Day 4

Singing our praises the night before

Gave us rest, and our energy grew more and more

We woke up at sunrise, to the sound of a rooster

Had a muserup brekkie which was definately a booster

We heard a greate voice, call out from above

Beachams voice had the power of a mighty shove

The day lay ahead, we had much to give

We were called to build a house, for locals to live

We moved a lot of dirt, perspired buckets of sweat

Twas hard work, but well worth it, despite being soaking wet

4 hard hours of heat and muscle pain,

Rewarded by God with an ending of cool rain

Lunch time brought us the best chicken rice created by human hand

After working so hard, and eating so much, we could barely stand

The Oh so mighty voice soon called us in quick time

More physical work was in need, digging a straight line

The line was to carry pipes in the orphanage

The kids were eager to help, so we strained ourselves watching...

Okay, so its getting quite late (its 11.01pm) and our creative juices are all but out. But do not worry our friends, there is more to tell.

So anyways, after the kids finished digging our trench, we had a small break of icy water (which has become our new best friend) before heading back to the orphanage with our group (which includes Miss Taylor, Luke, Matt, Noppers, and us).  This time we relaxed by playing with some of the greatest kids in the world.  It so amazing to see these kids being so joyful and content, despite having barely (or no) family contact.  For us, its hard to imagine having no family, like they do. 

Our next mission (the most arduous so far) was to get 13 girls through one shared shower, to clean up for the night ahead.  BY the way! If no one has told you so far, the boys all have 4 showers between them....(work that one out?!) Although the bathroom situation is quite a challenge, we very much enjoy sharing a joint dorm with all the girls here :)

Before heading out for our night of fun, we feasted on a muserup dinner (if you dont understand, muserup in Tagalog means delicious) of Shepards pie, moist carrot cake and a mean fruit salad.  The typical cuisine at the ministery centre is Amercian style!!!! We havent actually tackled any traditional Philippino food (which is a good thing...from what we've heard).  After stuffing ourselves silly, so silly that we can barely move, we did a quick singing practice before heading off to the orphanage (which is only 200m away).  Here Mr Puzey gave a terrific demo on the Digereedoo (with which the kids were facinated), and we sung some songs for the kids before bedtime.  We raced off to the wating Jipney, which is a crazy looking bus thing, which seems to be the common mean of transport around Manila.  It is quite small, and has bench seats, but we managed (by sitting on top of each other) to fit all the students on it!!!!! We took this opportunity to enhance our group dynamics and cohesiveness, by singing (at the top of our lungs) songs, ranging from Happy Birthday, to John Farnham, to the National Anthem....with a bit of Taylor Swift chuicked in.  We sung for ages, and most of us lost our voices (as it was our entertainment for the way back also), but this did not drain our energy levels.....for we were entering the untamed world of Philippino amusement rides and games inside, at the top, of a massive mall.  We embarked on the rollercoaster (again screaming so loud our throats felt like they were bleeding...even though the ride was made for 3 year olds....), were freaked out by the scary train ride, had rides on moving toy cows, and kicked the teachers bottoms in crazy bumper cars.

So by now, our means of communication was through cleverly crafted sign language (just joking...but seriously), so went to Manilas biggest fast food chain......JOLLIBEE!!!!!!!!!!!  We were so excited, we had massive group hugs and silent screams of celebration.  We tasted desserts and had a drink, which gave our voice boxes new life for the musical journey back home. 

We are now pretty pooped (as you can tell by the writing), but this is definatley our best day so far.  The combination of working extremely hard (we have the biggest muscles), and letting loose with the team, made our day extraordinary in more ways than one.  We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves, and are very thankful to be a part of this trip and this fantastic team. 

Lots of love,

from Emily and Jasmine :) :)