Negative Work?

I'm trying to get into volunteering so I can help out those in need when I get back to the Philippines. However, when I did a Google search for "volunteer Philippines", I got some interesting results. Some don't say anything about costs or fees to volunteer their programs, and others list prices to volunteer in theirs. I won't say the name of any of them in this post, because I don't want anybody thinking that I"m slamming them.

I began reading about helping by working with orphans and underprivileged children in an area that's in the Visayas region of the Philippines. This sounds like a worthy cause, it's something I surely may be interested in becoming a part of. They have various durations of 2-4, 5-8 and 9-12 weeks. The cost to participate in this volunteer program? Below I am pasting it in here word-for-word as it is on their site:


Cost in US$: USD 1260.00 for 2 weeks, USD 220.00 for every week thereafter

Cost Includes :

Food Housing In-country orientation/Training In-country staff support Pre-departure orientation/Training Written materials pre-departure Cost Include Description: * Accommodation: Shared room in homestay * Food: Breakfast and dinner * Airport Pickup: Included on arrival date. Ask us for details if you're arriving early! * Training: In-country orientation * Support: Pre-departure helpdesk, Local in-country team and 24hr emergency support" Ok, I make $837/month from disability. Let's do the math here. If I save up for a while I can come up with the airfare to get there. But $1260 up front to volunteer? Assuming I want to volunteer for 2 months to help these underprivileged children, I would need $1260 + $220 + $220 + $220 + $220 + $220 + $220. By my math, that's $2580. It includes two things that are quite cheap in the Philippines: lodging and food. I've been wanting to move to the Philippines for a while, and I've done plenty of research regarding costs to live there on a monthly basis. I learned on my first 45-day trip there that some things are much cheaper there than they are here in the USA. I am aware that I can rent a pretty nice place for $100-200/month, and I've had many $1-2 meals there, too. I am familiar with homestay-style accomodations, and these typically would not cost more than $40-50/month. I would definately consider renting a room in somebody's home (a homestay) to save money if I can get into a good volunteer program there. I can surely keep my monthly food budget below $200. Visa extension every 2 months costs about $75-80. Monthly pay-as-you-go mobile phone use will set me back around $20-30. I have read the descriptions of some other volunteer programs, ones which do not mention anything about money. I'm now wondering though, do they all try to get the person wanting to help out to pay money for the opportunity? Do you have to be wealthy to fill your soul with the spirit of volunteerism? I'm new to this, that's why I'm asking. Honestly, I'm hoping that my readers can help shed some light on this topic. I'm hoping for some answers or suggestions. Can anybody advise me, a guy with less-than-stellar eyesight and a limited monthly budge, get into volunteerism? Or is volunteering these days mainly something that is just another kind of vacation option for rich people who want more of an "adventure holiday"? Should I just jump on a plane, get there and ask them if they can spare a shovel? Honestly, I'm ready to get down and dirty, I'm not looking for a new kind of holiday/vacation. I would love to have somebody tell me, "Ok Joe, remove the litter and trash from that 10km stretch of beach." Growing up as a Boy Scout, I used to go do volunteer stuff all the time. Every weekend we seemed to be doing something or other to help the community. Of course, I don't really have any of that on paper, but the memories are certainly there. Now that I'm all grown up, I'm looking to create many more memories of such, and I'm remaining optimistic that I will get my opportunities soon.

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Filipino Phone Service

In the Philippines, mobile phones are abundant, and they are very popular for text messaging more than voice calls. I quickly learned this upon arriving in Manila for the first time. When my new Filipino friend Chris picked me up at the airport, his sister Guia already had gotten me a local sim card for my mobile phone, along with a basic mobile phone in case something happened to my beloved Blackberry Bold. It was a SMART sim card, and she had ever so kindly bought me p300 worth of SMART prepaid phone load to get me started.

Before I left for this first Philippines trip, I first called my USA mobile phone service provider, AT&T Wireless, and told them that I needed to use my phone with a local foreign sim card on an upcoming trip. With no drama, the AT&T customer service representative gave me the long "unlock code" and I wrote it down on a piece of paper. I had my neighbor enter it into my phone for me, since he has been using Blackberry phones for a long time and is good at that sort of thing. Now my phone was officially "unlocked", meaning that I could now use it anywhere in the world, with any sim, since the Blackberry Bold is a quad-band phone that will work on any mobile network. I want to point out to my readers who use Apple iPhones that, at this time, the Apple iPhone is the only mobile device I'm aware of that AT&T will NOT give you an unlock code for. If you insist on using your iPhone while on a faraway trip, get ready to pay some seriously steep roaming charges.

Upon my Manila arrival, my friend Chris pulled my AT&T sim card and replaced it with the SMART one. I carefully and deliberately chose a safe and secure hiding place for the AT&T sim, so I could swap it back in when I was re-entering the USA at the end of the trip. Of course I still haven't found the thing yet, and I got back about 6 weeks ago, so I guess I hid it too well. When I couldn't find it though, I just went to a local AT&T store and they gave me a new sim card, so no big deal. Next time I go though (which will hopefully be quite soon), I will definately store my USA sim card in a spot where I'll actually remember the location, so I won't have to go to the local store again for a replacement. And speaking of going to the store...

I can't count the number of times I burned through my SMART prepaid load and had to go to the local 711 or similar store for a fresh new load card. Luckily phone load cards are available all over the place, and you will rarely if ever not be near a place where you can throw down some pesos on more talk time. The biggest load cards I could find were p500 cards, and that's what I usually got. I learned that I could go through p500 in only a few days, between sending texts and making occasional calls, and also watching my load number mysteriously drop in large increments without me even doing anything to cause it to do so. Don't be surprised if you experience the same phenomenon that I did, that of the magical disappearing SMART load.

Of course you have to be able to read the teeny tiny numbers on the back of the standard business card-size SMART prepaid load card. I did'nt even consider attempting this, as I preferred instead to just let whomever I was hanging out with at the time take care of it for me. I would hand them my new p500 card and my phone, and a minute later it would all be taken care of.

In the Philippines, it's all about texting. I can't comment on other mobile phone service providers such as Globe or Sun, but during my first trip SMART charged me p1 (a.k.a. 1 peso) per sent SMS text message. An SMS text message is defined by SMART as a message containing 180 or fewer text characters, including spaces of course. If you send one that's longer than that, it will simply be charged as more than one message. If any of my Filipino readers notice any mistakes in this post regarding the #  of characters in a SMS text message there, or anything else, please comment here to let me know and I will correct it.

Unlike with AT&T in the USA, SMART does not count received text messages against you, only sent ones. This is nice, and I also like the fact that any SMART user can do a "pass load" to any other SMART user by typing a specific code into their own phone. For example, when I was in a rather remote area and ran out of phone load, my friend Fervel correctly guessed that was the reason she stopped getting replies from me. She passed p60 to my phone and I was up and running once again. That is a very cool feature of their network, and I really appreciate having that option. To my knowledge, making a voice call also costs p1 per minute to another Filipino phone #. International calls of course cost much more than that, and I'm pretty sure I was getting hit for p15 per minute when I had to call the USA. They have various promotions, and "promo load" is very popular. One option is to pay p20 per day for unlimited texting. Trust me, there are plenty of Filipinas who send hundreds of texts per day, so that unlimited option sounds like a winner to me.

One of the best things about text messaging is the fact that you don't need a strong signal to use SMS. All you need is a signal, and it doesn't matter how weak it may be. I found myself in numerous remote locales in which I barely had enough of a signal to send a text message, but a voice call would have been completely out of the question. I hope that you, my readers, find this post to be informational and at least somewhat entertaining. Please do let me know if you have any questions, and comments are always more than welcome.

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What I Packed for my First Philippines Trip

I want to take this time to give you, my readers, a list of everything I took on my first trip to the Philippines. As I've mentioned before, I went alone with only carry-on bags. I left Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA on July 14th, 2009. I got back to Pittsburgh late at night on August 29th, 2009.  I hope to use this list of proof that you can go on an extended trip to a tropical area far away from home without needing to drag huge, hulking bags around as you travel from place to place.

You may notice that there is no mention of jeans in this list, and that is for a reason. As you can see from all the pics I have uploaded thus far from that trip, I didn't bother to take jeans with me. The only long pants I took was a single pair of Columbia convertible pants, and they served me well on the occasions in which I actually felt like or needed to wear long pants.

I discovered that I could certainly do a 6+ week trip in the Philippines without ever needing the warmth of a long sleeve fleece, but I'll take a good one with me every time. Like they taught us in Boy Scouts decades ago, be prepared. And I quickly learned that it's always good to have something to offer a chilly Filipino friend on a night that feels warm to you but cool to him or her.

I think I thought of just about everything while making up this itemized list tonight, and any time I think of something that had at first slipped my mind I will add it to the list. Please check it out and let me know what you think of it. I welcome and wholeheartedly appreciate all comments and questions.

*  High Sierra AT305 Carry-On Wheeled Backpack with Removable Day Pack, 1
*  REI Duck's Back 80 Rain Cover, 1
*  Red Ledge Rain Jacket, 1
*  Sunglasses with Hinged Temples, 1 Pair
*  Eagle Creek Pack-It Tube Cubes, 2
*  Eagle Creek Pack-It Half Tube Cube, 1
*  Eagle Creek Pack-It Drop Box, 1
*  Crocs Footwear, 1 Pair
*  Merrell Moab Ventilator Cross-Training Shoes, 1 Pair
*  Low-Cut Cushioned Hiking/Running Socks, 6 Pairs
*  Compressible/Packable Rain Jacket with Zipper Pockets, 1
*  Hat with Brim and Chin Strap, 1
*  Black Crater Cord-Lock Light for my Hat's Chin Strap, 1
*  Kiwi Heavy-Duty Water Repellant Spray, 1 Large Can
*  Kuhl Z Cargo Shorts, 1
*  Columbia Cargo Swim Shorts with Zipper Pocket, 1
*  Convertible Pants with Zip-Off Legs, 1
*  Wrinkle/Stain/Sun-Resistant Tee Shirts, 6
*  Wrinkle/Stain/Sun-Resistant Short-Sleeve Button-Up Shirts, 3
*  Wrinkle/Stain/Sun-Resistant Long -Sleeve Button-Up Shirt with Roll-Up Sleeves, 1
*  Under Armour Long-Sleeve Shirt, 1
*  Ultralight Fleece Long-Sleeve Shirt, 1
*  Cotton Boxer-Briefs, 7
*  Brown Leather Belt, 1
*  Eagle Creek Travel Towel (Medium), 1
*  Luminox 3001 Watch, 1
*  Blackberry 9000 Bold Mobile Phone, 1
*  Lux Rubberize Textured Yellow Case for Mobile Phone, 1
*  Earbuds for Mobile Phone, 1
*  16GB Micro-SD Card for Mobile Phone, 1
*  Amstron PP33 External Battery, 1
*  Olympus Tough 8000 Waterproof Digital Camera, 1
*  2GB XD Card for Camera, 1
*  Spare LI-50B Battery for Camera, 1
*  Zing Design Contour Compact Digital Camera Case, 1
*  USB XD Card Reader, 1
*  Asus 1000HE Netbook, 1
*  Bluetooth or other Wireless Mouse, 1
*  Princeton Tec Quad LED Headlamp, 1
*  Energizer LED Headlamp, 1
*  Black Diamond Orbit LED Lantern, 1
*  Photon Micro Light LED Keychain Light, 1
*  Sea-to-Summit Kitchen Sink (20 Litres), 1
*  SealLine Waterproof Pouch with Neck Lanyard, 1
*  Citronella Campsuds Soap, 4oz.
*  Regular Campsuds Soap, 4oz.
*  No-Rinse Body Bath, 2oz.
*  Charmin Freshmates To-Go Adult Flushable Wipes, Resealable Package of 10
*  Germ-X Pocket Hand Sanitizer, 1 Small Bottle
*  Universal Worldwide Adapter Plug Set, 1
*  Grounded 1-to-3 AC Outlet Extender, 1
*  Mosquito Nets for Head and Bed Coverage, 1 of Each
*  Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight-7 First-Aid Kit
*  Small Generic Mesh Bags, Set of 3
*  Gear Repair Tape, Small Package
*  Hart EZ Towels, Package of 50 Compact Disposable Towels
*  Badger SPF-30 Sunscreen, 3oz.
*  Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock SPF-55
*  Mitchum Unscented Antiperspirant-Deodorant, 1 Stick
*  Toothbrush & Small Tube of Toothpaste, 1 of Each
*  Clif Bar Energy Bars, 12 Bars
*  Sharkies Fruit Chews, 6 Small Bags
*  Equate Nighttime Sleep Aid, Tiny Bottle of 100 Caplets
*  Triple-Antibiotic Ointment, 2oz.
*  Anti-Itch Cream, 2oz.
*  Aloe Vera/Vitamin E Chapstick, 1
*  Travel Clotheslines, 3 Different Kinds
*  Set of Elastic Straps, 3 with Velcro and 3 with Buckles
*  Camelbak Water Bottle, 750ML
*  Carabiners, 3
*  Small Magnifying Glass with Attached Tweezers, 1
*  Credit Card Sized Plastic Magnifying Glass, 1
*  Cheap Velcro Wallets, 2
*  Debit Card, 1
*  Credit Card, 1
*  Health Insurance Card, 1
*  Pennsylvan State Photo ID, 1
*  USA Passport, 1
*  USA Passport Card, 1
*  Northwest Airlines Roundtrip E-Ticket, 1
*  $80 Cash
*  Pack of Smokes, 1
*  Cigarette Lighter, 1
*  Positive Attitude
*  Eagerness to Adopt & Adapt

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Crappy Avella Weather

As I sit here at my computer desk, I notice that the weather outside today is pretty gloomy. It's one of those days in which you can keep the window blinds closed and still see the kind of day it is outside. It's times like this when I long even more for those sunny Bantayan Island beaches, sun-stroke or not.

I decided that this was a prime opportunity to go out and take some photos to depict a properly chilly and overcast southwestern Pennsylvania day, one of those that inevitably creeps up on us here every fall. A day like this talks to me like a harbinger of the season to come.

It's a reminder that summer is clearly over, and Indian summer has completely tapped out, too. The leaves are starting to change colors, yet there is still quite a bit of time before they give up and tap out, as well.

I've nevever had a proper camera for shooting decent stills of the fall foliage before, so I'm at least looking forward to getting some real winners and posting them on this blog. I think that this will be pretty cool for my friends in southeast Asia, as well as all my readers who live in areas in which they don't typically see too much of this kind of thing.

I find it fairly ironic that I never really ended up needing my rain jacket on my first trip to the Philippines, although it wsa right in the heart of their wet/rainy/monsoon season. I suppose I should look at that as a good thing, as well as the fact that I rarely if ever had to use my umbrella there.

Today, however, I got good use out of both of them. I used the umbrella for cover upon going across the street to get some hot coffee at my neighbor's house. As I was walking back agross on my way to hit the shower and the internet, it occurred to me: "Man, I gotta get some pics of this, I just have to."

So I grabbed my Olympus Tough cam and donned my rain jacket, and trekked back over to my neighbor's house. He said he'd be happy to snap some photos of me showcasing my dreary day, and he shielded himself with my umbrella from the then light rain, and took some shots.

So here you go, my friends from places with little or no pine or other trees and such. Some of my you have asked me about the neighborhood in which I have called home for quite some time.

My plan now is still to get back to the Philippines as soon as possible, I plan on staying there for a much longer period of time upon my return, with several months of stay being probably my minimum. I often dream of once again lounging with good friends on a tropical beach there, but right now? Actually, I'm just worried about all my friends who are right in the middle of a series of storms that at one point had Manila 80% submerged. I've been talking to lots of friends there over the past few days, and I feel like a real whiner for looking out the window here and seeing it as "crappy, gloomy weather". How about the millions of people who have been adversely affected by storms like Typhoon Ondoy (AKA "Ketsana")  and now Typhoon Pepeng (AKA "Parma"), which is reportedly approaching "Super Typhoon" status. I read there's a chance that the bulk of Pepeng could miss the country altogether, so let's all hope they catch that kind of break. They surely need it, and suddenly my day here seems much sunnier.

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