The Hike

A while back, my friend invited me to go hiking with her. I agreed…and came back with bruises, aching muscles, and dirty clothes. Did I regret the hike experience? NO! I loved it. Well, to be honest, I was not feeling that way on the way up. The ground was muddy and slippery for it had rained the previous night so I might have slipped a few times. There were moments, during the climb, when I felt like heading back down. During those moments, heading back down looked like a very attractive notion because it looked easier, though my companions kept telling me “hapit na” meaning “(we are) almost there.” I remember at one time I told them not to tell me that because I did not want to be disappointed when we kept walking and had not yet reached the peak, for I knew that their definition of ‘close’ and ‘almost there’ was very different from mine. For them, they were taking each step and climb up not only as a challenge, but also as an exercise to be savored, enjoying air – clean air away from the polluted everyday air – the beautiful scenery, as well as the company. These elements did not go completely unnoticed by me. However, I was concentrating more on how tired I was and wondering if the water I had brought was going to be enough to last me the whole time there.

This experience had me thinking about the journeys that each and every one of us embarks on every day of our lives. In the context of my service in the Global Mission Fellows program, this is my hike and every day I am getting to live in each moment and appreciate everything with which I am presented. I have several months until my service ends, however, there are other Fellows who have just arrived at their placement sites. Anyone with a job or in school, the best advice I can give is to be fully present, taking note of the things and issues going on in society. As the GMF core values go: engage, connect, grow. Just like the hike, it might seem like a difficult and impossible task, but one learns to trust in God and believe that no matter what, the peak is going to be reached.

Some time has passed since the hiking trip, the bruises have since faded, I had a good time with my dear friends, burnt some calories, and I still have great pictures from that day!

”Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”   

Charlotte Chitambo

Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits (EcoWEB)

Philippines

GMF International, Class of 2015-2017

#3022098

Reflections

The fourth of September marked one year since I have been here at my placement site in the Philippines. I remember getting out of the airplane to the arrivals gate, and being surprised as I stepped outside as a hot gust of air hit me. It took me a moment to realize that the temperature I had been feeling inside, was actually artificially regulated, that is, the air conditioning. It was very surprising to me because it certainly did not ‘look hot’ to me, because my basis for a very hot day is from my own country – when it’s hot, the sun would be evident and very angry. I cannot say that even after a whole year I am not still amazed by this notion. For instance, on the occasions that I have to attend a seminar or a workshop in relation to my social enterprise work, usually they are conducted in an air conditioned room, so if I were to look outside the window, the scenery would be somehow correlated to the room temperature that I would be feeling  in that moment- only to be disappointed when I actually step outside.

I have learnt some very valuable lessons over the past year. I have learnt to be patient, to put my trust in God and rely on God at times that I would have felt like losing patience and hope. I have met a lot of people and befriended them some for just a short period, and some I know will be lifetime friends. I have gained and I have lost in some instances, but as the message was stated today, there are some things in life that need to be let go for us to achieve what God intends, in as much as there some things that need to be acquired to achieve what God intends. Looking back at the past year has me realize that things happen, and are linked, and all the purpose at the end is so that God’s promises can be fulfilled.

My first three months in the Philippines I spent in a city called Davao, where I had to take the required preparatory language classes for the Cebuano language. It being the initial place that welcomed me, there will always be a special place in my heart for that place. I am always happy to get a chance to visit.  As it so happened, last week my co-fellows and I had to attend to some business there and I was glad to get to reconnect with some friends. Most of the nights that I was there I would spend at the ‘night market,’ which, as the name suggests, is a market during night time.

There would basically be everything from clothes to food, and I was amazed to see that there would even be a place set aside for massages . Pretty much everything would be at affordable prices and it is very possible to bargain there. Thus, it is not too difficult to imagine just how many people would be there. The street would be packed. On one of the nights that I visited there, I passed by an artist and I decided to get a henna drawing on my arm of an anchor cross. He was amazed that I could master a conversation with him in bisaya. He kept telling people that “wow, she can understand bisaya.” Soon, I had a little audience around me as he was doing the drawing. I think I impressed him with my not-so-good bisaya, and he told me that I could come back any day to retouch the henna if it was starting to fade. I told him that I would come back. I was not going to turn that down – it was free, plus I had made a friend.

I did not however get the chance to go back, because we finished what we had gone to do in Davao earlier than we had anticipated. We had to come back to Iligan, so we did – on Thursday. I was so shocked to hear that there had been a bomb right there at that place the very next day. It is still hard to believe even up until now, but lives were lost, many injured.

I just hope and pray for peace. For everyone, everywhere.

Charlotte Chitambo

Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits

Philippines

GMF International, Class of 2015-2017

3022098

 

 

 

Learning my ABaCa…s

 

There is a Shona saying that says ‘Kudzidza hakuperi;’ indeed one can never have enough learning. The phrase literally translates to ‘learning or knowledge is eternal.’ Each day brings something new from which we can all learn. I remember at school the teachers used to conduct ‘revision exercises’ of the topics and sessions that she / he felt that some or all of the students would need a retouch. These would be topics that we would have already covered, but sometimes in order to move forward, we all needed to take one or several steps back otherwise moving forward would prove to be a futile exercise. Sometimes in life it might seem like there isn’t much moving forward. In these cases, we need to review our current situations, make corrections where they necessary, then pave the way forward. My teachers would never allow me (or anyone) to go on to a new exercise before accurately completing all the ‘corrections’ from the previous exercise.

In as much as we all learn every day, it is not just a matter of learning. The important thing is demonstration that we are learning and growing in the process, and making use of this acquired knowledge in ways that are beneficial to other people and glorify God. King Solomon asked God for wisdom and he managed to demonstrate such wisdom in a very difficult situation that any other person without wisdom would have found impossible. In the story of when two women came to him for advice and judgment regarding the true mother to the living baby.

‘Everyone in Israel was amazed when they heard how Solomon had made his decision. They realized that God had given him wisdom to judge fairly.’ 1 Kings 3 28 (NIV)

Every day in the Philippines, I learn as part of Ecosystems Work For Essential Benefits (EcoWeb). We organise and/or participate in various workshops and training sessions with the locals aimed at capacity building and skills training, especially with the local farmers. Most of the farmers that we work with deal with such crops as coffee, Abaca, and bamboo. The locals already possess some knowledge and skills, for they have, for example, been farming Abaca from time immemorial. What EcoWeb does, however, is provide a systemised platform for all the farmers in the regions where the organisation has its operations. This ensures that the produce is standardised and therefore making it viable for a wider market. A wider market, not just within the Philippines, but exporting internationally also as per major environmental forums are opting for greener options in all goods, fibre included.

Prior to coming to the Philippines, I had no idea what Abaca was. Abaca is a plant endemic to the Philippines, very similar to a banana. However, Abaca fruits are not edible and contain many seeds. Owing to its strength, it is very much in demand as it is the strongest of natural fibres. Working in the Social Enterprise sector, our main aim is to ensure that the locals can be able to sustain themselves in the long run. In other words, to get to achieve sustainable development. It is a pleasure to witness the locals as they apply their skills, changing practises such as slash and burn, which have detrimental consequences on the environment, and instead opting for more environmentally friendly ways, that not only benefit them as a local community, but the country as a whole.

 

Charlotte Upenyu Chitambo

Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits (EcoWEB)

Philippines

GMF International, Class of 2015-2017

#3022098

Me & My Kind

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. -Romans 12:5 (NIV)

I have never been a ‘minority’ before, this I say coming from a country  (Zimbabwe) that has a whole strip dedicated to me and mind on its flag. From pre-school through to high school, the girls were generally more than boys. At Africa University the enrollment ratio of female to male students is almost fifty-fifty, at that same place where there are students from  around 30 countries of Africa and beyond , still ‘my kind’ were the majority. In my family, the guys are more than us girls, but growing up, I never felt like we were fewer-mainly because of my mothers’ presence. With her we were actually the majority. Thus my earlier statement that I have never been a ‘minority’ before is indeed true

So this is how my mind was operating and how I was viewing myself in the first days I was here in the foreign land of the Philippines, a place that is surrounded by things and people that are foreign to me and I to them as well. Already in my mind, I was viewing myself as a ‘minority’ in their eyes, unconsciously distancing myself from people. Of course in the eyes of society, that might be the case- there are minorities as well as dominant groups that were put up by society. But, who is society? What is society? The definition I found online on  Wikipedia : A society is a group of people involved in persistent, societal interaction or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations)between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions …., this can be summarized as ‘the pattern of this world,’ the pattern of this world dictates that people have classes and groups we belong to, thus creating a lot of disparities and inequalities.

Prior to coming to the Philippines, I had never come in contact with a white (chicken) egg, if I had, I do not recall such. I grew up around what mind knew as ‘normal eggs’, normal brown eggs .The white once I only saw them from television. My mind had already registered that these were not normal eggs, so it was not surprising my taste buds received that message, and reported back to my brain that, “they did not taste like eggs,” I had also heard somewhere that brown eggs are healthier, that’s why they are valued at higher price.  I did some research, only to find out that it is only a shell difference, the inside is pretty much the same, same nutritional value and all. There is no significant difference in the tastes either. Why should one care about the shell? It is what is inside that really matter. The same applies to people.

God is very artistic, that is why we have different colours everywhere, imagine how dull the world or the rainbow would be if it were all just in a single colour, and each one is of significant. As individuals, we should set our minds to think, not like this world, but in a manner, that pleases God. That is when we have a new definition of ‘my kind’, for we would all be of God.

Charlotte Chitambo

Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits (EcoWEB), Philippines

GMF International, Class 2015

#3022098

 

D for Durian

I have recently had the opportunity to taste the Durian.  If I were being honest to myself, I would totally scratch that first statement off, because it is not as if I never really had an opportunity presented to me to try it out. This comes from the fact that, for the past couple of months I have been in the city that sprawls with this tropical fruit. In fact, the Durian is a pride of the city!

I might go on to say that, in a way, I was avoiding tasting the Durian, because in my opinion, everything about it screamed, “GET AWAY FROM ME!” For those that do not know the Durian, let me paint a picture- the exterior of the fruit is covered with what I can safely say are thorns, or really sharp spikes. You cannot hold the fruit on its own without the stem for fear of hurting your hands. Secondly, the Durian exudes a very distinctive smell that some people might find offensive. This is not your usual ready-to-eat kind of fruit. The Durian first has to be cut open to get past the very hard exterior.

I always wondered who was the person who discovered that the Durian was edible. My over imaginative mind has a theory; Maybe one day, a long time ago, a durian fell from a tree, hit a rock and cracked open. One overly curious little child saw it and ate it. On lookers saw, but they were too far away to stop the child. So they waited to see if anything would happen to the child. Nothing happened and the child seemed to have enjoyed her/himself. Therefore, the Durian was declared edible.

Of course, that just a story I made up, but I really marvel and hold great awe and respect to whoever got the guts to try it out first. To see past the thorny exterior, past the smell and past the difficulties of getting into the fleshy fruit inside, takes a lot of guts. But the reward is a soft and amazing flesh inside. This really speaks to me in a great way because as individuals, missionaries, and pastors, there are certain people that might seem really hard to get to. Some might be pushing you away even, but with love, patience, and kindness, the true beauty of the individual is discovered.

Thinking about the United Methodist phrases, “Open hearts, Open minds, Open doors,” my first impression of the durian was the total opposite. I had totally shunned it out before I had even given it a chance. I have however come to appreciate why the Durian is dubbed ‘the king of all fruits,’ not only for how it tastes and how much nutritious value it holds, but also it reminds me of the love that Jesus has for us. Even after turning away from Him, he still opens his arms for us.

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Charlotte Chitambo

Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits (EcoWEB), Philippines

GMF International, Class 2015

#3022098