Webbs in the Philippines: On Assignment in Dumaguete

September 29^th 2015

We were on assignment in Dumaguete last weekend. Our driver picked us up from our apartment at 3 in the morning and we made the trek to the airport. Traffic was the lightest I have seen in the 10 weeks we have been here, and we preceded to the airport in record time. Our flight left at 5 am. We flew south to Negros Oriental where Dumaguete is located, just off the southern tip of Cebu on the Bohol Sea. It was a lovely setting. We arrived in Dumaguete at 6:30 to weather that reminded us of Portland Oregon, except it was very warm. The Hotel sent a car for us, and I was so glad they did. Friends had suggested we just take a trike into town. We would have been sopping wet had we followed their advice. I have nothing against the open air Trikes; I just did not want to arrive at our meetings smelling of rain water and exhaust.

Because we have partnered with the Department of Health on the immunization initiative we were invited to the Polio inoculation kick off. We were given VIP treatment with seats located in the middle of all their politicians. Several people were running for re-election and wanted the spot light to further their careers. We are very careful not to appear to be backing any politician so the fact that we were not on the program this time was a good thing. We listened to speeches and watched the entertainment from the 3^rd row. We met other interesting people who may turn out to be good contacts as we work to bring about change in small ways. Like the Women’s clinic at PGH I wrote about last week. There must be some organization that would be willing to administer the affairs of the clinic. They have need of a few more machines that could be donated as well. This gives us a good opportunity to talk about LDS charities and share what we believe.

I sat next to a man named Ralph who is a businessman from Brazil. He has a restaurant in San Francisco that makes the best bread in town according to him. He said his bread start is from an “Original Italian recipe” for sour dough bread. He claims the start is over 2000 years old. He was in Dumaguete on business; joining with the school on a project at the University of the Philippines in Dumaguete. From there he was heading to China.

While I talked with Ralph, Norriss visited with a woman from USAID and we have a meeting with her next week. We attended the VIP Luncheon where we enjoyed some of the local cuisine. Meetings continued until late afternoon. We were lucky we had left Manila on the early flight that morning as we learned that the 8 am flight had been cancelled due to weather. There is no radar equipment at Dumaguete Airport.

We had a wonderful time the few hours we were there. We took the Saturday morning 8 am flight, back to Manila, leaving just as the sun was coming out; we definitely have a desire to return as soon as possible. We can see why people say it is the number 1 retirement community in the Philippines.

VIP Luncheon 20150924_225021