July Update July 13, 2009

Good morning from (SE Asia)!

Just want to give few updates about [J]. So far she is doing fine in her studies. Next month it’ll be their first quarter examination. That means we have to be ready and prepare [J] for that exam. In her quizzes she’s doing above average. Hopefully it would result well next month. But I know the competition is more heavier now since all the good students are together in their class. Just do hope she will continue to give her best.

Last month was a very awful story happened. But thank God it didn’t get worst. An accident happened and her eyeball was unintentionally hit by her classmate. The teacher did not rush her to the hospital immediately. The time the my in-laws brought her to the hospital the doctor said that if it was infected the one eye might lost sight. It is good nothing happened. She’s okay now. And last week she became sick for four days. It is good that I was there and i was able to take care of her. Now again, she is okay.

I do hope you are all okay there. We heard about some news happening in the states. I pray all is well with you.

Take care always!!!

Graduation May 6, 2009

 I recieved an email saying that J has had her graduation ceremony for this school year.  Her parents are very proud that she graduated third in her class and recieved awards and medals.

Her dad also writes:

Now, the church that we are attending here in the province had a music training.   So, we let [J] attend the training. it started yesterday.   [J] chose the voice training.   Hopefully this will also develop her other skills.

Actually, I sent you e-mail to inform you about [J]’s enrollment.   It will be this month.   I understand the situation, the ongoing crisis.   Whatever available would be of big help.   Incase it is not possible, just let us know and we understand.   The amount I mentioned the last time is big.   As I told you whatever will be available is fine.   Also the school accept partial payments.

Above all this, I am very thankful to God for His protection.   Last week a big tornado came in our place in the province.   Many houses were greatly affected.   The big miracle is our house there is not.   Though one big tree beside our house, one of its big branch fell and hit our roof.   But the hand of God was there and made the wind threw that big branch to the other side of the house. It hit the roof a little a made a big dent but that is all.   Praise God for it!

Accomplishments March 31, 2009

It was annouced yesterday that Janelle is the third best student in her class. I am really happy about this. Also, she will be receiving two best awards which as of now we don’t know what it is. Whatever would that be we are so happy for Janelle’s accomplishments. In the first quarter she is in the third position. In the second she became fourth. In the third she turns fifth and we think the reason is because she didn’t join the field trip in their school which they said that the rest got plus points because they joined to that event. It is sad for us at first after we heard the news. But when I looked at the grades, for me, they are all great. All grades went up high. Then from the fifth position she was able to make it to the third again. PRAISE GOD!!! I’ll try to document the recognition that will happen this coming Monday.

Exams August 11, 2008

I’m happy to announce that J got good grades on her first monthly exams. In her 12 subjects 3 got perfect score of 100% that is in reading, language, and music; 2 got one mistake and math is included; another 2 has two mistakes that is in science and speech; and the rest has 3 and 4 mistakes. She got one subject that is failure of 68%. And the funny is it is from Filipino subject. But actually we want to contest it because the instruction is not clear that is why we think J and maye some other kids got confused. And we also notice that the standard of the school is so high that every mistakes in the exams will affect so much. So, we are happy of the result and hopefully J will continue this and workout this subject that has failure grade.

Some pictures July 21, 2008

At Kung Fu Panda

Ice Cream!

Dads are funny

With Mom

Writing July 21, 2008

This is to give you more updates abotu [J's] school. And I’m glad she’s doing fine. We can still see that she’s been having a hard time adjusting since whole weekday long we are not there with her. But we call her everyday atleast twice or thrice a day. I have an old mobile phone and I gave that to her so that we can contact her anytime we want. And It’s good because she already know how to use it.

About her school, she’s doing great. According to her she always got stars from her teacher. And when [her mom] talked to the teacher she said she’s good in many subject. The only concern that we are working right now is her writing speed. She became so slow that twice it happened that she didn’t finish the sitwork. The reason of her being slow is that she put some design to the letters. Actually, in her previous school, she is considered as one of the fastest in writing (if not the fastest). She really is fast in writing. And it is a big suprise for us this thing happens. But the rest of the subjects she is doing great. And as usual mathematics is his favorite.

First day of school June 13, 2008

Good morning!

Vacation is over and all kids in town went to school yesterday for their first day class. To some schools here, if you were able to read some news about school here, due to over population and lack of rooms, thousands of students have their class in the school’s stairs or under the shade of a tree, or any place where somehow they can do classes. Really, this is one sad story we had here.

Concerning [J], their class also started yesterday. Her mother made a one day leave just to bring her to the school, so that just in case some concerns arises it can be address immeciately. But so far nothing happens. Everything went well yesterday.

She’s excited with her new school. She met two newfriends named Alexis and Rose and in her first day she got three stars from her teacher because of good writing skills. We’re happy of course about it. Just one instance that happened yesterday that is not good. One of her classmate is drinking her juice and that juice all transfered to [J]’s dress. But not really became a concern since [j] has an extra dress.

These are the first happenings in [J]’s first day in school.

It’s coming! June 5, 2008

It is 7:44 here now. Outside you can already feel the humidity even though it is too early. That means its a struggle again of mine because for sure we will have a hot day. How I wish I live in a mall so that it is really cool inside.

It is already June 5th here. And five days from now will be the start of class. Me and [my wife] are preparing everything that J needed for her school. We already went to ther mall last Saturday to buy her a new bag (big one with wheels as requirements of school), school supplies, new shoes (because the previous is already small for her…I’m amazed!) and other things more.

We have also started to review her so that she will be able to remember some of the lessons she had previously. That means everything are set for June 10, 2008. Now Janelle is with us. We are enjoying our time with her so that by the time the school starts at least she was able to enjoy her summer vacation.

Enrollment May 28, 2008

Here is an email I received from J’s mom:

Magandang Gabi! Good Evening

Hope your doin fine, also your family & friends. Just want to update you about [J] enrollment. We enrolled her last week at [TCS]. We choose their installment plan, they made us pay the miscellaneous and then divide the remaining amount to be paid on succeeding months. The books, uniform(exclusive at school), Physical Education uniform, they’ve asked us to pay in cash. Next week we will buy [J] basic stuff in school like bag’s (she needs a bigger bag, preferred by teacher is a troley because she will be having 8 subjects in a day and it is required to bring all the books everyday including the notebooks), shoes (she’s growing very fast-her old shoes doesn’t fit her anymore), notebooks, pencil, crayons and a lot more.

The money that you’ve send help us, because honestly with our budget we can’t bring her in a private school. God really has His ways of blessing us…[J] most especially, by simply making ourdreams/prayer come through, by using people like you too. thank you.

Crisis is all over the world… here in thePhilippines, the food and most basic needs,transportation cost rise but the salary of the people remains the same. It’s hard. But we believe that by God’s grace we would be able to survive.

More pictures May 26, 2008

A family outing.

Graduation Day!

artwork May 15, 2008

I have sent about half of what is needed for J’s tuition. We still need around $300. Her parents told me they plan to make the trip out to enroll her and get everything situated with her needs (uniform and supplies).

I recieved an email today inculding a couple of her drawings. She is such a little artist! One of them is a thank you card.

This one says, “Thank you for helping me. For your prayers. For sharing your life to me… We have nothing in return but my God shall supply all your needs. Philippians 4:19.”

This is about family and says, “The family that prays together stays together.”

A New School April 19, 2008

My friends have been on the look-out for the next school to send J to. The previous school closed and J will also be moving to a ‘big’ school, up to the higher grade level. They have found a school that is excellent in teaching math and reading. J does very well in these subjects so this will be a good fit for her. She has recently taken the entrance exam and passed!

This school will not be as expensive as we were thinking. The cost of the tuition and uniform will be $575…leaving me with $375 more to raise. There are also some other fees that my friends did not want to ask the money for, but it would be nice if we would be able to cover some of this as well.

They will be enrolling J within the next couple of weeks so I would like to send as much to them as I can before then.

A little background February 16, 2008

I met J’s dad while on a missions trip in Southeast Asia. He became a very good friend to everyone on the team. He was a valuable resource, teaching us very honestly about the culture and laughing at us when we tried to speak the language.

This was 8 years ago (OH, MY!). J is now 6 years old. You don’t know her, but you have cared for her. Her parents were concerned that she might not be able to recieve an education that would lead to a decent job after graduation.

The public schools are very overcrowded and even upon graduation most kids cannot get jobs that pay livable wages. The only hope is a private education, though it is out of reach for the ‘average Joe.’ The expense is just too much for someone in a country where the average monthly wage will not even fill our tanks with gas.

J’s dad approached me and asked if there was anyone I might know that would consider sponsoring J for her education. They were not considered for sponsorship by Compassion International because they were not ‘destitute’ enough, but they really wanted better for their child.

When sponsoring a child through a place like Compassion, your child will only see about 20% of the money you send in. The other 80% will go to administration fees, publicity, etc. Ever since my trip, when I saw the squalour that so many live in, I wanted to somehow give money to someone, knowing that they recieved ALL of the money I was giving. Well, I still have to pay transfer fees, but that is negligable considering how much more is able to be put to good use.

Please consider giving just $20. I told J’s dad that Josh and I would not be able to cover as much as we usually do because of our difficulty finding jobs. That is why I wanted to set up this blog. Please share it with anyone else whom you think may be interested.

A note from daddy February 16, 2008

Here is the most recent message I have gotten from J’s dad.

“J_ is doing great. Though some concerns from her teacher arises. She’s becoming more playful on her 3rd quarter. The reason for this is because one of her classmates, also a girl, likes her so much, that she always want to get her attention and play while classis ongoing. So, I personally talk to her and plead with her to concentrate while in class and informing her that there are times for playing. And thank God she understand what I’m saying. And just these weeks, she’s back and hoping this will continue.

End of class is coming so fast here. Next week they will have field trip in school. And after that, I believe is their finals. Class will end next month second week. This mean i have to work again to look for a new school for her. She will be Grade 1 next school year. Finally, she will experience the big school. And hopefully, she will be bringing with her the same enthusiasm she has right now.”

AW! Kids are just the same, all over the world.

Another Blog February 6, 2008

I have set up this blog in order to raise funds for J. For the last few years many of you have given generously to pay for J’s education. It is every parent’s desire that their children can be given a quality education and watch him or her grow to their full potential.

I am just throwing this all together now to get it out there. It has taken me far to long to do this. I intend to put more info out here for those of you who do not already know about what I am doing. I also hope to give the reigns to J’s parents so they can update you on how she is doing.

We need about $600 to pay for a full year of J’s private education. That’s only 12 people giving $50! Can you believe that?! And 100% of the money will go for her education. No administration fees. The tuition is due in the beginning of March. I also hope to raise a wee bit more because J’s parents do not have a computer and have to pay to use one at an internet cafe.

If you are interested in giving, please click on the ‘make a donation’ button to donate through Paypal. Any tiny little bit helps. When I have enough money I will make a wire transfer. If you have any questions, please ask.