I apologize to those who were looking forward to 'Lily's Diary', as there are fewer photos of Lily today.
for a while,Lily and Lily's Dad's Diary of Life on Mindanao Island.I hope you'll read it with that in mind.
As I've written before, I've witnessed many times Japanese people living in the Philippines making disparaging remarks about Filipinos in public places and restaurants, and I've even been forced to witness it myself.
Seeing even my boss and the president of a subsidiary of a major company like Nissan, people with a certain level of status, repeatedly using phrases like 'After all, they're Filipinos.', I planted a single seed called Gigi in Cebu in August 2007 before leaving the Philippines. (I felt that the Japanese people who were hurling insults at Filipinos in Cebu were ultimately losers who wouldn't even be taken seriously in Japan.)
Thanks to everyone's support, that seed has grown big, blossomed, and is now poised to move on to a new stage.
Having come to Osamis on Mindanao, I've realized that Cebu is a unique and special place, while Osamis has all the necessary infrastructure for daily life.
The elementary school I'm introducing today is a good example; the essential social infrastructure is functioning properly.
Japanese society is experiencing dysfunction in social infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
The diversity that Japanese society has discarded in its pursuit of efficiency to the extreme. The magnitude of the distortion caused by that loss.
The town of Osamis has a functioning infrastructure, but it is a society where the living standards of the people who use it vary greatly.
Amidst the chaos and diversity, Mindanao, as the Philippines' massive food production hub, remains vibrant regardless of the global economy.
So, which one offers more hope for the future?
*I haven't seen everything myself. I should add that there are many Japanese people living quietly in the Philippines.
Gian and Ginny start elementary school today.
This will be my first day of school since moving from Labason.
We've been busy getting ready since early this morning, but Lily is a good girl and is sitting quietly.
A bento box made by Gigi.
The side dishes look a little sparse, but the children are overjoyed with just this.
For various reasons, neither Gian (left) nor Ginny (center) were able to receive a proper education in Labason.
For that reason alone, I'm very happy that I can go to school.
I bought a bag yesterday and a water bottle filled with juice. I packed my textbooks and notebooks into the bag.
I'll be going to the same elementary school as Raisa-chan.
This is a photo taken from the front entrance of the elementary school.
A photo of the garden taken from in front of the principal's office.
Let's get started with the transfer of residency procedures.
However, since they didn't have Gian and Ginny's documents, they said they would handle the communication between the schools.
The principal seemed like a very kind person.
Incidentally, there are apparently about 300 students from first grade to sixth grade.
Both Gian and Ginny transferred to the first-grade class.
The streets where the parade was to take place were overflowing with people because President Arroyo was visiting Osamis.
They said they would also visit the elementary school that Raisa, Gian, and Ginny attend, but the students were already out in the town square.
The president apparently cares deeply about Mindanao...