Let me say this at the outset that today was an unforgettable day.  It started off when Kenny came by at 5 AM to pick me up from the hotel so we could go jogging.  I was looking forward to this all along since I hadn’t had a proper run in a while.  He took me to a sports complex where there was an outdoor track, tennis courts, basketball courts, and other sports facilities.  I enjoyed my pleasant jog amongst the multitude of Filipinos squeezing in a workout right before work/school and  before the scorching sun could make its presence felt.  After working out, we walked by the seashore for a bit and Kenny elaborated more on the plight of the Mindanao.  As I have mentioned, he is an informed, intelligent, and very mature guy.  After having succumbed to another photo-snapping frenzy, we made our way to the Silsala community center.  Since we were pretty hungry, I grabbed a delcious breakfast at the center while Dr. Madale proceeded to read my fortune through my signature and thenar (palm) creases.  Fortunately, he had only good things to say.  Also, I got to learn more about how he met is current wife.  Kenny and I dubbed his wooing and dating strategies as the Madale Method.  We all had a good laugh.  Following breakfast, I gained permission from Dr. Russell to go visit the Ataneo de Zamboango University School of Medicine (http://som.adzu.edu.ph/).

Kenny and I after our morning jog

A scenic view of Sulu Sea

I had been meaning to find out more about the way medical education is structured here and after reviewing the AZUSOM model last night, I was thoroughly excited about the opportunity to learn more.  We first met the University President, Father Antonio, who was extremely generous with his time and in his humble approach as he assured me that he would do everything he could to help secure my participation in the University.  He proceeded to arrange a meeting with the Dean of Medicine.  I headed on over to the medical school, which is on the same campus as their other education programs (elementary, high school, college, and graduate school).  The Philippines’ educational institutions aren’t as rigidly separated as those in the United States so its common to have campuses combined.  At the medical school, one of the students gave us a quick tour of their school.  I toured the library to find similar textbooks that we use at Feinberg (School of Medicine, Northwestern University) but they were all old editions.  We are extremely lucky and blessed in the US to have the facilities and privileges that we do as medical students.  After the tour, I got a chance to speak to the Dean of Medicine, Dr. Christobel, who was on his way to the public hospital.

Hangin' with Dr. Christobel

Dr. Christobel was extremely nice and made time in his schedule to meet with me later in the day and also invited me to come to the hospital to shadow his students.  While driving over, he explained his school’s revolutionary model, which is only shared by a total of 7 other medical schools in the entire world.  They refer to their model as the “Community-based Medical School Model”.  Instead of the traditional didactic and clinical tracks, the students primarily learn through a Problem Based Learning approach within a community context.  The students are divided up into groups once they are admitted where each group is assigned a community to work with for the next four years.  The school tries to emphasize the importance of public health values and principles in their medical education as the students learn to be facilitators in the community’s empowerment.  Additionally, the school recruits local students in order to encourage their retention in their communities and prevent a “brain drain”.  Concurrently, while they engage in their medical training in the community model approach, the students pursue their Masters in Public Health degrees. Essentially, AZUSOM is an MD/MPH school.  I love their model and values (interesting video: http://som.adzu.edu.ph/newsupdates/index.php?id=1).

Dr. Christobel brought us over to the hospital where he introduced us to the medical students on their internship rotations.  The students were wonderful to talk to as they explained a lot about their curriculum and their particular experiences.  Then, they presented the cases they were assigned in the Pediatric ward and the ICU.  Again, not to deingrate conditions in the Philippines, we Americans are extremely lucky for the standards and facilities that we enjoy.  Despite the many disparities that exist in the US, we have successfully stamped out infectious diseases like TB, Malaria, and Polio while improving our neonatal health.  Some of the children were suffering from diseases as a result of viral and bacterial intestinal infections, nutritional deficiencies, and poor hygiene and were all squeezed into one hall with beds lined up side to side.  Some of these things would make headlines in the US if discovered in our healthcare system.  Unfortunately, the Philippines is burdened with both infectious diseases and lifestyle one like diabetes and hypertension.  To illustrate this point, I saw a DOTS treatment clinic for TB patients for the first time in my life outside of medical literature.  This would be a great place to come and learn more about clinical medicine and I think the training would be extremely valuable.

Crowded and cramped Pediatric Wing of a public hospital in Zamboanga

Some AZUSOM residents

After thanking the gracious medical students, Kenny and I had lunch at Plameras, a local hot spot.  I enjoyed a beef steak, baked clams, and a Knickerbocker for desert.  Yummy!  Since we had a few hours to burn before my meeting with Dean Christobel, we had the unenviable task in refining my overgrowing hair and beard before I lost my celebrity appeal.  We headed to a Filipino salon where I met some interesting hair stylists—to say the least.  I got a scalp treatment, a body massage, a hair cut, a shave, and a manicure (without the glossy shine, not a fan, sorry!) all for a price less than that of a haircut in the US.  Amazing!  After getting my make-over, I met with Dean Christobel to discuss my possible partnership with the institution and I also spoke with another Physician who explained more about their community-based approach.  I am excited about the possibility of working with their program.  So, anyone who has ideas on obtaining grant money for the Philippines, please give me a shout out. Following my thoroughly engaing and intellectually stimulating day at the medical school, we were able to meet a few of Kenny’s college professors (he had attended Ataneo for college) and also check out a gallery showcasing old artifacts and items belonging to the school.  Before we headed back to Silsala, we also stopped by a Cathedral.  Again, a well constructed beautiful set-up was the main attraction.  As  I mentioned before, I don’t like going into places of worship without the intention to pray.  This time I did want to pray so I stepped in.  After prayer, I spoke to Kenny more about our views on religion and role of faith in people’s lives.  As you can imagine, I was pretty tired and hungry by now so we decided to go to Silsala for dinner.

Catholic Church in downtown Zamboanga

Makeover time

Once I stepped into the center, people didn’t recognize me at first because of my changed appearance but everyone was extremely pleased with my choice including my many young admirers.  :) After yet another delicious dinner, I headed back to the hotel.  Kenny is going to spend the night here tonight too since we want to practice the dance routine for the Jai Ho song in Slumdog Millionaire.  We wanted to perform for the kids as a way to entertain them and show them our gratitude for having invited us.  I can’t dance to save my life….this should be rather interesting.

Salaam,

Mokaram

Today started out with a minor frustration.  While I was dinning for breakfast at the hotel restaurant, I was furiously typing away my previous day’s entry as explained before.  Merrilyn, a program affiliate with one of the NGO’s here (she also will be taking over next year as the Philippines director of the PYLP), also joined me for breakfast.  We chatted a bit about our interests and our families.  She is a very sweet woman who is ready and willing to help anyone she can.  After speaking to her, I realized we had to get going to the community center for the day’s program, so I decided to publish my entry but was disappointed to find my Internet connection lost.  Apparently, the hotel changes the network keys in the morning so they can charge daily for providing internet access.  The lost connection wiped out my entry and I had not saved it on my computer.  Disaster!  While I was meddling with the computer, our driver had arrived. I wasn’t too disappointed since I knew I would have time during the day to compose a new entry.  That’s exactly what I did!

We arrived a bit late to the community center—again!  I guess I am definitely living up to my billing as a South Asian.  Don’t worry, the program’s start is not contingent upon our arrival.  Although, It just would be nice to go on time.  In any case, the first item on the agenda was a debate on the current conflict in Mindanao.  The students were divided into 3 groups: questioning group, for group, and against group.  The quesioning group proposed the questions of interest while the other two debated.  After the question was thoroughly presented and debated, the student groups rotated roles to tackle a new issue or topic.  It was fascinating to see them become so emotional and passionate about their positions.  Well, naturally in their excitement, some of them forgot their words and others spoke too fast among many other consequences of competitive debating atmosphere.  Overall, they did a terrific job in handling the issues, as some of them were extremely sensitive.  Afterwards, they received feedback from the directors of the program and other distinguished community leaders on how to better improve their debating skills.  After the debate, the students had snacks.  As I mentioned before, they eat like 5x a day with 2 snack breaks (called Marienda) thrown in with the 3 regular meals.  Following some delicious snacks, they listened to a panel of speakers including a Muslim Professor, a Christian Priest, an inter-faith representative, and the student representative of PYLP Alumni, and awoman who had been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaab (a rebel group).  The panel’s underlying theme was how to best resolve the conflict in the Mindanao.  All of the speakers provided interesting interpretations and unique approaches to mediate the conflict but the common point was that they all need to work together and help others understand the realities on the ground instead of engaging in hatred.

Speaker Panel

The panel discussion gave way to another organic and delicious lunch.  I get really hungry all the time (as some of you know all too well), so the food was more than adequate in satiating my expanding appetite.  After lunch, the students had an organization fair where different student-based community orginzations presented for the students to attract support for their initiaitives and give the PYLP students access to new resources.  I think this was a great idea!  The PYLP kids had a blast, at least that’s what it seemed like form my end.

Today, I had been walking around the community center more so than before and this was largely due to my ailing stomach. I definitely feel like I am slowly falling victim to international gastric stresses.  I hope my poor tummy can hang on for a few more days so I can enjoy this delicious food before I leave.  Forgive me but I feel awfully disgusted right now.  As I am typing this in the hotel lobby, I saw a pimp and a foreigner walk in with a woman.  This is definitely a prostitute exchange.  The pimp is enjoying some drinks at the bar while the man has taken the woman upstairs.  Unbelievable!  I need to take my mind off it, so I’ll try to finish writing about my day.

While walking around, I ran into my basketball friends from the other day.  I learned that they all live and work at the community center compound.  It was fun talking to them and learning a little bit about their lives.  Believe it or not, I got a lot out of them with their broken English and my complete ineptitude with the local languages.  They instructed me to meet them later in the day to play with them again.  Basketball and me equals happiness.  :)  So, at 5, I walked on over with my new friend Kenny to the basket ball courts.  A little bit about  Kenny….

My B-Ball friends

Kenny is a PYLP alumni from 6 years ago and he is currently working in banking even though he concentrated in Radio, Television, and Film for his Bachelor’s degree.  He told me that the wants to pursue his journalistic aspirations by going for a Master’s in Journalism after he is done with his banking term.  He said that he might apply to Medill at Northwestern University—which made me really happy.  Kenny is a very humble, kind, and interesting guy.  He asks probing questions and is very respectful in his approach.  I am always attracted to individuals who are outgoing and are comfortable in their own skins.  We became friends right away.  He even gave Dr. Russell and me a tour around the community center.  He took pictures of us so that we would have beautiful ones to show off to our friends once we get back to the US.  Also, he arranged for us to meet the Director for the Turkish-Philippino School nearby.  The school concentrates on math and science education with an emphasis on universal values of human understanding.  The Director was extremely amicable and forthcoming in talking about his school’s mission, Turkey’s role, and his own reasons for coming to the Philippines to lead a school to serve the Philippino children.  It was a useful and informative site visit. Anyways, Kenny and I chatted on and off all day about everything from politics and religion to our ambitions and career goals.  Yeah, it does quite seem like I have a man-crush on Kenny.  That may be true because he is a heck of a guy.  He reminds me a lot of Noman Tahir, a representative from a Scottish Muslim organization who came to visit CAIR-Chicago late last year.  Kenny and I will be going running in the morning and he has volunteered to show me around town to make sure I soak in everything here.  He lives and works in Manila but is back for the PYLP Follow On in Zamboanga City.  He also gets to see his parents since he is originally from here, so he was definitely elated about that.  I am really happy that he will be sticking around the rest of the week since I have another friend with whom to just chat away and go exploring.

Kenny in action

The rest of the day was filled with me going and playing basketball and engaging in or more like hearing Dr. Madale’s experiences and stories.  He is another interesting person.  By the way, Dr. Russell uses the word “interesting” as a compliment for those who she likes a lot.  I am proud to say that she had dubbed me “interesting” from the start.  At dinner, I enjoyed another local fruit called losantos ( I may be misremembering the name).  In any case, it was delicious of course.  During dinner, I also discussed with Dr. Madale about a possible Fulbright Fewllowship in the Philippines and he seemed excited about the idea and would be willing to support me in my application.  Awesome, another good option to have.  It is amazing how the most rewarding opportunities come about in the places you least expect.  This invitation to do a workshop for a youth program has turned out to be much more: a vacation, an educational experience, and a cultural exchange.  Following dinner, we sat in the audience to watch the kids perform dances for everyone.  I was very impressed with their talents and their creativity.  I have lots of pictures highlighting this.  Then, we returned on home to the hotel.  I must head to bed now and I still need to make up my day’s worth of prayers.  Until tomorrow, palum magan kaibigun ko (good bye my friends!)!

Dr. Madale getting a hard-earned shoulder massage

Salaam,

Mokaram

Hello everyone,

A warm welcome

Today was an eventful day filled with many new sights and sounds.  In the morning, Dr. Russell and I departed for Zamboanga City, the sight of the Youth Program.  The plane ride was short and sweet as I spent most if not all of it submerged in the pages of Harry Potter and his adventures.  As we were descending, the land came into view–a marvelous sight it was!  The Philippines is a collection of many Islands, some big and some small.  The region where we landed is known as Mindanao (the Southern Island amongst the large trio) and it is surrounded by a lot of small islands as well.  So, from the plane, I saw this dazzling display of islands inking the landscape of the vast sea that stretched far beyond what the eye could see.  Once I landed, I got off via the portable stairs and erupted into a photo-snapping mania.  The airport was firmly entrenched with mountains in the background and the sea on the other side.  I couldn’t help but snap away.  Can you blame me?!  As I finally walked away from my amazement, I was greeted by a sign: “Welcome to Zamboanga City: Asia’s latin city”.  It’s quite interesting that even though that the Spanish had ruled over most of the Islands, this place retained more of the cultural influence than anywhere else, which is distinctly reflected in the local language, Chavokan.  It’s an amalgamation of Spanish and a few local languages and it sounds very similar to Spanish too.  Dr. Russell believes that this place retains the Spanish influence more than any other place largely because the Spanish brought over locals from other Islands and nations to work in Zamboanga.  Well, as we know from history, “work” is a generous term at best.  Those “workers” couldn’t speak to Zamboangans because they spoke different languages.  After learning to communicate with the Spanish masters in Spanish and the locals in their local dialects, naturally it all got interfused and wound up producing a new language altogether.  Quite fascinating!  A linguist friend of mine would have a field day in this place!  Dr. Russell is pretty awesome as she drops nuggets of knowledge at every turn and chance she gets, of which I am extremely appreciative.

Anisa, Me, Dr. Russell

We were picked up at the airport by Naga (Anthropology Professor and the Philippines director of the PYLP) and his wife Anisa.  Naga is a very exuberant and energetic 67 year old man (although you couldn’t tell he was 67 by looking at him) who brings a lot of joy to every conversation.  In just one day, I’ve come to appreciate his stories already!  I will write more about him in due time.  His approach to Islam and youth work is particularly interesting to me and as such it has given life to new ideas and goals for our own program for MYLS moving ahead.  We arrived in grand style at our hotel on the beach front.  Our hotel is literally overlooking the Sulu Sea with our room windows glaring out at the wondrous excitement that only a never ending gaze against flowing waters can provide.  I feel very fortunate to be here and soaking all of this in.  I must admit, this has been a much deserved break for me especially considering the circumstances and the difficulties I’ve had to deal with during the past few months.  It’s always a good idea to be grateful for things that make you happy because they are as fleeting as time itself.  In any case, back to the story…we ended up dining for lunch at the hotel’s restaurant and I had a delicious Tanguigui steak.  My friend Zeshan would’ve loved this Zamboangan delicacy!  There is just so much seafood here that it’s hard to choose what to eat when you sit down.  After lunch, we explored our lovely beach front and took a few pictures against the scenic backdrop while Naga showered stories of Zamboangan history and culture on me.  

Dr. Russell, Me, Dr. Madale

Later in the day, we went to Silsila, the inter-faith community center that is erected by Italian Catholic priests.  Actually, that is where the program is being held over the next few days.  The road to Silsila from the hotel is placed amidst a flowing sea to the left, green lush on the right, and people in cars, rickshaw-like rides, wagons, and on foot sprawled in between.  Our driver was quite adept at avoiding the slow moving vehicles in the way and also skillful when he had to maneuver through people crossing the street without notice.  I couldn’t drive here even if my life depended on it.  We are too accustomed to rules and regulations so I can’t ever see myself or anyone for that matter surviving on the road here.  Miraculously, I believe that there are fewer accidents in this “lawlessness on the road” than there are in our well-policed roadways in the States.  Don’t ask me why!

Silsala Logo

Once we reached the Silsila, I was amazed to see that all of the kids had remembered me from the workshop that I had done at Northern-Illinois University while they were on their one-month training tour in the States.  I know that I promised to tell more about the program but I think I will wait for tomorrow since it would be appropriate considering it’s the first official day for it.  I don’t think I’ve ever gotten such a loud ovation or as cheery of a welcome before!  I mingled with the students (High School Seniors and College Freshmen) and we chatted about their time since the US trip and what they are up to now.  I don’t know what it is about me but the girls are the only ones I can seem to get through to.  Speaking of which, apparently some of the girls had a crush one me and the other girls were teasing them throughout the entire trip and now it started again since I was here.  Funny stuff!  Oh boy, do I remember the times I used to crush on my teachers and mentors back in the day.  :)  Kids can be quite cute with their emotions.  After a snack session (which I am told to expect a lot since people eat like 5x a day here but never get fat.  We need their secret!), I got a personal tour of the Silsila (means chain in Arabic) from Naga and Dr. Russell.  It’s an expansive compound that is built in the forest so it has a lot of vegetation with creeks running through and buildings of bamboo and stone revealing themselves in the vacated spots where trees once reigned.  From what I am told, this place was founded to encourage inter-faith dialogue and promote peace in the region through the efforts of two Italian pastors.  Sadly, one of them was murdered due to initial resistance and feud over land.  Fortunately, the other Father still remained here and has done good work to the point that this place has become a safe haven for the community.  On a side note, I can’t wait to go running on the many windy and hilly paths that the place has.  It should be a lot of fun!  Tomorrow, I am scheduled to lead a workshop that I designed entitled, “Spiritually-based Activism: Fueling Inspiration and Overcoming Challenges”.  I am excited to work with the youth and have some fun doing so.  I will let you all know how it goes tomorrow.  After my tour at the community-center, Dr. Russell and I were accompanied by an Anthropology Graduate student, Alfred, to the Zamboanga mall  where we bought a few toiletries and such.  I also spotted a Doner Kebap!  My partners in crime on my recent Africa adventure know what I am talking about.  The food at this Kebap wasn’t as good as the one in Madrid.  But hey, it brought back some happy memories of my two treasured companions.  In the end, it’s the memories that keep our spirits up.  I’m lucky to have been blessed with awesome people that have been able to give me so many to treasure.  

Saying Hello!

After grabbing my dinner at the mall, we headed back home to the hotel where I took a quick shower after unexpectedly dozing off when trying to rest my eyes.  Then, I sat in the coffee shop looking out at the beautiful night lights of the hotel simmering on the calm but ever-flowing waters of Sulu Sea.  I hope tomorrow brings its own excitement.  Oh man, I miss my complimentary mango…

Sulu Sea

Con Paz,

Mokaram