Week 3

Although people continue to come to Batulong to register their children (who will then be visited later to make sure they also need the support), we are completing the first part of home visits this week, and on Friday, there is information for the new families. In the coming weeks, the other candidates will be visited.
It is good that Mäge and I are here at this time when Thata has handed over all the Batulong work, because Keno still needs a lot of advice with accounting. Especially the accounting for Batulong Philippines (the subsidiary that owns the property) with the old-fashioned manual entry of expenses in a large A3-sized book and two additional supplementary books is a challenge for Keno and me. In our opinion, the entries are not logically summarized and only serve to remain tax-exempt from the Philippine government. The usable accounting for Batulong is done in Excel. Keno is still somewhat unsure about this new work for him, which Thata did until mid-September, but since all receipts and entries are also viewable online, I will be able to accompany and advise him in the coming weeks, and we also have a good and friendly auditor in Cagayan de Oro who can help.
It is a very pleasant collaboration with Keno, and when we finish with a zero difference, it is also a huge success for him. Midweek, we invite our employees to dinner in the city - good food, good atmosphere - wonderful. Only Thata is missing. In a very positive work period for us, the thought of her is still a mix of sadness and frustration/incomprehension. The chemotherapy is now showing the first side effects, and because Thata no longer opens her mouth due to the wounds, all conversation is done through sign language or writing. In the spring, she did two radical diets as instructed by an online 'healer', in which she already threatened to become underweight. The spreading cancer and now the chemotherapy, in which she hardly wants to eat anything anymore, cause her to lose even more weight. She is extremely weak and can no longer walk by herself. We are worried how long she will be able to endure the burden of chemotherapy in this condition. The worst thing for us is that all of this could most likely have been avoided with early monitoring and immediate treatment, and we could now be working with a recovered Thata. Unfortunately, it is part of the Filipino mentality to take action only when it is almost too late. And often, reason is switched off and hope is placed on some healers or religious promises.
Our new employee Cherry fits in very well with the team, has a quick grasp, and we are glad to have hired someone who speaks English well and can handle computers. So the introduction of a new employee is much easier. She is still on probation until the end of the year, and then we will see if it still works for all of us. When I was putting away books with her and told her about our unfortunately not so successful attempt at a mini-library, she wrote a little sign that said 'Reading Corner'... and lo and behold! At noon, suddenly children were sitting there reading small books. Maybe she can even arouse the interest of others in books!
Now that classes have resumed at school, we finally see our Batulong children again - but how they have changed! Primary school children have become teenagers in the last 3 years! One example is Reymark, who was able to have heart surgery with the help of Batulong. It's so nice to see this young man so fit!
Many businesses in Cagayan de Oro did not survive the pandemic, and there are hardly any new restaurants. Unlike other islands, Mindanao, including Camiguin, is still in mask-wearing mode and partly in pandemic mode. They are already taking it more lightly than in the spring, but when we leave the hotel, we still check 'do we have a mask with us'?
Finally, some pictures to make you smile: on the way to Camiguin, in the waiting area for the ferry: the toilet! What to do when you have to do a 'big business' or who wants to wash their feet in the toilet... Questions upon questions :-)
At the post office: the plastic partition is often used as an information board :-)