Our day began trying to get internet so we could print out a legal agreement to limit our liability with the school but Wi-Fi had become such a challenge we had to wait until we could go to a local cafe to get a signal. The whole process of getting up and running and reviewing and editing that document ate up our morning. Next we went to the warehouse to get more supplies and finally we departed for the airport.

As you may remember, Barry will be staying on to Shepherd the project through until Christmas. To ensure he has no trouble getting his flight out, we decided to go to the airport and put a physical ticket in his hand. The trip there is in a direction we had not been and both because this is the route all NGOs and military took to the city and also because the barangay of San Jose is large and very hard hit (it has water on both sides so they got hit from both), the route to the airport looks more like a relief zone than anywhere else we have seen.

There are large areas of army tents, IDP camps (for displaced persons) and lots of relief tents and camps in general. The airport claims to be open but just barely – traffic until very recently was only served using military C130s on which you can get free seats on by booking them through the UN, but they are totally unreliable. Commercial service has just been restored and is preformed from makeshift terminal areas. As soon as we arrived we were informed that they don’t sell any kind of tickets and they only deal with same day passengers so the trip was useless and totally wasted. Nonetheless, on the way back we made the best of the trip and did some very interesting interviews with Philippine military personnel and at the camps in the area.

By the time we got to the school it was after noon. As soon as we arrived we saw that the principal had been cracking her whip. In only one day since we delivered the new roofing materials, the roof of the entire library and guidance building had been removed and replaced, there were two full crews of workers hard at work on two other rooftops and additional collecting and stacking was also evident.

Despite the fact that we had made a last minute visit to the warehouse for supplies so we would have them before the warehouse closed for Sunday, as soon as we arrived the principal asked us if we could get tex screws to attach the roof to the buildings that had steel trusses. We wished she had just called one of our cell phones to tell us earlier, since we had just left the warehouse and could have easily purchased them. We initially made the decision to delay the steel trusses to the end since they require power and power tools but the principal tells us she can get access to a generator and a drill with the right bit – this surprised us all.

Anyway, just as Lunch is being served, we begin discussing the problem – fully aware that it might be considered an offense to keep the lunch they made for us waiting, we make the call that getting the trip to Tacloban in place early enough that it can be done, takes the highest priority. We considered every way to get the materials from Tacloban to us without wasting a trip in the van which wastes too much fuel. We thought we had a solution using a motorcycle with a sidecar, but the discussions of how to do it were taking up so much time that Oscar decided to take our driver and go himself while Barry and I stayed to do a survey of the buildings and their needs.

The project is moving forward very well and we are all very excited to see the development of the roofing. As a result of our efforts, they are making plans to have 200 students in class on Monday – this is only 1/6 of the school, but more than 10x the number that came to school on the Friday when we started. Barry and I took on the principals office as well – the primary deterrent there is fallen sheetrock so we make an effort to remove all the pieces that are hanging down to make it more usable.

The good nature of the workers and smiles and games the children in the neighborhood and from the school play keeps everyone invigorated. There is no end to the upbeat attitude and the happiness is infectious. As we are wrapping up and paying the workers for their long day – 400 pesos ($9) for a lead carpenter and 200 (4.50) for a days work, I compliment the principal on having saved so many books from her library. She tells me they are in the office of the guidance counselor for the school. He is the only staffmember who lost his life in the storm (remember the school is not near the coast). When he left, the last time she saw him, she warned him not to go to his house near the shore, she told him there was no protection and he told her it would be OK. When the first wave hit, the falling lumber knocked him out and he was found amount the dead along with other members of his family. It is clear that they were close and as she begins to cry, we quickly change the subject and move to something else.

We are hoping we have a handle on lumber we will need for the project and will try and source that our tomorrow when everyone returns from Church.

After a long day we raced back to Tacloban winding through the dark dark communities which are lit only by the occasional fire of a burning pile of debris or family cooking dinner over the fire. A highlight of the trip home was when we spotted a tricycle (basically a motorcycle with a sidecar) driving home and in the sidecar was a huge pig probably on its way to slaughter.

Another high note on the trip back was I saw my first and only strand of Christmas lights – a lonely white strand on an otherwise blacked out backdrop. In the car ride home we realize that despite all our efforts to get the Tex screws so they can begin putting the roof back on the 4 classrooms in these 2 buildings, due to a miscommunication we did not get flat washers which will help to ensure the roof stays on in the next big storm. That store is now closed and we are stuck until we can get more on Monday.

Next, Barry and I spent the evening budgeting and discussing our plans for the coming week. Despite the fact that some boys from Manila had shown up, promised to help with funding, promised to provide labor and relief to the school, and then after only one day they are no where to be found and the entire scope of their charity was their having paid less than $100 in wages and taking some pictures to make themselves feel good. We resign ourselves to making up payroll from our own budget – this had been our original plan anyway but it would have been nice to redirect those funds to materials if the other offer were genuine.

We end the day as it started, trying to get Barry’s ticket home – first from our room using the wifi from a cell tower and when that fails we go to an internet cafe/Filipino restaurant just before closing. Despite a much stronger signal we cannot get the site to work and finally give up after almost 2 hours of trying. Luckily when we get back to our room, we must have caught a low volume moment and we were actually able to get his ticket purchased by just before 11pm.

The school is progressing well and we have confirmation that a full crew of workers is coming tomorrow, Sunday – which is by no means a guarantee in this country. We know we are pushing them, perhaps too hard, but we need to be aggressive to get the kids back in school and they all understand our motivation comes from a good place.