Pictures of Interest

The newest member of our Branch is Julie Ann. She reads everything given to her cover to cover. The Sisters who taught her are Sister DeGuzman and Sister Bulan.

Aeta's are a dark group of mountain people that live among us here and sell things like you see in the picture. There seems to be a lot of prejudice against them , they are viewed as a lower class. The ones we have become familiar with in town seem friendly enough.

No one is shy here about choosing alternative life styles , and there are many that choose alternative styles.

Eddie on the left and Ruth on the right are the mission kittens. We raised them when their Mom was run over in the street, at that time they were three weeks old. We love playing with them.

The Branch in our complex bought new uniforms this year for the sportsfest , volley ball and basketball are taken very serious here.

Once after a day in the office, Sister Burtenshaw and I walked on this beach close by and bought necklaces from the Muslims. It was very beautiful.

Death March

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April 9 here is Araw ng Kagitingan or Day of Heroes, a national holiday. Great battles, campaigns, victories or losses are celebrated with a day long fest in Balanga, Bataan, and the Bataan Death March parade is the main event. The organizers have acquired replicated uniforms, both GI and Japanese, with authentic Filipino garb, and they paint blood, wrap wounds, everything for realism, then they march in a parade, complete with floats depicting battles in progress, with the Bataan Death March as the finale, complete with uprisings, riots, and punishments. They especially appreciate the American and Canadian Missionaries, for the realism, they are fed before and after the parade, all the makeup and uniforms are provided. It is held in April as was the actual march, and even with all the festivities, you can still feel at least a bit of the pain felt by the real POWs, as they made their way in the heat of summer. But if you've read the history, it doesn't take much imagination to remember the actual brutality.

Corregidor Island

This was the day we went to Corregidor, the island off Mariveles, Bataan. Its where the US had built what they thought would be a saving place for troops forced out by the Japanese. But the bombing of Pearl Harbor stopped the Navy from forming any rescue. We went over in three of these boats. The trip took about half hour. Pictured is the group that made the trip, its Pday for the Missionaries, so they got to go. That's Sister Bulanon modeling Pday attire. There is a lot to see of the history, like this memorial. The tunnel that MacArthur holed up in is still there, and a tour takes you through it, complete with sound effects of the bombing outside. The large bombed-out building is a barracks built for the troops.This is one of the big guns of Corregidor, it could lob shells clear to Mariveles, but couldn't help do anything about the Death March, for fear of killing POWs, both American and Filipino.