BETHANY/TALAKAG HAVE THEIR FOOTBALL KIT.

The players wearing their East Kilbride strips.

The players wearing their East Durham (Peterlee) strips.

The players with their Scottish Daily Record strips.

When we were last back in the UK attending our daughter’s graduation our visit coincided with our good friends and former neighbours Doreen and Billy Jarvis’s annual Garden Party. The party is given to honour the birthday of their daughter Dawn and provide a good knees up for friends and neighbours. Back to the story, when attending the said party I bumped into an acquaintance of mine Mr Billy Davies who is the Facilities Manager at Shotton Hall in Peterlee which doubles as the HQ of the Peterlee Council as well as some of the best function facilities in the area of East Durham. During my time as CE of my former company I used the Shotton Hall facilities on numerous occasion therefore getting to know Billy Davies quite well or so I thought. We got chatting about retirement and what I was doing in the Philippines etc when I mentioned to him our need for football kit as Bethany/Talakag were so keen to play football (Soccer).
Billy said he would see what he could do to help and we left it at that and got back to drinking the other Billy’s beer, well after all that’s why we were there in the first place.
Two weeks later I got a call from Doreen Jarvis to inform me that there was a bag of football kit at her house to be collected. By now we had moved house to Durham and we needed to go to Peterlee that afternoon so we said we would drop by and collect the kit. When we arrived at the Jarvis residence immediately I saw the bag of kit it was enormous it had a note on the top to say there was no one at home just help yourself. Marilou and I struggled to get the bag in the car and had a further struggle to get the bag into our apartment. When we opened the bag we were overwhelmed with the amount of football kit it contained and the only way we were going to get it to Talakag was by shipping it in a Balikbayan box. So it was back in contact with our shipper and after a struggle we managed to get the boxes packed and collected and on there way to Talakag.
As I mentioned in an earlier post the boxes had already arrived in Talakag and yesterday we had the handover of all the football kit to Pastor Melchor Gabitano and Mr Arquillano who organize and train the youth teams in Talakag. They were so grateful for the kindness of our UK friends in sending the kit which delighted everyone and in the photographs this is reflected by the smiles on the young player’s faces.
Once again a massive thank you to Paul and Debbie Kinghorn who run East Kilbride Rovers and East Kilbride Youths as well as Billy Davies from East Durham( Peterlee) Youth Football Team for their overwhelming kindness in donating to Bethany/Talakag so much football kit. I also would like to mention Guy Millen formerly of Durham University Business School for his individual contribution of football boots and tops to be used by our Bethany/Talakag players.
Last but by no means least I would like to thank Meriam and her long suffering other half Brent back in Scotland who got the ball rolling for me and Billy and Doreen without who’s garden party I would not have bumped into Billy Davies.
If I have missed anyone out who contributed to making the above happen then it is in no way intentional and I humbly apologise in advance and thank them profusely in arrears.

THE FOOTBALL KIT HAS ARRIVED AT LAST.

The boxes containing the football kit donated by our friends in East Kilbride and East Durham has arrived in Talakag.
Please watch this space for further news.

My Apologies.

I would like to apologise to all those who read my Bethany blog for my recent inactivity in bringing you up to date on what is happening here in Talakag.
Sad to say the truth is when we arrived back in Talakag following our visit to the UK to attend our daughters graduation from Stirling University we were informed that my wife Marilou's brother has passed away the day before we arrived.
We were busy assisting the family with funeral arrangements and subsequent protocol which in the Philippines lasts for forty days following the death.
Life goes on however so its now back to something like normality after such a sad occasion.

THE DAILY RECORD and SCOTTISH POWER comes to the Philippines via East Kilbride.

During a recent conversation with Pastor Melchor Gabitano at Bethany Christian School he informed me of the activities of the school football team or soccer as its called in the Philippines. I was to say the least shocked and stunned at this revelation no pun intended Pastor. Football has been of lifelong interest to me both as a player in my younger days and as a supporter to date. Up until he informed me of Bethany Schools involvement I had never witnessed any interest in the game around the town on my numerous previous visits to Talakag or the Philippines for that matter.
On our return to the UK to attend our daughter’s graduation from Stirling University we visited a very dear friend of ours Meriam Hunter nee Quilang a native of Cagayan de Oro now East Kilbride in Scotland and I happened to mention Bethany Christian School and their wish to obtain football equipment. That’s when the miracle happened Meriam contacted her friends in East Kilbride which is located in Lanarkshire an area steeped in football history both past and present and within a few days she called me back to tell me she had obtained a collection of football strips as well as boots etc. I was overwhelmed when I saw what she had managed to gather in such a short time. The principal donor to our football cause is Paul and Debbie Kinghorn who run East Kilbride Rovers and East Kilbride Youths Team as well as individual friends.
Our initial reason for visiting Meriam was due to her informing us that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer last Autumn 2008. Due to us preparing to travel to the Philippines we never had the opportunity to visit her at that time. It was with trepidation that we journeyed to Scotland from our house in the North East of England to see her. Fortunately Meriam had already had the chemotherapy treatment following her surgery and was recovering from its effects as her hair although still short had grown back. Meriam had gained weight as a result of her medication so we did not recognise her at first glance. During our get together we were able to catch up first hand with everything she had gone through since her diagnosis and we were truly humbled by her determination not only to fight her illness but to help others suffering similarly. Despite her condition Meriam does not think solely about herself but instead still thinks about others be it family, friends or strangers and has continued working at the job she loves with David Urquart (Travel) Ltd. http://www.davidurquhart.com/
The Philippine Football Association is now affiliated to FIFA and football is becoming more and more popular especially with satellite TV bringing live games direct from Europe.
Soon the Daily Record will be known all over Mindanao especially if Talakag Town is successful.

JOJO THE HUMAN DYNAMO

Bethany is very lucky to have in its midst Jojo Rivera a very talented young man sponsored by Terry and Lynn Habeck.
Jojo joined the Bethany team in order to assist with property maintenance and stimulating the creativity of the young people. Jojo has gone way ahead of what was asked of him in both commitment and effort and has earned the respect of everyone he comes in contact with. From beautifully decorating the children’s cottages and day centre to teaching arts and crafts to Bethany School students as well as students at local community schools. His involvement in the design and building of the Bethany booth at the recent Talakag Fiesta earned Bethany an award from Mayor Nestor Macapayag. Jojo has now turned his artistic skills to painting the new signage at the main entrance to the Home and School as well as decorating the exterior walls of the school. Jojo has been instrumental in resurrecting the home gardening initiative with the setting out and planting of vegetable beds to supplement the Homes food requirements. Jojo has shown that when criticism is constructive it becomes motivational and it’s a treat to see how he has welded the team back together again.
If ever there was an example of determination to succeed its Jojo’s efforts and still remaining cool calm and collect when all around him is in a state of chaos.
This is the type of transparency that donors wish to see happening with the money they give, believe me you are not being let down in any way shape or form.

COLLEGE STUDENTS JOIN BETHANY AS PART OF THEIR DEGREE COURSE

On Monday the 18th May three students of Lourdes College in Cagayan de Oro City commenced their work experience at Bethany.
The students Lourdes Michelle Cagubcub, Audiemier L. Zayas and Honey Jane Sabuga-a are in their fourth year taking BSc in Social Welfare. The degree course requires them to complete 500 hours of work experience thus the reason for them being at Bethany working with the toddlers. During their time at Bethany they will be assessed by our resident Social Worker Mrs Rose Longcob who will report on their progress to Lourdes College at the end of their assignment in September. This is an excellent opportunity for the young students to learn about care in the community and be exposed to real life instances of vulnerable children in Bethany’s care.

RUBBER TREES ARE GROWING

The rubber trees that were planted earlier this year are now beginning to sprout up.
The rainy season plus the fertilizer and insecticide treatment has paid dividends and progress is being made. It is hoped that we can persuade our friends and new donors to help us achieve our goal of planting 10 Hectares / 25 Acres which will go a long way in helping Bethany achieve its desire of being self sustaining in years to come.

Additionally Bethany has planted corn and also vegetables to help in ensuring the kitchen needs are supplemented. With the little funding currently available the staff are making good use of every peso given to them.