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Independence Day [2015-06-12]

It’s Independence Day here in the Philippines, so we’ve headed to the seaside to enjoy the cooling breeze in the midst of the heat.  Neal is out snorkeling while I relax under a thatched umbrella.  We recently celebrated the ninth anniversary of our first arrival in Compostela, and one of our early memories is joining in the special Independence Day flag-raising ceremony at the municipal hall back in 2006.

Watching the citizens of the Philippines share pride in their nation and culture reminds me of how lucky we are to be affiliated closely with two countries (Philippines and Tanzania) while still pledging allegiance to our own nation, the United States.  It is easy to focus on the differences between people, but the biggest treasure we’ve received from our time overseas is seeing the similarities in people’s hopes and dreams.  Back at church in the U.S. we occasionally have joined in a hymn set to the tune “Finlandia” by Sibelius – it expresses it so eloquently.

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine;
this is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

 

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
and skies are everywhere as blue as mine:
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.

 

This week was filled with additional school visits for system updates.  We also visited the Dep Ed Division Offices of Cebu Province and Mandaue City to get permission for the Cebu Open Source Software Championship.  It is now scheduled for July 6th!  I was also excited to support Ma’am Nerry, IT teacher at Compostela National High School, to develop an elective class on computer applications.  It will be open for up to 40-8th grade and 40-9th grade students, and it will cover desktop publishing, photo editing, and webpage design.  She will be identifying the students next week to get things rolling.

Tuesday we will head north for visits to Daanbantayan National High School and Kawit National High School.  We will be making updates at both schools and will also replace the old Ethernet cabling in the primary computer lab at Daanbantayan NHS.  On Friday we hope to make evaluation visits at some schools for possible 2016 projects.  Jade and Jillian will be coming with us to share in the hard work … and the fun!