On Parade

Jenny and Jasmine collected beautiful bouquets of flowers from the
children at Lonoy Elementary School on Valentines Day.
© 2014 Andrea Rip 

For those who have dreamed of being famous, nothing will make you feel more like a movie star than walking down the road in a small Filipino town as a stranger | Westerner | volunteer. The children scream, run to the road to watch us pass by, pull on our hands, ask "what is your name?" and smile. Their smiles are beyond brilliant. Mothers hold their babies up and force their small hands to wave in our direction while older couples smile and nod acknowledging our work in the community. Many stare with smiles on their faces, assumed to be wondering why people come from around the world to help their small village that rarely sees a tourist or western visitor.
On Valentine's Day, we had a team working at the Lonoy Elementary School where the students wrote a load of Valentine's to the group there. "Princess" Jasmine and Jenny came home with many of those cards professing love and warm friendship from the elementary crew. They each had a massive bouquet of wildflowers from around the school (which I am certain looked quite bare after February 14 passed).

Juli signs  her autograph to a tshirt of a woman at the
Gawad Kalinga Rebuild site in Ormoc.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Riding the jeepneys to our work sites every day was another spectacle altogether. Most of us opted to ride on the top of the jeepney where it is cooler and we can enjoy the views of mountains and palm trees in rice fields. Kids can see our white skin on the top of the jeepneys from a long way off and start their waving and "hellos" as soon as we come into view. We wave like we are on a parade float and try to reciprocate their gleaming smiles. All Hands has been embraced by the community where we are working and those instances of pseudo fame are a way that they show gratitude for our work and we can feel appreciation for our small contribution to Yolanda clean up.
Several times while I was on the Project, our group was asked to sign our autograph to tshirts, hats, and towels for the people who we were helping. Juli thoughtfully took her All Hands tshirt and had everyone reciprocate by adding their signature to her shirt.
After a long and hard day of work, we were spoiled with gratitude and praise from the children. Those smiles and shouts never got old and made every swing of a sledge hammer worth our effort!