To Label or Not to Label Reflection Paper on Totoy Guro’s Special Education Labels in the Philippines

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Totoy Guro is a blog written by a Filipino teacher. It is a personal space on the Internet where he shares his insights, notes and personal experiences as an educator in the Philippines. The article listing Totoy Guro’s reasons for espousing the use of “labels” for children with special needs (CSN) is a good insight from a teacher’s perspective. Totoy Guro enumerated that using labels for CSN strengthens the teachers’ roles because labels identify the exceptional students’ needs in the classrooms. He also opposed the use of euphemisms for exceptionalities as this prevents people from truly understanding what needs understanding. He said euphemisms promote gossips and unfair labels among children, parents and even teachers. Instead, he recommended public and classroom discussions to educate everyone about exceptionalities.

Reading about students’ exceptionalities and special education (SPED) has opened my mind about the topic. The most experience and knowledge I have about it was a special classroom in my high school where the lone SPED teacher conducted lessons to students with disabilities. These students joined their class the same way regular students would, but gathered daily in the SPED room long after the regular students have gone home. Inside that room was a mystery unknown and uninteresting to me until now. 

Totoy Guro’s piece on using labels gave me an overview of what regular students, CSN, parents and teachers stand about exceptionalities. SPED and exceptionalities are facts of life everyone should accept, deal and live with respectfully of one another. As a parent and future educator, I know that having correct diagnosis of students’ learning disabilities is beneficial for the concerned student, parent and family of the student and most especially, the teacher. It is the start of addressing the necessary accommodations, therapy and changes in order to make the CSN succeed at school.

Totoy Guro has freely used the term label to mean this diagnosis. However, I understand also the possible negative reaction of those who oppose the use of labels for the stigma and wrong connotations they give. The same way that our society today has opted for politically correct phrases and terminologies in order to appease people groups coming from diverse backgrounds and concerns. Adopting politically correct phrases though is synonymous to watering down the issue, if not totally evading it. The problems with using labels then is miscommunication and lack of respect for those who are different from us. Job 6:25 KJV says, “How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?” Right words set us towards the correct path. Arguments divide people, familites and societies. We need and deserve truth all the time, but we need to serve it with love, respect, understanding and encouragement all the time too.

Reference/s

T. G. (2011, September 3). MY LIST WHY “LABELS” FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS ARE GOOD [Web log post]. Retrieved June 19, 2016, from https://totoyguro.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/my-list-why-labels-for-children-with-special-needs-are-good/#comments

Adventure Resort in Norzagaray, Bulacan - Entrance Fees and Rates

My brother learned about Adventure Resort while watching a GMA-7 morning TV show. They say it gathers swimming, rapelling, zip lining and wall climbing all in one destination.

Since we're taal Bulakenyo, the place may be a closer summer destination. Sharing with you the rates of their facilities as of March 2012.

Daytime Rates and Other Charges

Entrance:

Adult Php125 

Kids Php100

Cottage for 15 persons+ - Php500

Package promo per head: Swim - zip - rapelling - wall climbing - Php300

Per facility rate:

Php120 - zip line

Php85 - wall climb

Php75 - rapelling

Some guidelines: white shirt only, no maong bottoms. Food may be brought inside, but there's a cafeteria serving short orders. No alcoholic drinks allowed inside, even Emperador Lite.

You may want to also check these links for photos and other details about the resort:

• Bulacan Philippines Tourism
• Bulacan Resorts
• Here In The Philippines

Which events and people will you remember 2011 for? 5-minute Bible stories for kids, Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook and Recipe for successful achievements

2011 has been a colorful and eventful year.



I would summarize it to be a landmark year when it comes to web development - my work. With the release of Apple's iPad 2, tablet and mobile use has spiked so incredibly that web designers and developers have gone BUSY. Personally, I started with developing ecommerce sites and that's AWESOME.

In terms of personalities, names like Steve Jobs Kim Jong-Il, Prince William and Catherine Middleton made the year that has been emotionally stirring. Even causing others to ask soul-probing questions about life and love.

Politically, the freedom riots in the Middle East are changing how the world works. It's getting flatter by the day.

Lastly, 2011 has been full of global weirding tragedies which claimed lots of innocent lives. The Japan tsunami, Thailand flooding, and Sendong typhoon showed men's feebleness vs nature's wrath. These same events, however, highlighted men's ability to be bigger than himself when he chooses to serve others before his own needs.


Closer note
We have adopted a Tuesday and Thursday family activity of singing hymns, praying and reading Bible stories. The two kids love it! They want to do it daily.

The goal was to enforce family devotion, and provide parent-guided communication about God and faith. It was heart warming to get this Bible passage in one of my devotionals:

1 Corinthians 3:7 NLT
"It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow."

Our two kids were gifts from God, and He himself will watch over them and raise them up in a way that will please Him. Praise be to God!


Book trivia

This year, I finished reading The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, a gift to my husband from dear friends.

Here are cool tips I got from there:

• Bees moving in large masses are called swarms.
• To survive a stampede, determine first where they are headed and then get out of the way. If you cannot escape your only option is to run alongside the stampede to avoid getting trampled.

From the email, tumblr and twitter world

I confess, I love reading heartwarming and inspiring literature. And I get that a lot from my email inbox, tumblr and twitter accounts. Facebook too. Sharing with you one of my 2011 favorites:

The recipe for successful achievements:

1. Enjoy your work.

2. Do your best.

3. Develop good working relationships.

4. Be open to opportunities.

Happy New Year!

Sick kids, women's purse, Shamcey Supsup, Preschool conclusion

Sick kids are the most difficult to take care of.

Recently, Carlos fell from the stairs while rushing down with his sister. They were racing. He skipped a step and fell head first. Good thing I caught him before he landed on the bottom most part. However, the incident broke his left shoulder, clavicle, the doctors call.

Good thing they were on a semestral break.

Days after this, he and his sister developed cough which I think turned into bronchitis. Health is indeed wealth.

Germs trivia
What a shock to read about women's purse as homes to E. coli and salmonella as well as fecal contaminants! Think about it, while using the rest room, there are times when there's no choice but to lay bags and purse on the ladies' room floor. Aside from this, our bags are with us on the train, the bus, the restaurant.

To prevent these germs from getting into our homes, wipe it clean every day with sanitizer. Yes, alcohol's a good choice, if you think your bag's surface won't get damaged with it. Cleaning your bags regularly help too.

Plus, wiping clean regularly used purse items like keys and mobile phones may keep germ-caused diseases away.

Source: Family Education

Shamcey Supsup

Shamcey Supsup made the Philippines proud last September when she bagged the 3rd runner up slot in the Miss Universe 2011. Last year, Philippines' candidate Venus Raj ranked 4th runner up.

While she was doing the pageant, me and the kids were headed for the LBC bankruptcy forum for depositors. Haven't heard from the bank nor PDIC again.

I was impressed with her brief yet intelligent answer about shifting religion for a man and am reminded by a quote by Maya Angelou:

 A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.

• Shamcey is from General Santos, the home town of now legislator world class boxing champ Manny Pacquiao
• She graduated Magna Cum Laude in the University of the Philippines in Diliman under the College of Architecture, a 5-year course with a professional examination board exam. That means her general weighted average during her whole college life is 1.45 or higher. That's like getting a grade of 90+ (out or 100) in all her classes.
• She topped the Philippine Architectural Board Examination with a grade of 86.60%. Heard that she enrolled in a review center twice, and has a habit of re-reading textbooks several times over. Now that's a habit I want my kids to adopt!
• She was a consistent honor student, valedictorian in grade school and salutatorian in Makati High School.
• Her gym instructor commends her discipline. While training for the Miss Universe, she has to get fit to gain the 'right' abs. There would be times when exercising would be too difficult, but when she was reminded that she will represent the country, she gets motivated. She eats healthy too.
• She attends Victory Christian Fellowship.

Lois' conclusions

At the end of her Nursery 2 class, my eldest's class was told by their teacher that three among them will transfer to another class. Therefore, they will not be their classmates anymore.

During their school's break, we decided to enroll her to a Vacation Bible Class, which is like an extended Sunday School. She had her new teachers and classmates. She liked it, but not as much as regular school, she told me.

At the same time, we enrolled her brother to an orientation class in her regular school because he is a new student. He has to be familiar with a class' routine before the start of the official school year.

Due to this, Lois told me a conclusion she arrived at. "Mom, I won't be attending regular school anymore. I am one of the three students that teacher said will be transferred to another class." She was referring to the Vacation Bible Class as the 'other' class.

DENR's Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife in Quezon City

Inside that cage, perched on the dried log is a Philippine hawk eagle.

Last time I visited the place was when I was 12 years old. Back then, it was still known as the QC Parks and Wildlife.


Why we went there
It was no-school day for the kids because of the Quezon City day non-working holiday. For a change in scenery, we visited the park named after the Philippine president namesake Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife.

It's along Quezon Boulevard, a bit walkable from the MRT Quezon Ave. station if you don't mind sweating. However, you may take any jeep that passes that road and pay the minimum fare of Php8. It's in front of the Philippine Lung Center, and beside semi-private Lungsod ng Kabataan or Philippine Children's Hospital.

A lot of endemic animals may be seen at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife - I think all of them?

What to see inside Ninoy Aquino Parks & Wildlife
For the Php3 for kids and Php5 for adults entrance fee, one may stay and roam around the huge park. I spotted some informal settlers near the forest trail, their houses looked like they are.

Don't expect Avilon Zoo level in terms of quantity of animals, and maintenance. The place is run by Department of Environment and Natural Resources. They have an office at the Visayas Avenue side of the park. That means government institution. You may park on this side, by the way.

The zoo is open until 4PM so we visited that first. However, I was distracted with some tall cages in between trees and found out what they were. The trail led to a series of bird cages that I think are 5-star for animals in terms of accommodation among all the zoos I've seen. Why? Because trees are inside and they are really tall and wide structures. The birds may fly a bit more freely.

This Philippine Hawk Eagle is not inside a cage, intentionally left there for picture loving Pinoys

The foliage in the place almost resembled a rainforest, giving the animals more shelter. Honestly, you wouldn't think you were in the heart of the metro if you're there.

The path also led to a nipa hut of various types of fish, a small pond of numerous turtles. There were unused swamp-ponds, and I was almost at the look out for crocodiles. Though I'm sure there aren't, it seems that's how forest-like the place is.


Overweight crocodile and snake
Inside the main zoo, there are cockatoos, eagles or lawin, Philippine Eagle Owls, Philippine Serpent Owls, bats, monitor lizards or bayawak - theirs looked very old and gaunt, crocodiles, snakes, monkeys.

This is a fine-looking animal, and looks like a Philippine meerkat. Though I'm not sure really.

Treehuts
Picnic areas are available for free, and if you're lucky, there are huge nipa houses where you may stay. They are really big, comfortable to fit 10 people.


Stage Area
There is also a stage where perhaps cultural shows are done. When we visited the park, a meeting of all-men and all-women groups were being held simultaneously. Surrounding the stage are seats enough to fit 100 people.


Man-made lake
From the stage, we were able to see a floating house on stilts on the man-made lake. Ill-prepared, I didn't let the kids wander off there thinking dengue-causing mosquitoes are present.


Who goes there
I was surprised to see lots of SLR-toting people, with made-up models with them. So this is where camera enthusiasts meet?

There were also lots of students in uniform - elementary, high school, college. Families with little babies have picnics too.


What I love best
There were many other mini-zoos around the place, right side of the main entrance. However, I didn't check them out. I was thinking bad guys may lurk and rob us? Or the kids may trip and the ground was not very clean, because of the rain.

There were a lot more that I didn't check. However, I was glad to chance upon the HARIBON with the Manny Pacquiao tarpaulin poster in it. I have read in the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife houses a Philippine Eagle because it is blind and therefore it may not thrive in the wild.

They need their clear vision to hunt for food. So the blind, young eagle stays there. It has the biggest cage, though it would be better to make it thrice bigger just to see it fly?

On James Soriano's take on the Filipino language, Baby Alive, Cars 2

Majority of Filipinos are offended again - this time by Mr. James Soriano's article about the Filipino language.

Was not able to read the article in full, because it was not available in the web site of Manila Bulletin, and had to really research to grab a copy of it.

Language, learning, identity, privilege
By JAMES SORIANO
August 24, 2011, 4:06am
Ithink
The Manila Bulletin


MANILA, Philippines — English is the language of learning. I’ve known this since before I could go to school. As a toddler, my first study materials were a set of flash cards that my mother used to teach me the English alphabet.

My mother made home conducive to learning English: all my storybooks and coloring books were in English, and so were the cartoons I watched and the music I listened to. She required me to speak English at home. She even hired tutors to help me learn to read and write in English.

In school I learned to think in English. We used English to learn about numbers, equations and variables. With it we learned about observation and inference, the moon and the stars, monsoons and photosynthesis. With it we learned about shapes and colors, about meter and rhythm. I learned about God in English, and I prayed to Him in English.

Filipino, on the other hand, was always the ‘other’ subject — almost a special subject like PE or Home Economics, except that it was graded the same way as Science, Math, Religion, and English. My classmates and I used to complain about Filipino all the time. Filipino was a chore, like washing the dishes; it was not the language of learning. It was the language we used to speak to the people who washed our dishes.

We used to think learning Filipino was important because it was practical: Filipino was the language of the world outside the classroom. It was the language of the streets: it was how you spoke to the tindera when you went to the tindahan, what you used to tell your katulong that you had an utos, and how you texted manong when you needed “sundo na.”

These skills were required to survive in the outside world, because we are forced to relate with the tinderas and the manongs and the katulongs of this world. If we wanted to communicate to these people — or otherwise avoid being mugged on the jeepney — we needed to learn Filipino.

That being said though, I was proud of my proficiency with the language. Filipino was the language I used to speak with my cousins and uncles and grandparents in the province, so I never had much trouble reciting.

It was the reading and writing that was tedious and difficult. I spoke Filipino, but only when I was in a different world like the streets or the province; it did not come naturally to me. English was more natural; I read, wrote and thought in English. And so, in much of the same way that I learned German later on, I learned Filipino in terms of English. In this way I survived Filipino in high school, albeit with too many sentences that had the preposition ‘ay.’

It was really only in university that I began to grasp Filipino in terms of language and not just dialect. Filipino was not merely a peculiar variety of language, derived and continuously borrowing from the English and Spanish alphabets; it was its own system, with its own grammar, semantics, sounds, even symbols.

But more significantly, it was its own way of reading, writing, and thinking. There are ideas and concepts unique to Filipino that can never be translated into another. Try translating bayanihan, tagay, kilig or diskarte.

Only recently have I begun to grasp Filipino as the language of identity: the language of emotion, experience, and even of learning. And with this comes the realization that I do, in fact, smell worse than a malansang isda. My own language is foreign to me: I speak, think, read and write primarily in English. To borrow the terminology of Fr. Bulatao, I am a split-level Filipino.

But perhaps this is not so bad in a society of rotten beef and stinking fish. For while Filipino may be the language of identity, it is the language of the streets. It might have the capacity to be the language of learning, but it is not the language of the learned.

It is neither the language of the classroom and the laboratory, nor the language of the boardroom, the court room, or the operating room. It is not the language of privilege. I may be disconnected from my being Filipino, but with a tongue of privilege I will always have my connections.

So I have my education to thank for making English my mother language. 

*Reprint of Mr. Soriano's article came from the view point of Mr. Tonyo Cruz.

Addicted to the imperialistic colonizers
I agree 100% with every point raised by Mr. James Soriano. His observations and sentiments are the realities of life. I know of some parents whose kids flunk in the Filipino subject at school. This prepared me to make Filipino a strong foundation for my kids' life.

As Filipinos, I want my two children to master the language, for it is ours, and it is beautiful.

Read the poem of Gat Andres Bonifacio about Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa, or listen to F. Landa Jocano or Mike Coroza dish out those old, pure Filipino sentences and you'd be impressed. My 5-year old girl hooted for more kundiman songs when I brought her to a concert.

For story time, we have English and Filipino books. We speak Filipino when we are outside the house, and when we are at home, we practice speaking in English. This is in preparation for Mandarin, which I want my kids to learn too.

Children are intelligent beings. Batibot knows that and that made them successful. Expose them to a new language for two years, and they would be proficient in it. Consistently talk with them in that language and they will flourish in whatever dialect, language you throw them.

Sadly, a lot of Filipino parents choose English as the mother tongue of their children for the exact points that Mr. Soriano raised - we are impressed with the American Dream. We are 'honored' to have Paris Hilton come over the Philippines to design a real estate property, when in the United States, nobody takes her seriously. Deep down, we desire to be the colonizers who abused us and left us thinking low of ourselves.

Proud to be Filipinos
This has got to stop with my kids. I am fortunate enough to come from a poor family. My limited access to imported goods sheltered me to love the Philippines - sickness and all. My husband let go of a lucrative offer to work in the US and start our family there, because he does not want to step over a colleague who is in line for that job.

We pay our taxes diligently. We obey the traffic rules. We pray for our leaders. We segregate our waste. We buy Pinoy products. We mold our kids to love and live excellently for the Philippines. We dream that we will live to see that day, with the America going lower and lower, when the Philippines will be a positive contribution to the world - not just cheap source of manpower.

Long way to go
Though it is a lot of work and a long time a coming, every day is a step closer to that.

The parents' goal is to help their kids find out that niche they are meant to fill, conquer. The soonest they discover it, the better for all of us.

A monster, where?

Thinking for the country

My country is on its way towards the right path. A year down his 6-year presidential term, P-Noy performs satisfactorily in my opinion. His first SONA speech boasts of accomplishments that the Filipinos have been wanting to hear. Yes, there are still a lot of work to do and it is not good to be satisfied at this low level. Yet I understand the mess of the whole system that merely six years may not correct.

Will be continuously praying for P-Noy and the Philippines.

Nursery 2 reading skills
A month after formal preschool, I find my 43-month old boy still struggling to wake up early in the morning for school. His teachers say he listens to them and has learned to open up with his classmates. I noted an eager inclination to count things, but Carlos still interchanges numbers after 12.

I came across this online pre-reading screening test to gauge kids' readiness and found Carlos to be on the second tier. So he's average.

I'm happy. I admit feeling stressed when hearing about preschoolers taking on all sorts of extra-curricular activities - martial arts, music, sports, tutorials. I haven't sent Carlos to any other schooling but I plan to enroll him to Wushu lessons when he turns four.

Walking to school on PE day

I remember that we enrolled Lois to swimming lessons when she was this age. It has been our family goal to learn a new skill every year and for this year it will be:

1. Daddy - Teaching license
2. Mommy - Driving
3. Lois - Piano
4. Carlos - Wushu

Improved cognitive skills
I checked on how Lois was doing in class, with new classmates and earlier schedule and her teacher said she behaves like a big sister, helping out classmates if she can. She also admitted that she belongs to a class with has improved cognitive skills.

My dream for Lois - and Carlos too, is to learn as much as she can so that when she is full grown, she will help a lot of Filipinos. I tell her this, but her young mind seem to not grasp it. Her face turns sour whenever I bring it up, I feel the 20th century mom reaching to a 21st century kid in action.

How to complement little girls
Read this agreeable thought from Baby Center's Violet's Mom blog - Don't complement little girls on how they look, instead choose to talk about skills.

I totally agree. With younger and younger girls getting their period, we do not want to raise little girls who would turn out to be just bomb shells in the looks arena. We want to have girls who would become achievers in all sorts of endeavors - math, sports, engineering, design, teaching, science, you name it.

How do we do it? Lisa Bloom says, "Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything. It sets them up for dieting at age 5 and foundation at age 11 and boob jobs at 17 and Botox at 23. As our cultural imperative for girls to be hot 24/7 has become the new normal, American women have become increasingly unhappy. What’s missing? A life of meaning, a life of ideas and reading books and being valued for our thoughts and accomplishments."

Hinilawod
Hinilawod, Philippines' pre-colonial oral literature treasure, considered the longest epic in the world is set to be staged on September 3-4, 3PM and 8PM at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

My kids are encouraged to watch with their families. I have invited some family and friends, but since it is still several months away, they do not want to say yes yet. Just the same, I am excited to have my kids watch this. I'm sure I would enjoy, but I don't think they would endure two-hour plays? Got to ask their classmates' moms when they are watching for better chances of good behavior.

Grammar quirks
Lois: Why aren't you lookating at me? (Why aren't you looking at me?)

A boy who changed his world

Reposting from BBC

The extraordinary true story of a Malawian teenager who transformed his village by building electric windmills out of junk is the subject of a new book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Self-taught William Kamkwamba has been feted by climate change campaigners like Al Gore and business leaders the world over.

His against-all-odds achievements are all the more remarkable considering he was forced to quit school aged 14 because his family could no longer afford the $80-a-year (£50) fees.

When he returned to his parents' small plot of farmland in the central Malawian village of Masitala, his future seemed limited.

But this was not another tale of African potential thwarted by poverty.

Defence against hunger

The teenager had a dream of bringing electricity and running water to his village.

Many, including my mother, thought I was going crazy - people thought I was smoking marijuana William Kamkwamba

And he was not prepared to wait for politicians or aid groups to do it for him.

The need for action was even greater in 2002 following one of Malawi's worst droughts, which killed thousands of people and left his family on the brink of starvation.

Unable to attend school, he kept up his education by using a local library.

Fascinated by science, his life changed one day when he picked up a tattered textbook and saw a picture of a windmill.

Mr Kamkwamba told the BBC News website: "I was very interested when I saw the windmill could make electricity and pump water.

"I thought: 'That could be a defence against hunger. Maybe I should build one for myself'."

When not helping his family farm maize, he plugged away at his prototype, working by the light of a paraffin lamp in the evenings.

But his ingenious project met blank looks in his community of about 200 people.

"Many, including my mother, thought I was going crazy," he recalls. "They had never seen a windmill before."

Shocks

Neighbours were further perplexed at the youngster spending so much time scouring rubbish tips.

William Kamkwamba's achievements with wind energy show what one person, with an inspired idea, can do to tackle the crisis we face Al Gore

"People thought I was smoking marijuana," he said. "So I told them I was only making something for juju [magic].' Then they said: 'Ah, I see.'"

Mr Kamkwamba, who is now 22 years old, knocked together a turbine from spare bicycle parts, a tractor fan blade and an old shock absorber, and fashioned blades from plastic pipes, flattened by being held over a fire.

"I got a few electric shocks climbing that [windmill]," says Mr Kamkwamba, ruefully recalling his months of painstaking work.

The finished product - a 5-m (16-ft) tall blue-gum-tree wood tower, swaying in the breeze over Masitala - seemed little more than a quixotic tinkerer's folly.

But his neighbours' mirth turned to amazement when Mr Kamkwamba scrambled up the windmill and hooked a car light bulb to the turbine.

As the blades began to spin in the breeze, the bulb flickered to life and a crowd of astonished onlookers went wild.

Soon the whiz kid's 12-watt wonder was pumping power into his family's mud brick compound.

'Electric wind'

Out went the paraffin lanterns and in came light bulbs and a circuit breaker, made from nails and magnets off an old stereo speaker, and a light switch cobbled together from bicycle spokes and flip-flop rubber.

Before long, locals were queuing up to charge their mobile phones.

WINDS OF CHANGE 2002: Drought strikes; he leaves school; builds 5m windmill 2006: Daily Times writes article on him; he builds a 12m windmill 2007: Brings solar power to his village and installs solar pump Mid-2008: Builds Green Machine windmill, pumping well water Sep 2008: Attends inaugural African Leadership Academy class Mid-2009: Builds replica of original 5m windmill

Mr Kamkwamba's story was sent hurtling through the blogosphere when a reporter from the Daily Times newspaper in Blantyre wrote an article about him in November 2006.

Meanwhile, he installed a solar-powered mechanical pump, donated by well-wishers, above a borehole, adding water storage tanks and bringing the first potable water source to the entire region around his village.

He upgraded his original windmill to 48-volts and anchored it in concrete after its wooden base was chewed away by termites.

Then he built a new windmill, dubbed the Green Machine, which turned a water pump to irrigate his family's field.

Before long, visitors were traipsing from miles around to gawp at the boy prodigy's magetsi a mphepo - "electric wind".

As the fame of his renewable energy projects grew, he was invited in mid-2007 to the prestigious Technology Entertainment Design conference in Arusha, Tanzania.

Cheetah generation

He recalls his excitement using a computer for the first time at the event.

"I had never seen the internet, it was amazing," he says. "I Googled about windmills and found so much information."

Onstage, the native Chichewa speaker recounted his story in halting English, moving hard-bitten venture capitalists and receiving a standing ovation.

William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (left) spent a year writing the book

A glowing front-page portrait of him followed in the Wall Street Journal.

He is now on a scholarship at the elite African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Mr Kamkwamba - who has been flown to conferences around the globe to recount his life-story - has the world at his feet, but is determined to return home after his studies.

The home-grown hero aims to finish bringing power, not just to the rest of his village, but to all Malawians, only 2% of whom have electricity.

"I want to help my country and apply the knowledge I've learned," he says. "I feel there's lots of work to be done."

Former Associated Press news agency reporter Bryan Mealer had been reporting on conflict across Africa for five years when he heard Mr Kamkwamba's story.

The incredible tale was the kind of positive story Mealer, from New York, had long hoped to cover.

The author spent a year with Mr Kamkwamba writing The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, which has just been published in the US.

Mealer says Mr Kamkwamba represents Africa's new "cheetah generation", young people, energetic and technology-hungry, who are taking control of their own destiny.

"Spending a year with William writing this book reminded me why I fell in love with Africa in the first place," says Mr Mealer, 34.

"It's the kind of tale that resonates with every human being and reminds us of our own potential."

Can it be long before the film rights to the triumph-over-adversity story are snapped up, and William Kamkwamba, the boy who dared to dream, finds himself on the big screen?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8257153.stm

Kaitlyn Maher - American, Singer

She may be little, but her great confidence and singing prowess make her a giant. I like so much that she knows as early as 4 what she likes to do and is not intimidated to pursue it. I hope all kids would be like that, they would grow up able to discover who they are and what they are for.

A Better Philippines

What typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) has proved is the fact that real change comes from all of us and not the government. We saw how civic groups powered by volunteers and donors; plus friends, neighbors and relatives were the ones who helped the victims of the typhoon.

We Filipinos are naturally caring people, we have malasakit and kapwa-tao. I remember the story of a friend who lives in Provident Village in Marikina. Their two-storey house was of course flooded, she was not devastated though. She was very touched by the concern, care and support given to them by the church. She said members readily gave pledges to them and were physically there cleaning their house, providing for all their needs. Another even used his 4-day old 4-wheel drive car to transport goods and cleaning equipment. What was most inspiring was her realization that the flood has brought her to a deeper understanding of her purpose. Thinking of what they went through, 12 hours being stranded inside a flooded house with no idea what to happen next - they were perched on top of their cabinets ready for the worst, she said she has realized that the flood is God's way of making her deeper. If before, she was all about kikay-kikay, now she's all ready to be used up for whatever God wants of her.

Crisis-proof
Crisis has been in our blood stream ever since the world begun. In my three decades of life, I have seen Filipinos rise above all - earthquakes, landslides, flashfloods, typhoons. Our third world country is so poor we are so used to discomfort and all these crisis. So definitely we will overcome this. But I'm sensing it'll be different. Twitter and Facebook buzz about bayanihan, helping out, doing our share, loving the nation. Really, we are birthing a new breed of Filipinos. A new Filipino who knows who he is - brown, short, Malay but proud of it. A new Filipino who is improving himself - learning about all he can so he can serve the country realizing that change starts from within.

The Manila Floods: Why Wasn't the City Prepared?

The Manila Floods: Why Wasn't the City Prepared?

An article published in Times.com about Metro Manila post-Ondoy (typhoon Ketsana). Republishing it just so we will remember that we BROUGHT it upon ourselves.

The situation of the Philippines is horrible, even before Ondoy hit. This explains the exodus of intelligent Filipinos patriotic enough yet full of the country's woes. This explains why even hundred of years after our colonizers, we are still not free.

We are our worst enemies. We kill ourselves because we abuse each other - whenever we don't obey the traffic rules, whenever we take home office supplies from the office, whenever we let a friend in the long queue. We don't know who we are because we never bothered to read our history and learn from it. It's like a whole country in drugs! A president we overthrew is running again for the highest position with a big chance of winning again. A dynasty of political families who has robbed the society of its resources and dignity. We never took pride in ourselves because we have always wished to be someone else - an American, a Spanish, a European, as long as not a Filipino! Why? Because we hate hard work. It has always been luck and dole outs and alms. We sell our souls and dignity for coins. We'd rather be laughed at dancing silly at a noontime show than honestly work our day's keep. So our youth get this impression that money is everything when it's not. They become easily lured into what sells - nursing, caregiving, going into showbiz, marrying a foreigner. And once we taste luxury, we hold on to it as tightly as we can. It becomes our lord and savior. The rich and powerful would still be affluent even if they give out 10% of what they have to the less fortunate. They don't because nobody wants to break the cycle, the status quo. Change is scary, it brings the unknown. How can a people who doesn't know anything, not even himself be courageous of what is to come and therefore be prepared? So we just let the climate change consequences drown and kill us trusting that God will provide and the international support would come in.

I do not hate what is happening. This is never new. I hate it that we are not learning from this - never. We never develop that sense of dignity to look within and overcome.

September 2009 in photos

September 2009 - A month that started well but ended cruelly for more than 80% of Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces as typhoon Ondoy aka Ketsana brought historic amount of rainfall. It continued to devastate other South East Asian countries like Vietnam and Indonesia. For various ways on how to help Filipino Ondoy victims, check this LINK.

This month, Ma Dahls gifted the kids with some old stuff. First is Lois' dress which is 30+ years old already. Nangni Che wore this first.

And another is this pair of warm Smurf shoe socks - Daddy Paul was the first owner.

During our September Glorietta service, Kuya Jordan and Ate Anne decided to be Jollibee friends by posing for posterity.

Of course, Lois and Carlos wouldn't let this pass.

Yup, Ate Irish turned 20 this month

This month, Daddy Paul has been letting Lois tinker with the camera. This is one of her firsts.

And this is another.

This month too, Daddy Paul turned 31.

Quezon Avenue became a water pool during the Ondoy typhoon.

My 3 Takes: Post Typhoon Ondoy

Yesterday will go down to history for being the worst flood to hit the country. PAGASA said typhoon Ondoy carried unusual amount of rainfall
equivalent to six months' average in just six hours. News showed houses and cars under six meters of flood water.

We were personally clueless because power outage started 1pm until Sunday afternoon. To keep the kids entertained, we played a lot of
imagination games. It's really challenging to keep toddlers entertained during brownouts.

Sunday newspapers didn't help because they carried mostly political stories. One headline summarized a list of celebrities willing to 'invest' in the candidacy of Noynoy Aquino. Uhm, they say nothing in this world is free. I wonder what payments they would require once Noynoy's in power? Really scary thoughts, I think!

Going back to the Ondoy calamity, to me it illustrates the following:

1. That we as humans are frail beings without capacity to defend ourselves. Without electricity, we cant even have decent meals. Against the strong winds, we cAn't stand. Against the mighty flood, we are defenseless. We are mere dust in the wind. All possessions we have can be swept easily by an hour's rainfall.

2. The unusual amount of rain is our own doing called global warming. Here in the Philippines the awareness about its effect isn't widespread but all points lead to it. Irregular rain, unusually warm weather and unexplained flooding. There are ways we can all help, StopGlobalWarming.org offers great tips.

3. There are not enough scientists in our weather agency because there has never been an accurate forecast of weather occurrence since I can recall. Maybe they have become nurses abroad?

Good news today
God bless the MRT people for lowering fare today P10 flat rate- since Metro Manila
and other 29 provinces are under state if calamity. Thank you for your
sensitivity and concern.

Joining the bandwagon

The talk about sexy star Katrina Halili and Dr. (though soon to be removed from his profession) Hayden Kho only brings upfront what has been there ever since. We all have scandals inside our self's closets. Yes, even the most innocent of us, because we are born with a sinful nature.

My two kids, one 39 months-old and another 18 months-old, both show their savage sides every now and then. We tried as much as we could to shelter them from prime time television because we do not want them oriented with violence, sex and materialism. Yet my 3 year old scoffs at her baby brother when he plays with her toys. Or sometimes, our baby boy would send his big sister crying because he hit her on the head for no reason at all. Yes, we really gravitate towards the me-side. We, for we are all human beings want us crowned kings of ourselves. And that is where the problem lies.

Selfishness, pride, lust, jealousy, fear, slothfulness. A lot of things fall in the category of sin. The world (advertising and media) only packages them as good and enticing that's why we're lured. But those who have been there know that a life of sex, vices and thrill is a life void of meaning. Marilyn Monroe, Howard Hughes, or to bring it closer, Donita Rose, Gary V. Ok, my celebrity examples are not that convincing, but I am 100% convinced that unless we realize that we are sinful and that we gravitate towards trouble we are doomed. Once we know who we are, helpless and mean, we must seek help.

The only genuine, victorious help comes from the Holy Spirit made clear by God's word made flesh in the persona of Jesus. Ok, you might think I'm losing it, but thanks for reaching this far. Only a life surrendered fully to God can be victorious. When I say victory, I mean the non-world, true-to-the-heart peace and joy.