Hey guys! Just to let you know, I'm in Korea now. I left the Philippines on March 7, spent 3 weeks in Japan, and arrived at Donna's parents' house in Seoul yesterday. I'm SO behind on this blog. But I'm trying! xo Heather p.s. I arrive back in Bradford, England on April 11th. Those of you in the UK - prepare ; )

Davao: The RNDM sisters gave me a ride from Pikit back to Davao and offered that I stay with them for the night. Then, rather than return to the comparatively lonely YMCA-esque room that I'd been staying in before and because the sisters are super-great, I accepted the invitation to stay the week at their formation center, shown below (like a convent because nuns live there, but with the purpose of special training for sisters from the region). The little house is called a tabernacle (it's where Catholics keep the Eucharist); I thought it was cool because I'd never seen one made of bamboo. Oh and jokes about recruitment aside, everyone in Pikit did call me "Sister" unless I corrected them. This soon began to happen in Davao too. It was kinda nice actually in comparison with the 'you must be Pamela Anderson' attitude I was often getting from Filipino men. As I was still volunteering with Catholic Relief Services, I spent most of my days at the office. The added bonus of the sisters' house versus my other room was that instead of a taxi, I was able to commute using jeepneys and tricycles; plus I got to go to mass.

Pikit: 1) Main street 2) Tricycles 3) The view from the classroom window 4) After completing the workshop, we all got to sign a sheet attached to the GiNaPaLaDTaka Declaration of Peace. This long word, by the way, was formed by combining parts of the names of all the participating barangays. 5) The morning we left - us, the church staff, our host families. 6) Potted plant I like that is very popular among Filipino housewives. GiNaPaLaDTaka is made up of Muslims and Christians. During the 3 day workshop, we stayed with host families in the poblacion (center of town) that were all parishioners in the church. We were supposed to stay 3 more days with Muslim families in the barangays. But trouble started in a nearby city. The problem wasn't in Pikit, still everyone thought it best that we go home early, simply because the presence of foreigners would be a burden to the families during a time of tension.

Pikit, Cotabato, Philippines: My first invitation was to Pikit, famous for the war that took place there in 2003. I joined 17 RNDM sisters (missionary nuns from India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, New Zealand and Kenya) and one lonely male Catholic lay worker from East Timor. We were hosted by the Immaculate Conception Parish (the city's Catholic Church), which turned into an evacuation center in 2003 and was instrumental in the creation of the successful GiNaPaLaDTaka Zones of Peace. 1) One of the first things we did was to visit the small chapels in the barangays (villages) of Pikit; these are sites of base ecclesial communities (like those in Latin America, originating with liberation theology). 2-6) This is our jeepney - a great way to travel. I'll never forget all of us packed in, with the nuns singing beautiful church music in various languages I'd never really heard before. In pic 2, you see some members of the chapel groups would join us briefly as we rode from one barangay to the next. 7) The GiNaPaLaDTaka song, which was stuck in my head for weeks. 8) Our classroom for the 3 day workshop. 9) Fr. Bert Layson, the priest at Immaculate Conception. I've read his book! I told him he could have totally been an example in the religious actors section of my MA dissertation.

For the Bradford folks missing Nasser - Here he is. Plus, a free stuffed animal with every buffet meal.