When I left Bahrain in March 2022, I was 114 kg and now I am 108 kg, so that is 6 kg lost. Earlier I was 122 kg back in January 2022 so in total I have lost 14 kg this year. That means a lot of my clothes do not fit any more. In addition, my lifestyle has changed with retirement and the move to the Philippines, so I rarely wear trainers or shoes, usually just Tsinellas. I read once that you should spend 10% of your income on new clothes each year and that if you have clothes that are out of shape, have holes in, but you love them to death, it's time to get rid of them!
More weight to go- target 100 kg by end of year!
Dionefel contacted me and arranged for Jerus, who lives in Puerto and studies at Fullbright college with two other Skimmer friends of mine, Jack and Jerome, to come and collect my donation. He eventually found my house but did not stay long (he later told me he was scared of my dog!) and then was waiting for Dionefel to send him G cash for the trike fare to the van terminal to send the bags to Alimanguan. When I realised he was still waiting down my road, and it started raining, I got my car out and gave him a lift.
Jerus (Woong) took a selfie of us at the van terminal
Nothing in my life is simple so as I was about to leave my dog Chester ran off, then the rain really poured down. They are doing road works on the road to the Van terminal which is now one way. We had to do a long detour down a muddy track but eventually found our van and then, having paid 100 pesos (1 BHD or £1.53) for the bags to be taken to Alimanguan I took Jerus home. The poor boy got soaked through delivering the bags to the van, even though I lent him my raincoat, but he still messaged to check my dog was ok when I got home. The Makulit Chester was waiting outside and came running to the car as I pulled up and then went to sleep once we got inside.
Chester, in an exhausted sleep after running free for an hour in the rain
Later I had a message from the Skimmers on Facebook to say the bags had arrived safely in Alimanguan , a 3 and a half hour, 180 km drive over the mountains from the East Coast to the West coast of Palawan.
By sending the bags on the van I saved a 7 hour round trip!
Thank you so much po
Sir Neil Porter for your clothes, shorts, shirts and shoes donations for our Relief Clothes Distribution. May God bless you more and stay safe always Sir Neil.
They also posted a picture of my donation which will be distributed to the Indigenous People on 25th September.
I know some people will be glad to see I am got rid of my old white trainers
So now I have an empty wardrobe and will need to go shopping for new clothes soon! I already bought some shorts and tee shirts in Sabang and when I arrived in El Nido, so will add to my collection of Palawan tourist clothes!
Jovan in his new uniform for college
My houseboy, Jovan, could only afford one Tee shirt and one pair of trousers for his college uniform so I promised to buy him two more uniform tee shirts and a pair of trousers this weekend, so he does not have to wash them every day. Since his sister, Johan, who works at Lio, first sent me a picture of him in black trousers and black shoes with white socks I have been trying to teach him about colour coordination. He is very gwapo and Moreno but always wears dark colours which don't suit him.
So, we are going to buy him some bright coloured sandos as an early Christmas present next month.
See how much better he looks in this, he spends his day taking selfies!
The other day I found out another of my houseboys / dogsitters, Noel, only has one school shirt for PNS (700 pesos each!) so I have promised him the money for another one, so he does not have to wash his shirt every night after he gets home from school at 8 pm.
The Skimmers sent me some pictures of the Relief Clothes distribution which bought a tear to my eye. We often forget how much those less fortunate than us value our cast offs. If anyone has clothes or shoes, they do not want please let me know and I will pass them on to the Skimmers.
Pictures from the Skimmers Facebook of the Clothes distribution to the IP
The recipients were of all ages
Large numbers of IP at different locations benefited from the Distribution, thanks to all those who donated
Farewell to all my old shoes, trainers and socks!
This month I met up with some of the Skimmers studying in Puerto at Fullbright college and took them out for Pizza and beer at Roma Pizza. Robert Saccu nd his Pinay wife looked after us very well and gave the boys complimentary drink nd they were singing (and beatboxing) in the car all the way home. Good luck with the exam's guys
Even 7 hungry guys could not finish the four huge Pizzas
Thanks for the complimentary drinks, guys
In November I will be back in Alimanguan for a few days with Chester to film another month in his 2023 calendar. We already did the January edition in Sabang, so the next but one month is Alimanguan. The aim is to film each month in a different place in Palawan to show off its natural beauty (Watch out Bato Ni Ningning, Secret Beach, El Nido, Nacpan, Angkla and Port Barton!). We also have a TBK Cooks Vlog to finish at Victoria Beach house (the place got really busy when they were teaching me Pinoy cookery just before Holy week, so we had to stop filming in the hotel kitchen!)
We had hoped to attend the coastal clean-up at Alimanguan on my birthday, 18 September at 4.30 pm. However, at the last minute Dionefel contacted me to say they had been asked to move it to 17 September at 7 am. With a 3-hour drive from Sabang it was impossible for me to get there so I said I will go to the one in November.
If anyone wants to come and join us on 13 November, please let us know, using the email below.
I first supported the Skimmers Christmas events in 2020 when they organised a 3-day programme of events under the name: Paskohan sa Alimanguan
If you missed it, you could read the blog here:
Then I paid for material to create 6 new boards for the skimmers (2 separate donations). The second of which was when I finally met up with them all for the first time in April this year.
You can read about that here:
While I stayed there, I took two of the skimmers, Jack and Jerome for pizza and beer, so I have now promised to take Jack, Jerome and Jerus for Pizza and Beer here in Puerto on Sunday after their exams.
Jerome is on the left in the white Skimmers tee shirt!
However, it would be unfair to spoil just 2 or 3 Skimmers as they all work really hard all year with their Calendar of Activities to benefit the local community. So, this Christmas I am donating 10 bottles of beer and 12 large bottles of Coca Cola for the Alimanguan Skimmers Organisation Members and Officers Christmas Special celebration on 24th December.
The Alimanguan Skimmers- from their Facebook page
I hope you all have a night to remember, and I look forward to seeing the pictures!
If you would like to support the Skimmers with their Calendar of Activities, please contact me.
The Skimmers are a voluntary youth organistaion developing young leaders and community spirit and I have been so impressed with them and their work over the last few years.
If you want to see the Skimmers in action watch the Vlogs below on our You Tube channel (don't forget to like and subscribe!)
The Alimanguan Skimmers of San Vicente
The return of Alimanguan Skimmers!
That's all for now. I am glad to hear that the giving of relief clothes to IP communities on 25th September was a big success. I hope you found someone big enough to fit my clothes
Ingat Palagi
Kita Kits
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment