These are some of the pictures from our trip- not in any order really

I just wanted to post a few more pictures, I will write a little more about our trip sometime this week. It was great is all I can say now.

Enjoy the pictures, they are in no order. If you would like to sponsor one of these kids in the pictures, or go on a trip contact my mom Kassey at kasseyy@holtintl.org.


Luvs to all of you, I miss everyone on the team!


Lyn

Our last group picture in Hong Kong, I am going to miss everyone!

Nikki and I met and talked to a group of cage fighters in the lobby of the hotel. they had a camera man with them, we might be on TV in the Philippines

Jan rented a moped for us, and here we are taking off... we also discovered the horn LOL

Jarrod's Farmers Steak at out last lunch in Dumagette

Jan's curry at our last lunch there too at the 'Why not Disco'

And we are off

Jan, Nikki and myself with some cute kids at the Rainbow House

Rose holding one of the babies I got to give a Christmas gift to

Sunset at Plantation Bay

My mom caught us all sleeping on the long ride back to the hotel

This girl was having teenage problems just like the rest of us do, we talked about bullying in school and your friends being mean to you

Alice a social worked for KBF and Rose- she is 21 and lives at Rainbow House, she is going to school and will one day move out on her own

Us dancing with teh older girls at Rainbow House

Jarrod and Peter

Her parents started Rainbow House, she lives there in their absence. She was great.

This little girl has CP, but loved her bear.

This little guy with my mom is about to be matched to a Holt family. He will have his forever family, SOON!

Out the bus window, yes this little guy is standing on the moped while they are driving

She loved the teddy bear more than her other gift. She would not put it down.

This is not a great shot of Peter, he is 10 he lives at the Rainbow house, he is blind. Jarrod on our group really bonded with him

Our group with the kids at Rainbow House.

Nikki and I with kids in the 7th region.

Jarrod and Jess....OHHHHH!

The kids at Asilo LOVED the shirts Rod and Nancy got from their tennis club, Eugene Swim and Tennis.

"Fat, Garlic, Friends" Nikki and I got these to remeber our trip, and they are NOT real.

During our free time, we found Jan working....

This is Jerika being held by Nancy, she is in need of a sponsors also, if you'd like to sponsor her, please call my mom. It costs $30.oo a month, but you make all the difference in the world to the child you are sponsoring. I sponsors a little girl in Romania.

I did not get to ride in one of these peddle cabs, but the rest of the group did, they said it was aweome.

Nikki and Jan with a board member of KBF, he was funny. He recently retired and now works with and for the kids with all of his free time.

These are some fruit I tried, my mom said they were like 'mini mangostiens', they were pretty good.

Jay with Jeersey. Jay just got done taking his picture.

Jessie giving a little girl in daycare her family gift

Jay holding his sponsored child; she is sleeping

Jersey the little boy with Nikki, is part of a large sibling group. His mom couldn't take care of them so they are being taken care of at Asilo, the baby will go back to the mother in a few months, but not he or his older siblings.

These teo men are foster dad's, they sang us a few Christmas carols, they were rock stars!

This little guy with Rod, Rafel, is in need of a sponsor. If you would like to be sponsor him for $30.00 a month call my mom. He was very cute, he would not take his sunglasses off for the picture.

Jay and Rod with a welcome sign they made at Bethany

The kids posing at Bethany after their great dance

Loving the teddy bears from half way around the world

Nancy and a toddler girl, the only girl in the toddler room

Us being silly at the plantation bay

Nikki trying out for America's Next Top Model... the hat folded up like a fan.

Jeepney...

Homemade ice cream at Asilo

The pig the nun's roasted at Asilo

The group with some of the children at Bethany

Today is the first day we have internet

So I am behind on posting, we have been staying in Dumegette and they had no internet access there. I am behind on my adventures, and answering the emails from Erin's class. I will post one last LARGE post when I get back to the US and have internet again.
I have had a great time, meet a lot of people and made friends with everyone on the trip! I loved meeting the children and teens (some were even older than me). It was an adventure I will never forget, people and a place I won't forget either.
I wish everyone could do something like this- to see the places, meet the kids in such need and bring joy to them in a small way is amazing...
I am off to the airport for the 24+ hour trip home, thanks to all of you for helping make this possible for me.

Luv,

Lyn

PS here are the answers to Erin's class questions!

Erin's Class said...

Thanks for the information. We are enjoying reading about your trip and your pictures too. We have also been looking at other things about where you are. A few more questions today if you don't mind.....they could easily give you 25 a day, but I wouldn't do that to you.....

#1. (from Megan) Are you still a little jet lagged from you trip?? Yeah I am Megan, and I will be more, cause today we leave for the US. We have been traveling from place to place on planes and boats, so it has been hard to get caught up on your sleep. I feel like I wanna sleep for a whole day!

#2 (from Tonasia) I was wondering how the weather is there....it has been raining a lot here. Tonasia, it has been HOT and humid here. We have been wearing shorts and capris the entire time.

#3. (from Austin) How many kids are there in each place? Austin, each place has a lot of kids, some of the places we went have over 100 kids, and some have 30 or 40. When I come to your class I will show you pictures, we went to a lot of place, and saw some many CUTE kids!

#4. (from Kiera) Are you having fun? Kiera, I am having a lot of fun! The kids and teenagers love to see us, and we are giving them Christmas presents, teddy bears and candy, one of the members of our team Jay, even takes there picture with a polaroid camera so they can keep it. They love it and so do we.

#5. (from Joel) What kind of food do the kids like to eat? Do they only eat rice and soy sauce? :) The kids around here LOVE JollyBee's, I have pictures of it, it is the Philippines McDonalds. They have spagetti and friend chicken as their meal there. They also eat a lot of fruits and veggies at their places. They eat well and aren't hungry, the people they live with take good care of them. We can talk about it when I come to your class, ok? I even have pictures of the food.

See you all, miss you all. I'll post more pictures and the stories of my trip later...off to Hong Kong then to the USA!

Q&A's For Erin's Class..

#1. (from Kendal) Were all of the kids that you are seeing born in the Philippines? - Most of them are, I believe we have seen maybe 8 kids that weren't.

#2. (from Cale) Is it hard to understand everyone when they talk? - Cale.. It is hard at times, most of them speak English so it is good.. Also we have a translator which makes it easier!

#3. (from Aubre) Are you going to get to go to the beach?- The resort I am staying at has a beach, and I may go there today if i have time!

#4. (from Tanner) Did the kids that climbed the fence because they wanted to go to the party get to go?? - Yes, most of them got to join the party, but some of them got sent out. It was very different than anything in America.

Day.. I'm not sure.. Wednesday. (or Tuesday at home)

Today was nice, we flew from Manila to Cebu. And when we got to our hotel, The Plantation Bay Jessi Nikki and I all went and got a full body massage, which was amazing. After that we went to a party, it was interesting. They roasted a pig for us. It was amazing how the kids really wanted to learn our names, and our ages. All of the 10-12 year olds told me I looked like Avril Lavine, we all laughed. They actually called Nikki TALL!! Well yeah!
So i will let you know more later.

December 4 & 5 (morning)

We have had a great trip so far we visited a lot of day care kids today, saw the daycare buildings, got a tour of one. Danced with JollyBee, played with lots of kids, saw how sad some of the street kids are, and how they are so hungry and wanted to be such a part of the parties they climbed the fence to get in, that was really sad. We then went to another party for foster parents and kids and saw the independent living scholars who are Nikki and my age and older who were abandoned when they were younger but they stuck with school and believe in themselves and are making a better life for themselves through KBF. Some of them just got back from Chicago, IL going to school there. It was fun to talk to them.
Nikk and I brought duck,duck,goose to the Philippines as well, we had to have the day care kids teacher translate it for us, then we must not have explained it right or something, cause it wasn't really duck, duck, goose, but they had fun and so did we.
Last night we went to the outdoor mall again, I got a few more presents for people, and it wasn't nearly as crowded. We had fun though.
We left Manila today to go to Cebu, we are here at the Plantation Bay Resort, it is really nice, and we are enjoying it a lot...Nikki, Jessi and I have plans for the next few hours before we got to the party today at Asilo de la Milagrosa. I'll tell you more later about what we did.

Enjoy some pictures from yesterday!Some of the scholars singing a song.

Jan talking with a scholar who had recently returned from Chicago.

Nikki and I with some of the scholars.

More pictures of the scholars, these guys range in age from 16-18.

She loved the bears we gave out. She is also waiting for her forever family.

This was on the street in Manila, we all really want to ride these, we are going to talk to Eva about it.

Street art, we all thought it was pretty cool

A little boy in foster care, he was so sweet he kept running up to me, Nikki and I were fighting over him he is so cute.

A little girl with special needs, she is released for international adoption she is just waiting for the right family.

This little guy loved the bears we were giving to the kids under 2.

The team dancing with JollyBee

Team photo with JollyBee

Me & Spiderman

Jarrod handing out balloons

The balloons said Holt Gift Team... how cool

Me playing 'duck,duck,goose'

Rod showing the kids their pictures

Nikki and I 'dancing' with the day care kids

Dancing with some of the kids.

A little girl enjoying JollyBee- our team bought the lunches and presents for this party. The kids got items the family needed like food, it was awesome.

Daycare

"spiderman" look at his smile...

The Nun's told us they do this cause it makes them look handsome.

This was the coolest dance, and this little guy was the leader. The coconut dance.

They love getting their pictures taken.