Manila Day 5

I had a good day. Very different from previous days...not that they weren't good, just different.

This morning at breakfast, my new friends at the hotel gave me a thank you card and a postcard of the Philippines. I was so touched by their thoughtfulness. I decided I will share the thank you card with the team, but I'm keeping the postcard for myself as a momento of my time here. I plan to take it back to my office in Cambodia to remember the generous, courageous and joyful spirit I encountered here.

I spent most of the day with a colleague from our Canada office. He had set up some time with local missionaries. I am discovering that missionaries are a great resource for information. They can tell you where things are and what is happening, people come to them in a crisis. We spent the entire day in one community (TayTay), at one evacuation shelter. I had the best time just being with the people. That is hands down the best thing about my job - the people. The kids have been cooped up for days. They needed to get their energy out. So, we played, we sang songs, and I taught them the hokey-pokey. They really liked that. They learned my name and I learned some of theirs (the one's I could pronounce anyway). Experiences like that are why I came to the field. I want to be where the people are, not holed up in an office or sitting in front of a computer. I really enjoyed my day. We laughed a lot. I think laughter is therapy for the soul. As I was leaving the kids asked, "Sheri, are you coming back?" I don't think I can, but I enjoyed playing, dancing and laughing while I was there.