Living In Rural Leyte.

[relcarve25]

 

Over 20 years ago I went to live with my wife and her family in a rural mountain Barrio called Alegria, near Bato in S. Leyte.

We lived on her land, built a wood and hollow block house and engaged in local life. I was the only foreigner living in the area and my wife was heavily pregnant with our son Sean. We stayed there for over a year and I was fascinated to observe how the Barrio people lived their everyday lives- in the same way as generations before them had done.

   Now that I've retired from teaching I've set up a Blogsite to try to show those who may be interested how life goes on in a typical rural area in the Philippines. I would love it if people would look at my Blog and make any and every kind of comment that they think is appropriate. (No obscenities please.) The site is called:      www.philippinestoryteller.com  

 

   I have also scoured the internet for any Children's Books about Barrio life and was surprised to find very little available except classic Myths and Folktales stuff. Although these books are important in their way I wanted to see some more modern, up to date stories for today's generation of kids. There are millions of Filipino/Foreigner families out there in the world and their young kids only visit the Philippines for short periods- and some never get outside the cities. Shouldn't they get some of the 'flavour' of Barrio life to help them understand their birthright? And don't all Filipino families deserve to have some modern books for their children?

   Please have a look at my books. Full details of them and how they can be sampled and purchased are on my Blogsite also. Book 1 is completely FREE and samples from Books 2& 3 can also be downloaded. All main formats are available for Tablets, IPads and Pc etc.       

 

   

 

Thanks for reading!  I would like to thank Tom Reid for the great help he has given me by completely upgrading my Blogsite  and making it more functional for this modern age. His Website skills are self evident and I am most grateful for his assistance.   Chris Mcguffin. (Philippine Storyteller.)

 

 

 

 

 

[Bruce]

So your son  is now over 20. How did he turn out? Raised in Phils or back in the UK? Schooling? Thinking like a local kid or more like a foeigner kid who speaks the language but has ambitions to have a 1st world job and perks? Any advice for other white guys who are thinking about a family In (rural) Phils as to getting his kids a good education and drive to succeed. Sort of like a 5 yr old saying he wants to be a pedi cab driver when is is older vs a 5 yr old in the UK saying he wants to be captain of the rugby team....  

[relcarve25]

A very interesting question Bruce. When I re-read my post I realised that I'd got my time scale wrong. Although my wife and I did live for more than a year in the Barrio, where our son was born, that was 15 years ago. I first stayed in the barrio 20 years ago but didn't live there for a few years. Sorry about that. However, although my son is now 15 years old your question is still just as relevant.

   As I understand your question the main point is how did living in the Philippines affect my son's outlook on life and did it temper his ambitions for his own future?

   I would say that no matter where a child is brought up he/she will be primarily influenced by those closest to him/her over his adolescence. Usually, with a caring home background, this will be his parents. Of course, as he gets older, these early rather simplistic ambitions will be affected by a dose of realism about his academic potential, environment and what other influential people like teachers think he should do. I can never remember my son expressing any real ambitions in his early years and even today he is not firmly set on any definite path but is trying to keep as many avenues open as possible. This brings me to the Philippines! I think both my son and I agree that staying on in the Philippines after Grade School would have been a very big mistake for him. Not only was the teaching in the Philippines grossly inferior in almost every subject to what he has experienced in the UK but the 'breadth' of subjects and resources here is so much better. As the child gets further into education his environment becomes increasingly important.I know a very intelligent Austrian man in Cebu who is quite happy for his son to stay in the same school that I withdrew my son from. His reasoning is that he is quite wealthy and has influential friends among the rich, dominant Filipino/Chinese families. With his money and influential Filipino friends he can secure a guaranteed life of prosperity and influence for his son. He has no intention of ever returning to Europe and so is not concerned about his son achieving high grades in internationally recognised examinations. I am in no position to do the same for my son even if I wanted to. He is now getting a good, broad education and is proving to be very clever. He will hopefully get top grades in many subjects and from then on still has both Subject/Career areas, and the 'World', open to him. I liken it to a child travelling down a wide motorway in most of the highly developed countries as opposed to going down a narrow restricting passage in the Philippines. Emerging from the motorway he has the world open to him, and he has been provided with the necessary tools for going out into this increasingly competitive world. The Filipino child can emerge into the whole world also but he has not been given the main equipment which is needed to do this easily and is most likely to succeed in the tiny world of the Philippines only. Which alternative do you and your child want? My son and I chose the whole world- for better or for worse. But every parent must make his own choices on behalf of his children- to do what suits them both best.   Cheers!   Chris McG.

[Bruce]

Good for you... The reason I asked was.... out on Samar I have met 2 maybe 3 boys born to GROs in Manila who then came home to Samar. Also 1 boy about 6 who had a Mormon Missionary who was living with the family right before the mother became pregnant.... But..... the reason he has brown hair and white skin is because god wanted him this way and he is not the son of the missionary at all....

 

So, who am I to give a squatter family a lesson in genetics....

 

Any way, of the boys I have met, all basic happy go lucky, no english and not an ounce of western drive in them. While they look slightly different, they are pure Pinoy at heart and mind.

 

The only exception was a 50+- yr old teacher who says his father was a black US soldier and his mother was a GRO in Manila. He was a school teacher and was doing well as such.

[i am bob]

In my travels over the years (not that again!), I have come to realize that 3 things will affect how our children learn.

 

1) If the parents are willing to spend time working with their child every day to help them advance their knowledge.  Let them learn to be amazed at their new discoveries.

 

2) Teach children the joys of reading as soon as possible!  Help them expand their worlds beyond that in which they live and where they can grow to be anything they want!

 

3) Watch out for where you put down your roots.  Some neighbourhoods are not conducive for a child to enjoy points 1 and 2 above.  You don't have to live where others are all doing this - just don't live where others will stop your child from doing this.  And I don't mean just other children in the neighbourhood.  I have seen adults scowl at children for reading.  I have seen adults scowl at children for observing nature.  The young are affected when somebody in authority - which means just about any adult when the kids are young enough - and won't enjoy learning any more.

 

I have watched over the years for children who had these 3 things and honestly?  They are all in the top levels of their chosen profession and at very young ages...   Was it the school system and the method of teaching that changed things for them?  No - it was their joy of learning through their younger years that kept them advancing well beyond what was being taught in their classes.  My brother would be a good example - for a couple years, he taught night classes at the local college while still a high school student.

[Bruce]

2) Teach children the joys of reading as soon as possible! Help them expand their worlds beyond that in which they live and where they can grow to be anything they want!

 

A dying art. Kids today often can not tell time unless it is in digital form on their phones. And give them a watch with just hands and no numbers and they really are lost.

 

Reading is dying off fast beyond basic reading for the masses. They have been exposed to far too many LOADING LOADING LOADING damn videos. I hate videos (Insert Jake's joke HERE) as I can often finish reading the information before the video often starts. Easier to go back or to read ahead than it is to watch a video and try to reset it. Also many people do not realize that most of the videos on the internet and news services are DUMBED DOWN and made for the 5-6 grade audience. The speaking is set as a slower rate and pauses built in for the watcher (dumb watcher) to absorb the information. .... Not to be confused with a say a youtub instructional video on how to take apart your carburetor (what is that) and put it back together... Or one of Jake's navy instructional videos on a short arm inspection (he never gets tired of watching that over and over)

 

And what about writing? Dying fast..... text abreviations are going main stream.......

[relcarve25]

1) If the parents are willing to spend time working with their child every day to help them advance their knowledge.  Let them learn to be amazed at their new discoveries.

 

2) Teach children the joys of reading as soon as possible!  Help them expand their worlds beyond that in which they live and where they can grow to be anything they want!

 

3) Watch out for where you put down your roots.  Some neighbourhoods are not conducive for a child to enjoy points 1 and 2 above.  You don't have to live where others are all doing this - just don't live where others will stop your child from doing this.  And I don't mean just other children in the neighbourhood.  I have seen adults scowl at children for reading.  I have seen adults scowl at children for observing nature.  The young are affected when somebody in authority - which means just about any adult when the kids are young enough - and won't enjoy learning any more.

   I heartily agree Bob. I grew up in a household which loved to read. I taught my eldest son to read and at the age of 2 he was reading Guardian newspaper articles. (Naturally he didn't understand a lot of the content but he loved doing it.) He was READY to read and so it was a joy and not a chore. My second son didn't read well until 4. He wasn't ready at two. Now both of them excel linguistically- one as a reporter and the other doing his Phd. Interestingly I believe that the Philippines actually does well in teaching English. Their teaching is authoritarian and Grammar based but the end result is that I have met so many Filipinos, including my wife, who have a much greater vocabulary than their English native speaking peers. They also have a very sound knowledge of Grammar which most native English speakers in the UK do not have today. My problem with the Filipino way is that I think it stifles creativity and does not develop a love of reading- which you rightly emphasise. The evidence for this is how few Filipinos read for pleasure- mostly they read for education purposes.

 

   I also agree that the 'environment' that a child finds himself in is very important. If respected, or feared, adults frown on reading then it's hard for a child to develop the necessary love for it. Books etc must also be easily accessible and this is now a very big problem for the UK. Again, at the risk of boring you, as a personal anecdote I spent 4 years teaching in a terrible inner city school in the UK. The school area was a dumping ground for problem and single parent families with a high percentage of immigrants. The children in general had little interest or motivation to learn and succeed. There was virtually no parental involvement and a survey carried out found that of the 800 odd families using the school only a small handful had a SINGLE book in their household. Reading was like a punishment to most of the kids. As you might expect most of those children went on to become social problems and had no drive or ambition other than to get FREE money however they could. 'Imagination'- 'Creativity'- some hope of that!

   Chris McG. 

[relcarve25]

A dying art. Kids today often can not tell time unless it is in digital form on their phones. And give them a watch with just hands and no numbers and they really are lost.

 

Reading is dying off fast beyond basic reading for the masses. They have been exposed to far too many LOADING LOADING LOADING damn videos. I hate videos (Insert Jake's joke HERE) as I can often finish reading the information before the video often starts. Easier to go back or to read ahead than it is to watch a video and try to reset it. Also many people do not realize that most of the videos on the internet and news services are DUMBED DOWN and made for the 5-6 grade audience. The speaking is set as a slower rate and pauses built in for the watcher (dumb watcher) to absorb the information. .... Not to be confused with a say a youtub instructional video on how to take apart your carburetor (what is that) and put it back together... Or one of Jake's navy instructional videos on a short arm inspection (he never gets tired of watching that over and over)

 

And what about writing? Dying fast..... text abreviations are going main stream.......

   Well said, Bruce! The trend in the media today seems to go against all that teaching should stand for. Good teachers constantly strive to 'CHALLENGE' young learners and don't accept mediocrity. It's like those making videos and movies are saying 'we know you're all a lot of morons out there and so we will aim our work at the lowest level.' Look at the way visual and digital special effects seem to dominate every new movie now. My wife and I love to watch the old movies made before computer animation and constant special effects. These movies present challenging and interesting storylines, with long passages of dialogue and description. They make YOU work to adapt the producer/author's ideas to fit in with your own understanding of the work. Look at the majority of Filipino movies made for the masses in the Barrios. It is insulting and demeaning the way their action and fantasy productions are only suitable for 'slack jawed' and unimaginative people to watch. 'Feed bananas and you get monkeys.' Modern movies will produce unimaginative limited people if you're not careful.   Chris McG.

[i am bob]

Great subject matter but it's getting off track for the title of this topic.  Can we slip back to Living in Rural Leyte?  I think we got off track with post number 5...   That would have been me....  Oops!  hehe!

[Old55]

Bruce, no offense...... I agree with much of what you stated because it is a fact, but not how you said it.

Children who are from a background of poor or little parenting who are introduced to schools with children OF ANY RACE will not compare to those from engaged parents. This is not due to their minority status its about parenting, mentoring and good example.