A rally cry

The day before i was to leave Portland Oregon for a long journey to Tennessee and on to the Philippines i heard a CNN reporter talking about a missing aid worker in the Philippines. Turned out that the worker, Julia Campbell was a Peace Corps volunteer. The story did not end well with the discovery of her body in a shallow grave in the northern part of the country where she was visiting a scenic area before the end of her service. I arrived in country only about a month after the event, and ever since i got off the plane back in May her name has never been far from the minds of the volunteers, staff and many of the citizens of this country. The last time i wrote i talked about the concept of saving face and this incident surely put the concept into focus for many of us during training. What happened is seen by many Filipinos not as an accident or someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time, they see it as a national disgrace and it shows. Both through conversation with everyday people and those who i am close to. Her community deeply morned her loss and there is a national outrage toward the suspect as they ask " why this person?" This would not be the same from a national perspective if the victom was a Filippino. Because she was a forginer and one who was loved by many. She was respected by her co-teachers and childern she spen so much time with. The US media paid little attention to happenings while it remained national news for many days in the country. The effects of this are in many ways more obvious. Tourism dropped by 30-40% shortly after the murder in the area of the incident and there as been widespread interest in the coming trail for the main suspect. Even for those of us who did not arrive until after her death have been affected via tighter restrictions on travel. The previous week was a roller coaster ride to say the least. It was hard for many of us the accept that two close friends had returned home. I am sure that they are doing well but that is not to say that the change for us has been easy for our cluster. On Saturday those of us who remained went to a talent show meant to raise money for a preschool building in our adopted barangay Tapon Norte. Today we received word that we have been asked to help design and build the structure. For us this is a big privilege and one we are more than happy to assist in. To me this shows that our efforts to build relationships with the community during our short time in San Jose has paid off. But this will also make it harder to leave in two weeks. I am starting to realize that i will be coming back to visit as long as i am in the Philippines. On Sunday we began SCUBA training which was a good change of pace. We are 17 days from the end of training and the beginning of service and for many of us we are counting down the days. I have been planning some of the adventures and tasks that i will undertake in Maria along with strategies for all aspects of life ( i am not saying that i will follow through on the plans but i will try). We are going to be doing some education at the elementary school this week which should be a lot of fun. That is it for now i hope you are doing well. Prayer Requests for continued motivation for continued understanding of the language and technical componits to emotional and spiritally prepare for living on my own.