) and we can harvest a good number of it at one point.  And with special instructions to keep the kids away from the tree until then (BAD Mommy!).  I was imagining a "christmas tree-like" picture of the green rambutan tree and its red fruits.

But who could resist? The young tree was gradually growing ripe fruits at waist level, and of course, did not ripen all together at once... After a while there were evidences of rambutan peel in various levels of ripeness found in the lawn and inside the house (bathroom trash can, under the beds, dog trays, etc..), all pointing to my twelve-year old Jus. When asked, the reply was only a wide-eyed, face of innocence.  And more peels were eventually found in even more unlikely (and uncanny?) areas (soiled uniform pockets, school bags, sofa nooks). 

Thus from the previous Saturday, I finally allowed them to get only (AND ONLY) fruits that are red, and on weekends only. To give the other fruits time to ripen (and for me to be able to eat my share too, hahaha). Looking forward to more weekends of fruit.