poniedziałek, 26 listopada 2012

Polski ślad na Mindanao / Polish sparkle in Mindanao



Parę dni temu dowiedziałem się, że coraz więcej Polaków mieszka na Mindanao. Większość z nich to misjonarze, ale są również i świeccy: biznesmeni i ci, którzy ożenili się tutaj. 11-go listopada, w Dzień Niepodległości, była okazja do spotkania kilku z nich. Świętowaliśmy tę okazję w Cagayan, w parafi Aluba, gdzie pracuje dwóch sercanów. Było polskie jedzenie, picie, i wiele ciekawych opowieści. Cieszę się, że grupa Polaków na Filipinach stopniowo powiększa się. Do zobaczenia gdzieś na szlaku...



There are quite few Polish people leaving in Mindanao.  Most of them are religious, working as missionaries. But there are also lay people, businessmen or just married here. On November 11th, on Polish Independence Day, there was an opportunity to meet some of them. It was a great celebration in Aluba Parish in Cagayan with Polish food and drink, supplemented with many stories in Polish too. I am glad that the Polish community in the Philippines is constantly growing in number. See you around.
Z Janem, s.Olą (Bukidnon) i Januszem
Razem z Marianami z El Salvador. Po prawej: Franek, Darek i Bene.
Na Bohol z s.Ewą, Pawłem i Januszem
S.Marta, Maria i Szymon w Davao.
Janusz w ZDS


czwartek, 22 listopada 2012

Warning about the Airphil Express airlines


Don’t ever fly with Airphil Express!!! 
Air Philippines was re-launched as Airphil Express last March 28, 2010 as a low-cost carrier. It is a sister company of Philippine Airlines under the Lucio Tan Group, but it is operating independently from PAL. It operates lots of domestic flights throughout the Philippines. It attracts many tourists with inexpensive tickets but is also well known as company of frequent mistakes, long delay and cancel flights…, etc.
Last week I experienced it myself. I had with me a group of visitors from different countries. I had a terrible and embarrassing experience because of their mistake and a poor service. Although we had a confirm tickets, bought via internet, we couldn’t fly and we had to buy a new tickets. They told us that probably there was an error in the system and the money didn’t reach them! We didn’t have any possibilities to complain about their mistake or even to talk with their manager. We just got two options to choose: ‘either to buy new tickets or not to fly!!!’
How is it possible that our names appeared on their computer but the tickets were not paid??? How the system could process and issue our tickets without charging the credit card? Why nobody inform us about “the mistake” though the tickets were bought and confirmed five weeks ago?
So my dear friend, even if you have a confirmed ticket, properly bought at Airphil Express, doesn’t mean that you will be able to fly with them!
Three times I had a chance to fly with Airphil Express recently. It was always accompanied with incidents and bad experiences. First time, it was a delay; then, rude service and, finally, third time, I had to buy a new tickets. It is enough!
Airphil Express calls itself as “Most Outstanding Domestic Airline" and is proud of it. (Just see it on their website?!) I guess it is “most outstanding” but in a negative sense.
Moreover, I had a look at internet sites at some of the comments of people who had similar incidents to me… so many of them! I just wonder how it is possible that this company is still “in service” and fools people everywhere!
So, I just give you an advice: don’t fly with Airphil Express!!!

środa, 14 listopada 2012

Konferencja Formacyjna / Formation Conference


W tych dniach w Manili odbywa się konferencja sercańskich formatorów strefy azjatyckiej. Bierze w niej udział 16 formatorów z Indonezji, Indii, Vietnamu i oczywiście Filipin. 
Pierwsza cześć tego spotkania (teoretyczna) odbywa się w Manili, a druga będzie miała miejsce na Mindanao. Ta druga część, praktyczna, będzie zorganizowana w formie objazdu po domach formacyjnych i niektórych sercańskich parafiach na tej wielkiej i dzikiej wyspie.
Wiodącymi tematami tego spotkania są: “Sint Unum” (aby byli jedno), w celu ujednolicenia i lepszej współpracy formacyjnej na kontynencie Azji; współczesne problemy w formacji; oraz sercański model formatora.
To spotkanie formatorów to nie tylko konferencja, gdzie są wykłady i podejmuje się ważne decyzje, ale przede wszystkim, to okazja do dzielenia się swoim doświadczeniem i rozwijania przyjaźni oraz współpracy. 


From November 13 to 19, 2012, a total of 16 SCJs representing the different Dehonian formation entities in the Asian Zone, namely, Indonesia (4), the Philippines (7), Vietnam (2) and India (3), are gathered in the Philippines for the 2012 Asian Formators Conference.  
The first 3 days of the conference, that is, from November 13-15, is the Theoretical aspect.  The venue is in Dehon House, Quezon City, which is the Theologate and Scholasticate formation center of the Philippine Region. These days will be devoted to the plenary sessions, inputs and discussions.  There are 3 themes for this year’s conference: (1) Sint Unum; (2) contemporary issues in formation; and (3) the Dehonian way of doing formation.  Significantly, during the first day of the conference the delegates will discuss the implementation of the 2011 Asian Conference in Yogyakarta concerning the three-fold dialogue pertaining to the SCJ Formation Program.
The rest of the week will be spent in the Island of Mindanao, specifically, from November 16-19, which is the Practical aspect of the conference.  The delegates will have the chance to visit the different formation houses of the Philippine Region, specifically, the Sacred Heart Formation House in Cagayan de Oro and Novitiate Fr. Dehon in Dumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur, and the parishes managed by the SCJs. 

środa, 7 listopada 2012

Wiszące trumny w Sagada / The hanging coffins of Sagada



Region Sagada, na wyspie Luzon, słynie z „wiszących trumien.” To tradycyjna metoda pochówku zmarłych, która praktykowana jest od 2000 lat, aż do dziś, przez nieliczne lokalne plemiona (Igorot i Appla). Tamtejsi ludzie wierzą, że zmarły pochowany w ten sposób, wysoko nad ziemią, wiszący na skale lub złożony w górskiej jaskini, ma „bliżej do nieba.”
Rytuał pogrzebowy zaczyna się jeszcze za życia osoby. Dlatego też, trumny zwykle robione są samodzielnie przez starszych ludzi, po to, aby tam być złożonym po śmierci. Rzeźbione są one z jednego pnia drzewa. Jeżeli ta osoba jest zbyt słaba lub chora, pomaga jej syn lub ktoś z rodziny. Po śmierci ciało dosłownie „wpycha sie do środka,” gdyż trumny takie są zwykle wąskie w środku.
Innym ważnym zwyczajem takiego tradycyjnego pochówku jest to, że ciało powinno być umieszczone w trumnie w pozycji pre-natalnej. Ludzie wierzą, że człowiek powinnien „schodzić” z tego świata w takiej samej pozycji jak tu przyszedł.
Gdzieniegdzie można zauważyć też "wiszące krzesła." Służą one do praktyk pogrzebowych. Zmarły jest bowiem czasami sadzany na krześle i tak trzmany w domu przez kilka dni po śmierci, zanim zostanie złożony w trumnie. W tym czasie rodzina i znajomi mają okazję ostatni raz z nim "porozmawiać" i pożegnać się.
Dlaczego wiesza się trumny w Sagada? Po pierwsze, aby uchronić ciała zmarłych przed złodziejami i dzikimi zwierzętami, i jakimkolwiek innym znieważeniem. Po drugie, miejscowi ludzie wierzą, że duszy jest łatwiej "wędrować do nieba" z tej pozycji, niż z ziemi, gdzieś tam głęboko zakopanej. 



Sagada is famous for its "hanging coffins". This is a traditional way of burying people that is still practice by some of the local tribes. The Igorot and Appla ancestors in Sagada believed that the higher your body is laid – the close they are to ‘heaven’. Hanging coffins lie on beams projecting outward from vertical faces such as mountains, are placed in caves in the face of cliffs, or sit on natural rock projections on mountain faces.
These coffins are carved by the elderly before they die; if they are too ill or weak their son or other close relative will do it for them. This ritual involves pushing the bodies into the tight spaces of the coffins, and often bones are cracked and broken as the process is completed.
After the deceased are put inside these coffins they are then brought to caves high in the cliffs where they join the coffins of other ancestors. The Segada people prefer to be buried in the cliffs than to be buried in the ground and have been doing this for more than 2,000 years.
Some noticed that the coffins are fairly small, that is because the body is placed in the fetal position. They believe that people should pass through this world the same way they got in. Some of the graves have chairs. These are ‘death chairs,’ where the dead were left sitting for a while before the funeral. People would not use them so they hang them alone with the coffins.
As to why they are placed high on the cliffs? One reason is to avoid animal scavengers desecrating the body or thieves stealing their belongings.  The other reason is that they believe that the spirit would rise up easier from here than being buried six feet underground.
Beauty of Sagada
Local boys
On the way to Sagada. 10 h by bus from Manila
Nowadays, you can arrange everything by internet