Journeys

"Coming home from very lonely places all of us go a little mad; whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen..."

--John LeCarre

I'm going to indulge myself a bit on this posting...it is simply a kedging anchor, a symbolic effort to halt the rushing tide of events that have swept me so far away from the joy of creating this blog. It is also a place to haul myself forward again, towards resuming entries.

There is much to catch up on. The work of the Learning Centers has been quite a 'learning experience' for all involved. There is a wealth of stories to tell, information to share, but though a blog for them has been started, the shape of how to tell it is still unclear. So nothing yet has been posted.

It has been a dynamic time, these past several months; a personal venture of cultural exploration--my own as well as Filipino. For all of us, at different times, the journey has felt lonely. The landscape has been unfamiliar, the terrain uneven. Yet, we can see it is a fecund undertaking.

Michael Learner wrote in the cumbersomely titled book, SURPLUS POWERLESSNESS:

"To the extent that we become actively engaged in consciously shaping our future, we are simultaneously rejecting the teaching that we have neither the power nor the right to take history in our hands. The experience of making choices in concert with many other people is an experience of the possibility of freedom that dramatically counters all we have learned about the inevitability of our passivity and powerlessness."

This past year has been quite pivotal. Intense highs and lows with regards to the work here at the school. But, as 2008 creeps into its final hours I am laughing and will add this one last quote, from F. Scott Fitzgerald:

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise."

Achieving

"In the process of making anything,

a person moves beyond personal expression
to make something that stands by itself.

The work acquires its own internal validity, its own integrity."

-- Joseph Zinker --

When One Candle Schoolhouse started in 2002, it began with teaching English to one child. Since then, as rapidly as yeast in warm starter, it has expanded in all directions. This growth has primarily been supported by our personal funds--nothing from the corporate world--but the scale would have been much less without the support of so many friends and family members. This blog was started as a means to thank all those people--many who were initially strangers to us, friends of friends who have since continued beyond their initial donation.

Creating posts for these individuals has been one of my special pleasures--one, sadly, I have not been able to keep up to date. Due to the increasing demands of the school, almost a year has passed without postings on our progress, or the direction we are now pursuing.

It has long been my dream for One Candle Schoolhouse to move out into the local community, to be more accessible to both children and adults, and to be run by Filipinos themselves.

Last October (2007), we learned about the work of Australian Business Volunteers in the Philippines. An application was made and in February of 2008, Ray Moore arrived to begin the process. His assignment goal was to "train in basic bookkeeping and accounting procedures..." but he did much more for us than that. Taking an added interest in the school's need to expand, Ray asked for an accounting of our achievements. This is what we have done:

• ►Since 2003, there have been eight (8) College- and one (1) High School Scholarship, plus nine (9) Apprenticeships in the Vocational Training Program (Hotel/Restaurant- and Business Management, Secretarial/Computer/Accounting Skills, Furniture Making, Small Boat Building, Yacht Maintenance).

• ►Twenty children have created successful Jewelry-, Greeting Card-, Candle Making- and Gift Box Businesses while developing skills in design, packaging, marketing and accounting.

• ►Two Deaf Students received hearing aids.

• ►Three students were sponsored for a three-day Leadership Workshop in San Jose.

• ►Community Service: as a class, One Candle Schoolhouse students taught Art (tie-dying, flag making) to the Special Needs students of GP REHABILITATION, Dumaguete.

• ►Ecology Awareness: a field trip to APO ISLAND MARINE RESERVE, and an all-day seminar on Organic Gardening, brought critical awareness of conservation habits to the children of fishermen and farmers. As a result, three students have actively sought to re-establish their local reserve. In addition, five students wrote, signed and collected 115 more signatures from their public school classmates, protesting Oil Exploration in a protected area of the Philippines.

• ►Public Awards: Grand Prize Winner, National Heritage Collaborative Mural Contest, Dumaguete.

August 3rd, 2008 our second ABV person arrived, Anne Phillips. Her job description was, "To define, prioritize and plan a strategy for financial viability for the organization and educational assistance for the students." But once here, she quickly adapted to the real need...directing parents from three separate communities in the art of planning and funding their Community Learning Centers!

Until the end of September Anne will continue writing proposals, attending local meetings, mentoring the numerous committees in the "Sunud-Sunud" (step-by-step) process of writing Mission Statements, creating Business Plans, and bringing into fruition their goals of greater education for all.

Linked to this site will soon be a separate blog for monitoring the process, so this one can return to posting recognition to the individuals who have helped bring us to this rewarding chapter in our story.