To begin with: approximately 75% of Manila’s population lives in poverty. Having been to Bangkok last year, I can say that the Thai capital is a wealthy city compared to Manila. Here you are confronted with poverty at every street corner. Every part of the city seems to have large slums.

The team in Manila (Luis, Yamil, Scott, Margaux, Ana and Paul) has done an amazing job of setting up the city for our cast. I spoke with a friend of mine, whom I traveled with in UWP in 1998 and who currently works for Lufthansa here in Manila. He said that if you can successfully bring a cast to Manila, you can practically go anywhere in the world. Thank you Manila team for everything you have done for our cast!

The CI sites the team organized represent the essence of what we are trying to accomplish in Up with People. They are truly relevant. They are truly educational for our participants. And they are truly leaving a lasting impact with people in need.

I had the chance to go to two different sites so far. On Friday I worked with a Habitat for Humanity project. Seven cast members are helping to build homes for 384 families on a small compound in the middle of a slum. Each family will receive a one-room apartment of 20 square meters. The cast is intricately involved in finishing the project by the beginning of December. This project is not just being there for a few hours, posing for some photo opps and leaving again. But it is carrying thousands of bricks per day. It is painting countless window frames and walls and it is working alongside Filipino volunteers (including the future home owners) over a total period of 3 weeks (13 full days on site).

Just today I went to a school project for poor children, which is sponsored by an NGO and the city’s welfare office. The children receive the school uniform, supplies as well as a stipend to be able to go to school. Otherwise their families couldn’t afford sending them and would rather have them support the family income by begging or selling things in the streets. Before our group started working with the children we were invited to visit the squatter area where the families of the children live. Hardly anyone of us in the group has ever seen poverty like this. These families live in shacks in an extremely tight quarter. These huts are built out of old wood, metal scraps and other garbage. The grounds are swampy and filthy water is around most of them. Families of up to 12 are crammed into damp little rooms. It was extremely depressing to see. BUT, the friendliness, the spirit and the smiles of the residents were truly remarkable. They invited us in. They asked us to take photos of them. This content for the life that they have was very inspiring.

Apart from our CI we also had a great regional learning day. We went to a museum to learn about the history of the Philippines, saw some colonial buildings downtown, went to a housing project that was built on the ashes of a shantytown and had a traditional dinner with music and dances. The contrasts of the day were enormous. From the beautiful music and red carpet in the restaurant to families with little kids who practically have nothing…

These are just a few experiences providing you only with a little snapshot of our experience so far. As I said when we were in Thailand last semester, I can’t imagine the UWP program without going to developing countries anymore. It is such an invaluable experience for students in order to become global leaders. In order to understand the world, it is absolutely needed to spend time in places like the Philippines. And to see how much the cast is gaining from this experience and how much they have embraced the challenge shows the importance of these four weeks already.

All the best from Manila!

Joern

One of the most exciting parts of our week was the day our cast spent in Berlin. Some of the most memorable sights included the Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, and Berlin Wall. It was amazing to spend time at these historical sights, and especially to experience the Berlin Wall, and the division of Germany. There are even some ruins of churches and buildings left behind from the bombings of WWII to commemorate that time in Germanys history.

To go back to something I talked about that week with my host dad…we discussed his experience with the division of Germany and what it was like living in the DDR, the side of Germany where people really weren’t allowed to leave. He expressed to us that contrary to what most people think, or what history books might tell, his life was better off during that time of separation. He owned an auto repair shop, and because the government controlled the businesses and competition, he was the auto repair specialist in his area. He said business was good, and because he knew the right people, it wasn’t difficult to get the everyday food and supplies that he and his family needed. After the Wall fell, competition started and he lost business and fell into a worse financial situation. When I asked him if he would rather the Wall still be up, he said that because of the pain it brought for some, he was glad it is down, but for himself, times used to be easier. I found this conversation so interesting because it is something you would never expect to hear…especially learning history in the States. Our show on Saturday was special again because Stefan and I also sang the German song we had done the week before. There were also guest performances by a local rap group and a Polish dance team. On our free day, our host mom took us to the Baltic Sea and we toured some of the cities near where she grew up.

Beofre I tell someone details about our experience, I will give you information about the museum. The museum is a house situated in the middle of the valley Unterharmersbach, and has been lived by the “Furstenbergen” between 1660~1997. The Furstenbergen is the family who’s been living and cherishing the traditions of farming for 350 years.

One of the cool accessories on the house was the windows. The house has 112 windows which has a special construction so that you can open them in th middle part and is able to let in hat from outside. The rood is made by grass straws and the walls and all the furnitures are made by wood from th Black forest (Schwarzwald).

We arrived to the museum at 13:00 and a few minutes after our arrival we got split into smaller groups for our guided tour.

Our tour was very interesting, thy showd us their old equipments and told stories about living in the area during the old times

I feel privileged to be able to be apart of Cast B 2007, and I can’t believe all the amazing adventure and opportunities we are able to experience. This museum really brought me back to my roots, since I have family and friends at home who still keeps th old traditions and tries to teach the new generation about their way of living.

I have a wonderful experience; it made me think of my life at home in Sweden and how we all should try to find our roots and traditions to apply the wisdom in our lifetime. We are all here to learn from each other; all the time to get to know someone!

Share your cultural experience and open up the yes of someone, one person at a time. We can make a difference…

We started with a game. Euro pennies were thrown into the middle of our circle of people. A few members of the cast were blindfolded to represent disadvantaged people. We were then told to collect as many pennies as possible. We all made a mad dash (sound similar to real life???). In the end we were lined up according to how many pennies we had collected; one, two… five, and were given papers representing a person of either high, middle or low class. They also took note of those who donated pennies to those who had none. We walked back down the mountain and enjoyed a presentation by a monk of the local Monastery. After our brief talk with the monk we walked to another part of the monastery where we were invited inside.

Once inside, the room was sectioned off in to three sections; high, middle and low. We sat were our papers we received earlier told me to sit. The high class had a luxuriously set table with candles and nice plates, etc. Middle class were given only seats and low class were told to sit on the floor. After we were all seated Jared (our lighting technician, with a huge heart for the topic of poverty) gave a presentation on poverty across the globe. He gave statistics and helped to paint a picture of just how real and devastating the issue of poverty and hunger really is. About two thirds of the way through the presentation, servers began to bring the upper class citizens there first course. It was distracting and smelled wonderful, and the rest of us continued to try and pay attention while they enjoyed the food.

Once Jared finished his wonderful presentation, the rest of us were brought our dinner. The middle class was given rice and beef and some water. The lower class was given rice which we ate on paper plates without utensils, and salt water. We were also asked to not disturb the other classes. We read some of our character sheets aloud to compare the different types of people and what classified them as high, middle or low class. It was heart breaking to read some of the lower class people. It really brought to life the reality and the severity of this issue. We all were given a lot to think about as we compared where we were sitting to where we really are in life. We are all middle to high class citizens in real life, and those of us placed in the lower class sector where quite taken aback by the stark difference. Those in the upper class sector said that they felt guilty eating when the rest of us weren’t. It was an emotional workshop that really hit home and caused many of us to rethink how we live. I felt that I had much to be grateful for after this workshop, and much that I wanted to change, and I know the rest of the cast felt the same.

Fifteen of our cast made the sacrifice to wake up before the sun did and drive to the next town for this ceremony. We arrived and were greeted with the same warm hospitality as the last time. We drank coffee with the few that were there and then finally made our way to the balcony. At this ceremony, we did not participate, but we observed instead. The room slowly began to fill with men. With in thirty minutes, the entire facility was full. It was easily 700 people in there! We later found out that all the women were at home, preparing food for a three day celebration that was to take place following the ceremony.

We learned a lot of new things from this mosque, thanks to our friend Nadir. Nadir was our “guide” through Bayram. He answered all of our questions and filled us in on the history and issues this mosque has. Compared to the Las Vegas mosque where the congregation was full of many middle eastern countries, this mosque was full of eastern European countries. So the ceremony was done at two separate times, once in Arabic and once in Albanian. This mosque also had a time for the non-members to learn the meaning of the prayer and the actions that one does when one prays.

The differences were unique, yet the beliefs were the same. It is so amazing to me when you can be half a world away and yet still believe the same thing. It really is not that profound, but for some reason it really hits me. I think of this world as being so huge, yet experiencing these two mosques makes this huge place seem more personal and communal. It is extremely comforting. I think that is why I have loved the mosques so much. They provide a feeling of community in such a world that can seem so impersonal and easy to get lost in.

I also find Islam fascinating. I think in the USA I had such a negative view of Islam and Muslims, but these experiences hae opened my eyes to the beauty of these people. Their hospitality, open-mindedness, willingness to share, egarness to learn, their dedication, discipline, and understanding are all characteristics that have both touched and inspired me. This inspiration is what I am most grateful for.

Since my experiences at the mosque, I have really been inspired to learn more about Muslims and I too have tried to practice these inspiring characteristics that have touched my heart.

From then on the mountain became less forbidden and became the home of the steepest cogwheel railway. We got to ride it up to the summit of Mt. Pilatus and have an amazing view of the mountain in route.

We started out by taking a boat ride out to the base of the mountain. It was really cold there, because of the wind from the boat moving! But we all had warm jackets or went inside if it got too cold. From there we had an extraordinary view of some of the Swiss country side. Once we got to the mountain, we had a brief tour of the railway cars storage garage. We learned all about how the cars worked, when they worked (from May to November), and how they were made and repaired (since no one makes those kinds of cars any more).

After the tour we took the cogwheel railway all the way up to the summit for a presentation of the mountain’s history and logistics. Corinne Häggi, the woman who gave the presentation, is an alumni of UWP. It was awesome to meet her and see what she did with her life after UWP. Hearing about the history of it all was fun as well… Not just because I’m a huge fan of dragons though. ^^

We ate lunch on the summit and I walked up to the highest peak of the mountain, even though it was so misty out that you couldn’t see the view. It was fun just kind of looking down into the abyss and not knowing how far down it was. XD Well, it’s 7,000 ft, so we knew how far down it was, but it was still fun to imagine a dragon in the mist somewhere.

On the way back down the mountain a lot of us stopped by and sledded down the summer toboggan track. It was lots of fun to be sledding, even if there wasn’t any snow! Thanks so much to Corinne Häggi, Colette Rickter, the CRC’s of the city, and everyone else who helped us have such a fantastic experience on Mt. Pilatus! Thank you!!!

If anyone would like more information on Mt. Pilatus or would like to visit it yourself, please check their website at: www.pilatus.ch

And just to make us aware also of how much waste we generate per week, each of us were given trash bags to carry around for three days. We were to throw our trash and excess food in the bag. This generated a variety of responses… some people didn’t like it, while some people really had fun with it. I was one of the people who tried to eat less so we won’t carry around that much trash. Food packaging in America is terrible. Layers upon layers of plastic!

People shared spoons, recycled water bottles , or tried to transfer their trash to other people (!) But it really was amazing to see how 68 people can contribute to soo much trash. We were also given the chance to take our carbon footprints — which basically translates to

“If all of the people in the world lived like the way you do/ use up natural resources the way you do, how many worlds are needed to support us?”

If people lived like me, we would need 3.5 worlds. Oh, I need to cut down on my waste. One of my castmates needed 12 worlds! Living in the Philippines gave me the edge because I don’t need to heat up the house.