Work, Technology &Labor

Looking over my pictures for today's post, it looks like the emphasis will be my work, and labor vs. technology in general.
I work at the ERC (Employment Resource Center, everything here is initials) soon to be the PEF-SRC (Perpetual Education Fund-Self Reliance Center.)  The reason for the change in name is to reflect a shift in emphasis.  Previously the function has been to help people meet an immediate need by finding a job.  The new emphasis will be teaching people the best way to find and apply for the job they want or to develop their own business-- and how to obtain the resources (including education) they will need.
The best analogy I have found is one that perhaps should be applied to any program that purports to help people.

  If you give a man a fish, he eats for one day.  If you teach a man to fish, he can feed himself for the rest of his life.  (And maybe his family and neighbors, too.)





We work at the FGU Building- Ayala Center.   We are on the 5th floor of a 16-story building that only has 14 floors: they leave out floor 13, because it is unlucky in America, and floor 4, because it is unlucky here.  Sr. Evans and I choose to walk up and down the stairs for exercise:4 floors at work and 3 at the apartment.
The building is relatively new and has at least 2 banks, a commercial employment center, and all sorts of other commercial enterprises.
The building has 3 elevators, but they are in the process of replacing them.  Note the sign-- it is posted on a lightweight piece of board covering the opening to the empty elevator shaft.

This next set of pictures are the wonderful people we have been working with here at the ERC, from the top left:  Elder John, Sr. Evans, Sr. Keller, Br. John; 2nd row, Br. Jai, Aljane, May, & Sr. Mary Ann.  Sr. John is in  the solo picture as it was in honor of her birthday that the girls created the "group photo".  Aljane & May are our OJT's (On-the-Job trainees who are working to get experience credits required to graduate from school.)

We have a nice office with a fair-sized conference room, 3 smaller offices, a reception area, and a service center featuring 8 fairly modern computers, two telephone centers, and space and wifi connectivity for personal laptop computers.  We have had one training session here for the volunteers who run the Church employment centers on the nearby islands which was very informational and fun.

This is our first set of graduates from a Career Workshop that Sr. Evans and I helped teach -- there are four modules over a 2-day workshop and a different person will generally teach each module.

It is very difficult to get jobs in the Philippines as there are so many more people than jobs at this time -- especially in entry level positions.  Most entry level jobs other than physical labor require a minimum of a 4 year college degree; and they can and often will advertise (and hire) as specifically as:  looking for male, age 18-25, 5 foot 6 or taller, willing to work night shift, speaks good English with an American accent, etc..  (That kind of ad would get an employer in legal trouble for discrimination back in the States!)   The young people are very appreciative of our efforts to help them improve their skills relative to finding work: things like how to make a positive impact on an employer in 30 seconds, how to design your resume to pass the first 20 seconds in which the employer cuts most applicants, and practicing for an interview.

The local economy depends heavily on  physical and technical laborers-- there is a specialized labor niche for heavy equipment operators for construction, but things like sidewalk and street repairs are generally repaired by hand: chipped out with  a hammer and chisel, bagged and toted away, and then mixed and filled by hand.

Some of the products of this hand labor are very original, high quality, and display a high degree of craftmanship.  There is a small furniture shop where the furniture is all hand made in a series of  workrooms with 3 sides and a roof right next to the sidewalk.

On the other hand, they also employ creativity in the design and use of their leisure time too.  There are homemade basketball hoops everywhere -- usually in use.  (The kids seem to love having their pictures taken, but can't resist posing!)

Also these two individuals are having a  fun game of checkers with a homemade checker board and pop-bottle-cap checkers.

On the other hand, both high tech and low tech building seems to reflect the same ability to use whatever resources you have to design shelter.  One of our friends and co-workers Br. John Ballados had received a mission call (as mission president) when they were just completing their new home.  The last week before they left, they had: one daughter's wedding (she and their new son-in-law will stay in the home for them); another daughter receive her endowment in preparation for leaving on her mission, one son send in his mission application, and invited everyone over for supper to see their new home and say good-bye.  Now That's Dedication!  (And congratulations and our admiration to his wife for helping pull all this off while he is still finishing up with his employment here too!)  These are just a few pictures of their lovely modern home.

This is the front view, the back is on a hillside, so there is a partial lower level.  The design incorporates the use of lots of green energy ideas like LED lighting and orientation designed to use natural breezes for ventilation plus sun from skylights to minimize power usage.   The open staircase is breath-taking with minimal visible support and safety glass to provide safety while maintaining an open graceful appearance and providing access to the loft-style upstairs bedrooms.

I'm not too sure about some aspects of their creative construction, however, as a popular activity among the young people (starting, we are told, between the ages of 12 and 17) is home wiring.  And some areas in the city seem to show a little more creativity in this area than I am totally comfortable with.  I am glad to report that our neighborhood tends to a slightly more conservative design, however.

Now here is a clever technological innovation that I cannot believe we haven't taken proper advantage of in the States, however.

This handy little sign is outside of the mall parking lots and shows availability of parking spaces by floor.  Inside there are red and green lights monitoring the parking spaces -- if you see red lights down the row, go elsewhere; green lights indicate available spaces.  Pretty nifty, huh!

I have talked a little about public transportation, which is pretty available: from man-powered or motorcycle-powered tricycle taxis to 15-passenger jeepneys and rather ordinary taxicabs.  But there is another whole issue with transportation.  We were warned before our arrival that traffic laws were perceived in a somewhat different light in the Philippines -- that there was somewhat of a tendency to see them more as "suggestions" than "laws".  My favorite description of traffic here is that "it is like fish in a fish bowl: every fish swims wherever he pleases and yet there seems to be something of a pattern and they rarely bump into each other or squabble over who goes where or when."  On a street with 3-4 lanes of traffic on either side and a double solid yellow line, you will consistently see someone driving down the wrong side of the street toward you.  Nearly everyone believes that honking their horn at someone or something will magically move them out of their way.  Motorcycles are totally convinced that there is always space between any two cars for one motor cycle -- whether going in the same direction or making a turn in front of it (right or left) while traffic is moving.

At first, I was quite sure I could get the hang of it, but the longer I watch the traffic . . . .

On the other hand, we really enjoy walking and often walk down to the nearest grocery store or mall -- several within 2 kilometers (that's about 1 1/4 miles for us Yankees.)  You have to understand, however, that this is more like a hike than a stroll.  You must constantly watch your step as the surface is almost always uneven and frequently hazardous: holes, poles, unexpected motorcycle/ vehicle competition for the sidewalk, repairs,  rather large holes (both marked and unmarked), sidewalk enterprises (covering the entire sidewalk), etc.

 .

Pretty good sidewalk.

Not so great sidewalk, but spacious.

    

Pretty much fend-for-yourself sidewalk.

 And then there are the high-intensity "wind-sprints' necessary to make it all the way across the road in the minimal amount of time available to cross (which tends to be a bit theoretical at best, since you are magically whisked out of the way when they honk at you, you know!)  And there is the excitement of sidewalks so minimal-- or non-existent -- that you have to share the sport of "who's going to get the next semi-empty spot" with all other foot, bike, or motor-powered vehicles.

  But there is a quixotic side to it too -- most people are more than happy to help you out -- like the time when one big husky fellow felt we weren't going to make it safely across, so he jumped off his motorcycle which he left lying in the middle of the street -- ran over and stopped traffic in front of us and then ran back, jumped on his cycle, and took off!  Or the time that we were waiting in the median of a road with three lanes of very busy traffic while a large semi was pulling out -- who promptly blocked all the traffic then waved us across before he went on his way!  The helpful spirit of the Philippino people never ceases to amaze us!

Finished another jig-saw puzzle: this one was a headache because almost all of the pieces are the same shape -- so they are easily inter-changed except maybe only 2 sides fit the current location so you can't find the next piece!  It is a picture of  Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, but from a much earlier time, because although it is still strikingly beautiful, it is pretty much surrounded by high-rise buildings now.  The areas in front were flower beds converted to mini ice ponds and decorated for Christmas; those are colored lights on the trees instead of leaves, too, although there appear to be red blossoms on the flowers on the lower right.