Greetings from Manila! I’m starting my second full day here after a particularly difficult and frustrating trip. Because of the crazy weather on Monday my first flight left an hour late which caused me to miss my connection to Manila. I had to stay over night in Detroit, which turned out okay because I was able to spend time with some very dear friends. The next day my flight kept getting delayed, 15 minutes, 30 minutes…..then the snow started falling….yikes! Well after a 3 hour delay we finally took off and I just made the final flight arriving in Manila 24 hours later than expected. As I sat on that 12 hour flight sandwiched in between two other passengers, I must confess I started a deep conversation with myself (this happens sometimes in these situations!). I asked, “why am I doing this? It would be much easier to be sitting in front of the fireplace sipping on a glass of red watching the snow falling from the inside while listening to some great music or watching a Netflix movie”. At that moment it was what I really wanted to be doing. But as we touched down at Ninoy Aquino Airport and I started to experience those familiar sounds, sights and smells, the excitement and anticipation began to rise up in me. I began to look forward to what the next 3 weeks would bring. I knew for sure that because of the generosity of others I would be able to keep children in school who otherwise would not be able to afford to go. I looked forward to the hugs and smiles from the children as I gave them gifts and letters from their sponsors back home and seeing the joy and relief on the faces of their parents because they know their child will be able to stay in school. Yes, it would be easier to stay home, but the only one who would benefit from that would be me, and that would not be satisfying at all.
No, it’s never easy to do this. It’s not easy to leave the comforts of home and endure the travel and all that entails, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything! I’ll keep you posted!!