April 6, 2011
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When Sebastian went on his first ICM trip to the Philippines in June 2009, he met a young boy named Jay-R. You can find the video about that trip here. Sebastian and Jay-R, along with many of the other Filipino boys, got along famously that weekend chasing frogs and other small creatures. Sebastian was alive in new ways, seemingly unconstrained by his Hong Kong world that immediately descended on him upon returning to Hong Kong. (Left, standing outside Jay-R's home, April 2011.)
The Manila floods hit during the Fall of 2009 when we were supposed to attend another ICM Building Trip. The flooding mainly hit the larger Manila area. Jay-R’s area in Bacolod, further south, was safe but still received buckets of rain. At the time I explained to Sebastian that the drainage system we helped build in June 2009 would minimize the impact of the rain at Jay-R’s home. Some ICM friends heading down to Bacolod after the floods took a care package for Jay-R from Sebastian. A letter of deep appreciation came back from Jay-R but in November, while on our re-scheduled building trip, we didn’t have time to see Jay-R. Instead, Sebastian met Joshua, a similarly aged boy and the son of our ICM pre-school’s teacher and pastor.
Next stop for Sebastian and Jay-R was the ICM Kids Camp, April 2010. ICM helped us bring Jay-R up from Bacolod to Dumaguete so that thw two boys could spend the week together. Sebastian really wanted Jay-R to attend. The ICM team cautioned us that these arrangements often don’t work – the magic created in Bacolod might not be re-created in Dumaguete. “The frogs are different,” they said. Sure enough, they were correct. Sebastian was much more reserved during Kids Camp than he was in Bacolod although he still had tons lots of fun. (Following Kids Camp our children all said it was the best vacation they’d ever been on. Hmmm… tough competition for Fintry.) Still, I asked Sebastian why things were a little different at Kids Camp between him and Jay-R. Sebastian explained, the best way that he could, that each ICM trip he wanted to do something special for someone. First there was Jay-R, then he made a friend in Joshua, then he helped Jay-R attend Kids Camp, and so on. (Left: the front of JR's door, painted by JR's mother.)
This past weekend we were on another ICM building trip to Bacolod. We stayed an extra few days to hang out at our hotel – the kids love the pool with the giant slide – and also visited our pre-school. On the way back from the pre-school we took a few minutes to make a surprise visit on Jay-R. Wow, am I ever glad we did.
When we left Jay-R’s GK community in June 2009 it was half a rural construction site. Houses semi completed, drainage half built, it was wet and muddy. When we returned 21 months later the community was complete and thriving. A huge community building stood in the middle of the neighbourhood, dwarfing the small building we helped build in 2009. The finished drainage system showed signs of being well loved by water. Flowers adorned the homes. Jay-R quickly appeared, along with his mom, who welcomed us into their small house. This was when the dots started to connect for Sebastian – Sebastian discovered the pictures and letter he’d sent Jay-R on the walls of Jay-R’s home. There was also a piece of Jay-R’s Kids Camp arts & craft work with the words, “Black Bananas are the Victory” written across the bottom. The Black Bananas were Sebastian, Jasper and Jay-R’s team that won the “best team” award at the end of the Kids Camp week. (Left: the pictures and letter on Jay-R's wall.)
Sebastian was amazed to see these items flood back through his world, albeit for ten minutes. They helped all four kids see the downstream impact of their efforts – long forgotten from their view but still alive and making a difference thousands of miles away.
The day has finally arrived when we’ll move out of our building after ten years. I remember when we first moved into 122 ten years ago. Tess was in Canada and pregnant with Sebastian. I moved us in and the first thing I did was snap a picture of the sunset then post it to our web site. This was pre-Facebook and blogs weren't big back then. Fitting, I thought, that as I cleared out of our flat this past week I'd snap this final picture of a 122 sunset. For the last two years we lived in a larger 122 flat with gorgeous views such as this one. We didn't really take advantage of those views enough, which struck me during we a we enjoyed bbq on the balcony a few weeks ago.
Regardless, we had many, many great times at 122, where I lived longer than anywhere else with the exception of my childhood home where I grew-up. One spot to remember is the one pictured at left. The last weekend in March 2001, Tess called from Canada. It was morning in Hong Kong and late in Toronto. Our flat was full of Chinese-speaking only contractors, painting and fixing the place for us to occupy. They were drilling and making a huge racket. When Tess phoned I couldn’t hear her so I went outside the backdoor of the flat. I stood in the spot pictured at left, looking down on the playground through the window. Right there on the phone, Tess read me a poem she wrote, that concluded with her telling me that she was pregnant. I was ecstatic and tried to communicate the news to the Chinese workers. I had to tell someone! They thought I was truly crazy, of course, as I charaded various signs including having a big tummy. Eventually one of them figured out what I was trying to communicate. “Awwhaw, you going to be daddy!” They were happy for me.
