Today we went to Olango Island in order to do some building. Molong and the guys had dug a pit for a toilet, but did not finish it. Molong realized, however, that one of the older gentlemen did not have a very nice room to sleep in, so he decided to put the gentlemen's room as a priority over finishing the toilet. They built a platform for the toilet before, but still needed to build privacy walls around it. That was not going to be our project today, however.
The grandpa in this family we were going to see was living in a smalll six by six foot room, no bigger than a tent, made out of part wood, part tin, and part of a tent. The floor was concrete because it used to be used as the pig pen. He has a bamboo cot that he slept on each night. Molong decided we needed to put his needs before the toilet.
In order to go to Olango Island, we needed to go by ferry boat. We parked our car and carried our tool boxes with us (no power tools) and boarded the boat.
There were many people jammed into the boat. There are times that these boats have capsized. On two occasions I was asked by someone, once by Molong, and once by Jomie, if I could swim in case the boat capsizes. Of course, this doesn't happen that often, but since it has, I suppose they wanted to see my reaction.
There were seven of us on the team to the island--Molong, myself, Albert, Jomie, Ruel, Jason, and Christian. We boarded the boat and took the fifteen or twenty minute ride to the next island.
Upon arrival, we got transportation to the place where we were going to build the room. We also brought one of the motorcycles with us so Albert could get needed supplies. Albert took the motorcycle, and we were escorted to our destination on a motorcycle with a covered side car. Yes, you can get six people PLUS the driver. Two sat behind the driver, then four of us sat in the side car. That little motor bike engine chugged along pretty good, but got us there successfully. I didn't get a picture of it, but perhaps when we go back later this week I will try to get one.
When we got to the village, it was a fishing village made up of shacks and huts made from bamboo and tin mostly. We had to wait for the supplies from Albert, so we decided to hunt for something to eat. There was a small shack by the road selling prepared food. We paid 500 pesos for all six of us to eat. They were so happy to serve us the food, and we cleaned it all up. We had chicken, rice, whole catfish, eggplant, and a few other things I couldn't pronounce, but that weren't too bad tasting. I usually try most everything out of curiosity, but also out of respect for the culture. We ate mostlly with our hands simply out of convenience, but afterward, one of the ladies brought a pan of soapy water for us to wash. Jason said that in Cebuano, it is called "an dou" (spelling unsure)--washing after the meal.
After the meal we went around from house to house visiting and seeing if there were any sick to pray for. We found an old lady who had a stroke and was paralyzed on the one side. She lays in a small bamboo structure all day. We prayed for her and went on our way to build the room we came there to do. During our walk we saw a small church where someone was preaching with a loud speaker. I had forgotten it was Sunday. One of the young men, I don't recall which, asked me if I would ever consider living in a place like that. I told him I'm a simple guy. I don't need much. I can live wherever the Lord needs me if it is for His glory and His Kingdom!
When we returned, Molong laid out the game plan for building and we split into two teams, each of us building a wall of the room per the specs given us. The room will be 8'X8' when completed. We only got the two side walls completed before we had to leave. We plan to come back again in a few days to finish the back, the front, and the roof. Christian and Jason work in Mandau city, so they won't be able to come then. Jason loves to paint pictures, but his job is mixing colors for a printing company. Christian works as a glass installer in constructing buildings. Both are in their late twenties. Although these sound like great careers, they only pay $7 a day, the minimum wage required by the government. It is not enough to truly live on. More on that another time.
The kids in the village were fun to watch. When we got there, a small seven or eight year old shimmied up a palm tree and threw some coconuts down. It wasn't long before they opened them, put straws in, and handed each of us our own coconut to drink. Wow, was that refreshing in that hot afternoon weather! These were not the little brown coconuts we get at the store. They were still green and fresh. Mine was almost the size of a basketball!
In any case, the kids were all quite curious. At one time, we heard the kids playing in the field by the house we were working on. Before we knew what happened, we were surrounded by curious kids watching every thing we did. 
We got back across the water again by ferry, leaving behind the work we started. The tide was low, so the boat couldn't reach the dock. Never fear, though, there is always a plan. So, they sent another smaller boat and took us back several loads at at time, standing room only. There were about fifty or more people in the smaller boat standing, being pushed by people who were in the water. It worked.
On the way home, we stopped to eat, had some fun laughing and joking around. Back at the house we drank tea and water and chatted some more before finally retiring.
What a wonderful day. I'm looking forward to going back and finishing the room. I can't wait to see the look on the granpa's face. He doesn't know we are doing this for him, so shhhhhhhhh!, this is our secret!
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