Neighbors

Hanging with the neighbor kids!

All photos by Apreal

Marjorie Anne

Laundry time for Lola

Bernardino

UNO time!

Selfie with Marjorie Anne!

 

Adonis & Banene coming home for lunch

 Since the Dela Cruz house is finished (just waiting for the electricity to be switched on) and I had a little bit of extra funds leftover, I decided to treat Ate Yhen and her family to a comfort we all certainly take for granted.  She and her husband, Angelo, and their two kids, Angelito & Marjorie Anne, live next to and a little behind my house in a tiny room that is about 60" wide and maybe 100" long.  Their floor is cement and when it's time for sleeping, they lay down a few sheets of cardboard and curl up for the night.  Basically, like a lot of other people here, the whole family sleeps on a cement floor every night.  Not anymore!

With just 2,300 pesos ($53) of the leftover donations, we were able to provide this family with real bed!  I went shopping with Ate Yhen earlier this week so she could pick out the bed foam and later we went to the mall to get some sheets also.  The bed stretches from wall to wall when it's laid down, so during the day, she just props the bed up against the wall.

Fifty-three dollars is such a small amount to most Americans, but for this family it would have taken months and months to save up.  Saving that much money for a bed is mostly impossible for a small family who earns only 300 pesos ($7) per day--which has to cover food, school costs, clothing, etc. 

Angelito testing out the new bed! Bern was loving it too!

Ate Yhen modeling the new bed with her kids (Marjorie & Angelito) and Adonis

 Joy & George, do you remember this card you sent for my birthday?  It's a huge hit with the kids!  They absolutely love the cards that light up and sing!

Ate Yhen & Marjorie

Apreal loves selfies but doesn't love having her picture taken by other people... I'm making it my goal to get a good picture with her before I leave...