Art Show / Silent Auction for the Gentle Hands Building Expansion Project in Manila, Philippines

THE VISION FOR THE ART SHOW
Gentle Hands is a child welfare and intervention agency based in Manila, Philippines. They are on the front lines of rescue and rehabilitation, providing for medical, social and  educational needs of at-risk youth and children. They work towards improving human community through the love of God and community centered care.

I might add that Gentle Hands is one of 5 agencies that now do foster care forchildren to be placed in temporary homes while waiting for adoptive parents. They are the only agency in Manila openly accepting children with special needs or terminal illness' requiring hospice care.

I have deep connections to the Philippines...not only have my husband's parents been humanitarian workers there for 25 years, but both of our children were born there when we also lived  there for 6 years (1996-2001).

As a family we have decided to leave our comfortable Canadian-style and go back to the Philippines, and work with Gentle Hands. It was started in 1987 by my motherinlaw as a midwifery clinic for the urban poor. In 2003 it evolved into what it is today.

We plan to move back by the end of this year. Yes..we have a lot to do before then. One of the things I wanted to put together before we moved there was an art show/silent auction where all profits would go to the Gentle Hands Building Expansion Project.

They are currently at full capacity and need to build onto their current building. They have been able to buy the lot beside them but now they are just waiting to raise the funds to actually start building.

How amazing would it be for us to be able to raise enough money for them to  begin this project, or even finish the expansion?

THE ART FOR THE SHOW
Initially I was going to do a solo-type art show, as I have travelled lots and could do an assortment of different pieces. Then when a fellow photographer in the industry said they would love to donate a piece of his art for the show, something sparked in my brain...how cool would it be to get LOTS of photographers and artists together to showcase their donated pieces and raise monies for this event??

I have decided that the more people willing and able to give, the greater this event can and will be.

SPECIFICS
The dates we are looking at is either the weekend of the 15th of October 2010 or the weekend of the 22nd of October 2010.

The dates were chosen for October as it's just after the rush of back to school, wedding season for most wedding creatives is slowing down and before Christmas shopping really gets underway...what great gifts these pieces would make.

The venue is still not secured. We would ideally love a venue to sponsor the event by us being able to utilize their space for no cost.

GUESTS
The guest would purchase tickets for this event. We would have an early-bird fee of $20 and a last minute rate of $25. The proceeds of these ticket costs would cover the appetizers and drinks that would be served throughout the evening. Any other profits from the tickets would go directly to the Gentle Hands Building Project.

A side note: Gentle Hands is registered in Canada as a non-profit organization. Any monies given to Gentle Hands will be tax receipted.

ABOUT ME
I grew up in Vancouver and on the Island..so I'm a west coast girl at heart. After my husband and I got married, we moved overseas to the Philippines where I was a lay midwife with my motherinlaw at her clinic, Gentle Hands, which was then a lying-in clinic. We moved back to Vancouver in 2007 from being in rural Saskatchewan for 5 years where I started my photography business (2003).

In that time i have been able to involved in the photography industry here in Vancouver. In August 2008, a fellow photographer and i began a community where Wedding Photographers can network with each other. There is currently 250+ members and the group continues to be a valuable asset to the Wedding Photography industry here in Vancouver.

I am excited for our move..it was a family decision, as we have two kids, ages 8 and 12.
who are looking forward to being with their cousins and grandparents, as well as being a part
of the work at Gentle Hands.

HERE'S WHERE YOU COME IN :: HOW YOU CAN BE INVOLVED
If you are a photographer or creative, I would love for you to consider donating a piece of your work to the art show auction.

If you are a venue, I would love to be able to secure your location for one of the dates I mentioned. Or if you know how to help us secure a venue, your help and information would be invaluable.

If you would like to sponsor directly to Gentle Hands, that would most certainly be  appreciated.

I look forward to collaborating with you for this Art Show.

Also if you know of anyone who you  may think would be interested in partnering with us for this event, please feel free to forward them this email.

If you have any questions, email me.

For the love of the poor,
Tracey, on behalf of Gentle Hands

_______________________________
tracey heppner

tracey l heppner photography...traveling to the
ends of the world to give you neat photos. true story.

"voted one of vancouver's top 50 portrait photographers" by vancouvermom.ca

|e| tracey@traceylheppner.com
|p| 604.512.4679

www.traceylheppner.com
www.traceylheppner.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/traceylheppnerphotography
www.twitter.com/traceyheppner

co-founder of vancouver wedding photographers & second shooters group
www.vancouverphotogs.com
www.vancouverphotogs.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/vanphotogs

The existing building of Gentle Hands on the right. 

The proposed Building Expansion to be built on to the left side of existing building.

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the mother blogpost of all friday night blogposts || vancouver wedding photographer

this is a freaking miracle of sorts i'm witnessing tonight folks... both of my children, who LOVE to stay up late on friday night both announced, separately, that they were going to be..and it was BEFORE 10.

i'm still a little stunned. and with Lover over at scott's tonight, i'm sitting here with my laptop! could life get any better for a social media addict/web surfer/photo taker-blogger person? i think not. :)

and so we will begin this blog post...

* * * *

i have been slacking on the 98 things the last couple days..no excuse other than a couple of WAY too busy days. so i will do up 3 tonight to make up for the loss. no..make that 4.. 1 more for good measure.

#17 - release one grudge a month.
#18 - organize a day spa for women living at a domestic violence shelter with services donated from a local beauty school.
#19 - audition for community theatre.
#20 - get published.

wow! i totally love EVERY one of those.

its so easy to hold grudges, no? not just for big traumatizing things that happened when we those little children, but even for those times when we are older and someone pissed us off, or hurt us - intentionally or unintentionally - or if for our significant other forgetting something really important.
there is something so freeing about truly, "letting it go". sometimes it seems like it is instant..and sometimes we have to let go of the same incident over and over for a month. but when we can feel truly free from that grudge - wow!! liberating with a capital L!!

(wow that was a soapbox..maybe i should sip my vino slower...!)

how i would love to collaborate with a beauty school to do something remarkable with women..and for me, i'd do it a step farther - take amazing photos for them to see their beauty on film.. wow.. i feel a project brewing. :)

auditioning for a community theatre. the last time i did that was in high school.
i will do it again. .maybe not anytime soon, as we are planning to leave vancity soon but i will do this i am thinking. how much fun would THAT be?!?

oooooooooooo..get published. i have been once. unintentionally tho. and my name wasn't on it.. chuckle. a wedding i second shot with a photographer a few years ago..they had submitted a wedding to WEDLUXE. and the publishers of the magazine chose one of my photos that the photog included, as the MAIN full page photo. chuckle. i kinda felt bad for my friend. for a minute. :) giggle..

but seriously..i will get published..one day.. whether for photography or writing or both.. i have far too much in the depths of my mac-brainage aka computer, that i would love to give the world.

just saying.. :)

* * * *

buona sera!!

come stai?

mi chiamo tracey!

io canadese..non italiana.

io sono bene!

ok ok..so i only know a few lines of italian from my very first class of italiano that i took on thursday night. i am SOOOO pumped! and my teacher, liana...oh my word...i love her!

why am i doing this, you may ask?

well because of the magical photo tour i'm organizing for this fall to tuscano and umbria. :)
if you are a photographer, this is JUST the photo tour for you. call it a glorified photo excursion if you will. :) castles, monasteries, medieval small towns...amazing food and wine...engagement and bridal sessions in ITALY. hello. for more info on the trip check out my FOLLOW YOUR HEART...TO ITALY website.

grazie mille for reading my italiano babble.. ciao!

* * * *
i have made a blog specifically about our journey towards moving overseas to the philippines. the kids have even blogged on it.. :) i love that they were such a part of the decision to go. honestly, we have amazing kids. :)

the humanitarian organization, my sisterinlaw, charity, runs.. check it out - Gentle Hands.
i can't WAIT to be there getting involved! i also want to dabble some in wedding photography in manila and asia..but we will see how that all pans out. :)

follow our blog at: http://heppnersinasia.myfotojournal.com/
and be a fan of our page to follow our journey, on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/the-HEPPNERS-in-ASIA/108047809222942?ref=ts

i'm already concocting a FOLLOW YOUR HEART....TO THE PHILIPPINES tour for next year. :) :) :)

* * * *

the vancouver wedding photogs & second shooters group i co-founded with michelle libby, affectionately called "libby" by some, has been one of the most incredible, fulfilling endevors i have been involved in, in a long time... to see something that was birthed, over lunch (greek lunch i might add! bring on the tsiziki!!) with the dream of building a community for photographers to collaborate together and better themselves TOGETHER, now be 250 strong and essentially functioning on it's own. WOW. simply wow!

i thought long and hard on how i was going to "hand it over" as we are moving...yes..i will admit - i take on a bit much sometimes...but only SOMETIMES! but i knew that the task to do everything i had been doing was rather..how shall i say.. daunting for just one. so i divided it up into a few parts..and HELLO! that was much easier to swallow!! so i'm so thrilled to have laura lui doing admin stuff like email, facebook, twitter, miranda lievers helping with website and putting together social GTG's, jason ho taking charge of getting some photowanders together throughout the year, michael wachniak coordinating workshops and such..and libby will continue to bring her steady, lovely, fun self to keep it all from getting to serious.. i'm so thrilled with the team that has come together..i know that the 5 of them will be able to do MUCH more than i ever could for the community...5 brains are better than 1. ;)

not gonna lie..a part of me is sad..to leave the community that is so "family" for me.. but i know that they will go places and to be able to say that i had a little part in it..that's good enough for me. :)

* * * *

just looked up and saw, that this blog post if a freaking novel!! hahahah

* * * *

to end i will boast of my amazing new tee shirts i have acquired today. a dear pinoy friend here in vancouver started this little "side" business that has grown into something freaking amazing. i bought a couple shirts just after christmas for friends -

[b]ecker owns this one in green:

and so does my dear friend lani..you have to know lani to know why i bought her this shirt. ;)

well i decided on sunday morning i was gonna order a couple different ones for myself. and did i mention she has these ADORABLE neenja buttons?!?!? ya she does..she's is the bomb. :)

well i got the package and when i opened it there was a surprise -

isn't it awesome? i am so happy. i can't wait to wear it. in fact..i washed it already tonight and plan to wear it tomoro.. :)  and the other shirts i got, cuz i just had to have them:

thanks for the amazing goodies, kym!! to check out more of her stuff, go to her etsy store: herrohachi

* * * *

well friends..i am going to put you out of your misery.. :) and go to bed.. :) happy weekend!

xoxox

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philippine reminiscing || vancouver photographer

most of this afternoon i have been working on a photo coffeetable book for Gentle Hands, as a fundraiser for their building project.

i HAVE been doing some of my tax prep..but i had to take a break..it was just too much for the brain.

so after hours of emailing and trying to call on our vonage phone back and forth to the philippines with my sister in law, charity, we now have the 3rd draft finalized and i'm FTPing the photoshop files over there for them to print.

YAY!!!!!

and it made me miss all the wonderful things about the philippines that i forget about..here's a few photos from our may 2008 trip (sorry they are so low rez!) that capture a bit of regular life there...

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another season awaits || vancouver photographer

many of you are gracious enough to follow my blog...follow me on twitter..follow me on facebook. why, i'm not sure, but you do!

even though some of you i dont know personally, there's a connection, you know?

so about some of the "big news" i was tweeting about... without further adieu..my dear "lover" penned this over the last couple days...

“Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther than it can see.”
19th century theologian William Newton Clarke

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go”
T.S. Eliot

3 years ago we started on a journey. Long story short...we purchased a home in Burnaby that we affectionately dubbed “the house”. Many people partnered with us as we dreamt. We loved on the community. We explored the dream of living out the reality of Jesus in this city. And we have had so many wonderful encounters with Him and with the people He loves in Vancouver. We lived something that I truly wish everyone could live. Faith. Hope. Life...in the beautiful mess of this wonderful city.

I love that following Jesus is a journey. It is not about accomplishment. But it is about obedience. It is about authenticity. It is about walking with Him. It is about pursuing the dream of the Kingdom.

I have been reflecting on where we are and how we have gotten here during a conversation with a young leader in Western Canada. He asked me if I still believed in what we were doing. We have worked hard to get here. We have had to spend lots of time raising money and travelling, which is a tiring endeavour. We have chosen to engage our community and learn to breath the air of this city. And sometimes we have had less than kind responses to our passion from fellow believers who ask ,‘What exactly are you doing?’

This is what I know today:
God has a dream. And the dream is called redemption. The transformation of men and women, boys and girls; of people of all races and colours; of all cultures and belief systems; of all languages and geographical locations; of all perspectives and theological persuasions; of all political perspectives and intelligences; of every kind of brokenness and reality; into a people who are captured by hope simply because they know Him.

I am more convinced than ever that Jesus has an incredibly high view of humanity and through the dream of redemption, people have the potential of greatness. I truly believe that He thinks we can change the world.

We believe that Jesus invites us to venture out...out of where we ‘know’ what we are doing and into places that sometimes require great risk. And sometimes...sometimes we have to venture over mountain ranges without a clear idea of what’s on the other side.

Having said that...we are in transition again. For some time we have been feeling that we are ‘finished’ here in Vancouver. I wish I could explain it more clearly. But that has been our sense. But whats next? We have had no clue...until now. Chuckle.

As some of you know I have been helping Gentle Hands raise funds. If you are not familiar with what Gentle Hands does, check out www.gentlehands.typepad.org

They are a child and youth welfare and intervention agency based in the Philippines. They are on the front lines of rescue and rehabilitation of the medical, social and educational needs of at risk youth and children. They work towards improving human community through the love of Jesus and community centred care.

We have decided that it is time for us to head back to the mission field and throw our energies, efforts and gifting to the work of redeeming the young people of the Philippines and Asia.

I know, it seems wild. But you have to run with passion. And we choose to.

When? Sometime in the next year. We have much to do in preparation.

We will keep you updated on our journey. I am sure you have questions. Feel free to email us and we will fill you in on the details as we have them.

Let me leave you with a prayer by Sir Francis Drake that my best friend, Scott Wall sent me. It has captured my heart and urged me on. May it be so with yours.

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And push us in the future
In strength, courage, hope and love.

Jonathan, Tracey, Caleb n Rosie.

yes it's true. we are planning the next season. with anticipation..with excitement..yet..for me, with a little sorrow, knowing i will be leaving some very special relationships i have made here in my city, vancouver.

to my dear, dear vanphotogs - i have had the incredible opportunity to work with and have relationship with many amazing photographers in the city. all who have taught me so very much. i love our vancouver photogs community. libby, of course, is still involved.. (i'll leave her here!) and we are in the process of getting others involved, to take over different aspects of the group. what i have started there. it's a cool thing to pass the baton, i tell you. :) you guys are awesome. thank you for making the vanphotogs community a vibrant amazing community. you are it. :)

and to my friends - hello thank god for VONAGE and a 604#!! :) and facebook..this is not goodbye..this is "until we meet again".. i love you. you already know that though. :)

we don't know exactly when we are leaving..anywhere from this coming christmas to next summer...so we have time still..to coffee together..to eat together..to laugh and plan amazing trips to, oh asia, and of course italy together!

but i wanted to let you, my friends, know what was going on in our little life..because you matter. :)

with much love and affection,
tracey
xoxo

manila, philippines at night (oct 2009)

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monday morning dreaming - boracay, philippines || vancouver photographer

i dont know about you..but i was needing something to look at this morning to make sure i don't SLIDE into the monday morning drizzly blues!

hope these find you well..and get you dreamin'! xoxo

 

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diedrich & margaret hit the beach! || seasoned love session - boracay, philippines || vancouver photographer

giggle..kind of a funny title no? it made me laugh out loud..not gonna lie. :)

we took grandpa and nanny over to the philippines with us in october for the 40th anniversary for mom and dad. they were troopers!

on the last night we were on boracay island, i thought it would be cool to get a few more shots of nanny & grandpa on the beach.

enjoy..
trace
xo

post post post! || vancouver photographer

we leave the philippines in 2 days.. i have been faithful in posting photos to facebook..but that doesn't do you much good if you only read my blog.. so.. i will try and blog a bit of our trip so far.. and give links TO the facebook albums!! :) i know, so smart, right? ;)

last weekend (17th/18th) we all went up to subic bay, where mom and dad dock their 36 foot sailboat. we stayed in the hotel at the yacht club there and went sailing each day..it was soooo lovely. here's a few of the boat trip on saturday.... and the link to see them all..

to see the full album go here: sailing trip

joray & mar || lifestyle session - makati, philippines || vancouver photographer

if you are on facebook, you know that i was open for sessions while in manila, with all proceeds going to gentle hands mission .

i have known joray and mar before they were married... they got married just before rosie was born. :)

so off walking we went around salcedo village.. fun fun! :) here's some of my faves.. xo

makati is lovely at night || vancouver photographer

last night, before bed, i thought to myself..why dont i take out my tripod and take a night shot of makati, the city centre where j's parents live... from our 22nd floor.

pretty good view hey? :)

today i'm shooting 3 sessions..busy busy! then tonight i'm meeting up with a few manila photogs for coffee.. :) good times!! :)

shopping extraordinairy= greenhills shopping centre | vancouver photographer

yesterday was shopping day at the ever-famous greenhills shopping centre..where you can buy cheap goods.. knock-offs, the real maccoy and everything in between. :)

the older ladies (giggle) did the pearl buying thing... i scored a couple pair of converse.. a piece of manila art for my wall at home. good times..

here's a view from the 22nd floor of our place...the ride in the traffic to greenhills and some pics at greenhills..good times.. oh and they have really BIG jewels too.. as in genuine 85 carat emeralds for $500...CRAZY. :) oh and they have crocs - in heals, loafers, etc..it was really hilarious to see.. :)

day one..and a half || vancouver photographer

day one and a half? well we totally missed out on saturday oct 10 whilst flying to the philippines... we arrived sunday morning... at 4 AM!! hello early!

j's dad and evan, j's bro in law, met us outside and we headed to makati to mom and dad's place.

by about 7 am i felt like it was noon! needless to say it was a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG day. :)

by 6 pm us four headed to bed and slept til about 5am.. not bad!

here's a photo i took when jason, my nephew, and i went for a photo walk with the his canon rebel i brought him. :) you can get ANYTHING fastfood delivered in the philippines..mcdonald's, wendy's, KFC..you name it. :)

little miss emma || vancouver photographer

this was last trip to the philippines when j's little sister emma decided to start copying me.. she took a little square block and was "clicking".. on her "camera" ...

so sweet.. :)

trip to the philippines...commencing in 3 sleeps || vancouver photographer

we leave in 3 sleeps to go to the philippines for about 3 weeks.

i am no where NEAR ready to go.

so what do i do? make a little blog post. chuckle..

these are some of what we were up to last year in the philippines..

of course i'll blog while i'm there.. lots TO blog about.. stay tuned!!

hugs,
trace
xoxo

[click on photo to see it bigger... :) ]

the philippines is in a state of calamity..and you can help || vancouver photographer

as many of you know, we lived in the philippines for almost 6 years.
both of our children were born there.
some of our dearest friends are there.
jonathan's parents and oldest sister & her family still live there.
the philippines will always be a place close to our hearts.

and these floods we have heard about on the news channels has
been said that it is equivlant to the US's Katrina.

here are some photos and a video to bring you up to speed before i
continue...









most concise story to sum up the devastation i found this morning:

CNN SHARES:


(CNN) -- Downpours subsided temporarily in the Philippines on Sunday, a day after Tropical Storm Ketsana pummeled the capital Manila with its heaviest rainfall in more than 40 years.

Flood spawned by the rainfall killed at least 75 people with at least 21 others missing, the government said.

More than 80 percent of the capital was under water that swallowed whole houses and buses.

Manila, in the island of Luzon, and the nearby province of Rizal bore the brunt of the storm. People huddled on rooftops Sunday waiting on army helicopters to pluck them to safety. Others used ropes to wade through waist-deep muddy waters.

Power and water supply failed in some areas. Roads were rendered impassable, making rescue efforts challenging. Are you there? Share your story or pictures

"Right now the challenge is to find out how many people have actually died and how many people we have to take care of in terms of people who've been displaced," said Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippines National Red Cross.

"We're really talking about maybe hundreds of thousands of people," with about 280,000 to 300,000 displaced in the island of Luzon alone, he said.

Though the Philippines is no stranger to floods, Saturday's downpours approached a record, with a month's worth of rain falling within six hours.

The average rainfall for the entire month of September is 391 mm (15.4 inches), said Gilberto Teodoro, secretary of national defense and chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

The capital experienced 341 mm (13.4 inches) between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., he said.

Officials worried that if the rains return, they could bring more floods if reservoirs burst.

"We're hoping that there will be no more breaching of the dams," Gordon said. "That's one of the things that are very disconcerting to many people right now."

Mike Anthony Catuira spent Sunday retrieving valuable belongings and seeking cover on higher ground. Overflowing rivers in the municipality of Tanay in Rizal province had inundated shops and homes, he said.

"The storm's local name 'Ondoy' is really a powerful storm, and this is the most severe storm in my whole life," he said in a report to iReport, the CNN Web site that allows people to submit pictures and videos.

the photos i found on the web are disturbing.. my sisterinlaw and her husband have a non-profit organization, GENTLE HANDS, in the philippines where many of their "own" and their employees are devastated from the floods.

charity ( my sisterinlaw) wrote this about the floods yesterday:

September 27, 2009 - FLOOD

We went to Malabon despite the rain and the fact we suspected some flooding in the streets. There is flooding every week so we weren’t too worried. The rain didn’t stop and by the time we were done checking on our patients and handing out meds and feeding children, we were drenched. Soaked. (Don’t ask me why we NEVER have any umbrellas.)That didn’t bother us much. The flat tire that had to be changed was nothing. We have learned to be flexible with all things. HaHaHa.

On the way home we were shocked to see the water so high and flowing so far. Knee deep in some places we laughed and sang and didn’t think much. When we got to the main road, we knew we were in trouble. Traffic was crawling. The streets were totally flooded. A trip that normally takes 45 minutes, took 2 and ½ hours. Suddenly the streets became a parking lot. Through texting and calling, we found out that the Metro Manila Development Authority told everyone to abandon their vehicles and get on the LRT to get home as soon as they could. So EDSA was full of abandoned vehicles.



I was getting texts already from one of my staff, M’lou. Their whole first floor was underwater, just a block from GH. I called Evan. M’lou had 3 kids with her and the street was a raging river. Evan had gone to look and there was no way to get them out.
Meanwhile, some of the boys were really sick of being in the van and decided to walk home. I thought they were crazy. I had Kuya Al, a tuberculosis patient who was not doing very well, and little Patrick, too little to walk in the rain and in that distance. In groups of 4 and 5 they slowly piled out and began the trek home. Little did we know…

Minet, my social worker texted. “Our house is flooding. The streets are knee deep already. There is no way to get out. Ate, help.”

As we sat in the van, not moving, the texts came from the boys with panic. “The water is up to our waist. To our neck now. We’re scared. The roads are all flooded. There is no way to get home.”

Soon, we knew there was no choice. After 2 more hours of sitting, we needed to find a way to get out. The rain was pounding. It was cold, hard, relentless rain. We wrapped our cellphones in plastic, locked up the our van and off we went. Aries, in his muscle shirt and army pants, Ryan with my expensive guitar, I holding little Patrick’s hand, 6 ft tall Mark Anthony, who would prove to save me from the rapid waters, little Vincent, and Joed and poor sick skinny weak Kuya Al.

Teeth chattering, and shaking limbs, we were shellshocked as the rain pelted us. It was only after about 5 minutes that I realized just how far we would have to walk.

Hours of passing through knee deep, then chest deep, then finally neck deep water.

The current had swept one woman away. They had put her body in a sack.



Mark carried Patrick on his shoulders. There were soldiers and barangay officials all along a long thick rope tied through the flood waters so people could pass. Cars were underwater. Just the tips of the roof peeking out. It was cold. We almost lost Al twice. He was white as a sheet. I screamed over and over for them to hang on to him. He was sick and weak. The men grabbed him on both sides. Vincent went under. Aries grabbed him by his shorts. Mark held my arm like a vice grip. For over a kilometre it went… on and on and on… by the end, I didn’t think I could go any more. “Mark, I’m tired”, I sighed. My legs were shaking. There, just one more block, I could see we would be through the water. We reached the end and Al collapsed on the ground. I wrapped my arms around him. He wasn’t breathing. Oh Jesus. “Al, you can make it. We’re almost there. Almost. Please.” Mark Anthony picked him up and put him on his back. I could have cried.

Patrick gripped my hand and we picked up the pace. Almost home. Almost. The rain just wouldn’t let up. We weaved through stopped traffic. There. Our street. There. Our home. I sprinted the last half block. I needed to get into the ICU. Al was in hypothermic shock. I yelled for Ezekiel and Evan. Mark Anthony put him in a chair and he fell on the floor moaning. I threw blankets over him and yelled for someone with dry clothes to hug him. The boys had only just arrived too… in motley groups. Wet and traumatized, all.

Evan had been holding the fort, with our own children and Edu, and had been out every 30 minutes to check the raging flood by M’lou’s house, and was quick to send one of the boys to buy some brandy (a very old remedy for hypothermia). It did the trick. Al perked right up and given the circumstances, I’m sure God understood.

Slowly, we changed, showered, and sat down to our waiting lunch of freshly fried fish and rice which was now our supper. Believe it or not, wonderful comfort food.

The rain still didn’t stop. Winner still couldn’t get home. We still hadn’t heard from Minet.



At 630pm, the river had gone down several feet and Evan and Aries went to rescue Mlou and Jenny’s kids. At least they were now safe.

Our cook lost her entire home. All of Jenny’s possessions were destroyed. Our boys house was flooded and all their beds, and things were destroyed. Our guards house was washed away. Other staff didn’t show up for work. So many questions. Thankfully, the boys stepped into action. Nursery duty, toddler duty, kitchen cleaning. We will just have to wait to hear from the others.

the philippines needs your help. ANY amount of help.

please think about how much you can contribute today to help rebuild lives.
every dollar helps.

for secure, online donation, see my sisterinlaw's website where you can make
a contribution today.

http://gentlehands.typepad.com/support_gentle_hands/index.html

be blessed today, friends.. xoxo