Day 7

Day 7 - Davao City Prison & Balay Pasilungan

Our day began bright and early with Sister Sheila meeting us at the hotel at 6:40 am to take us to Davao City Prison for Sunday Mass.  Although the mass was in Filipino and we could not understand much of what Father Chris was saying, it was a moving experience nonetheless.  At 7 am, the heat of the day was yet to consume us but as the mass went on the sun rose higher and higher in the sky and it wasn't long before we were forced to move ourselves into the shade for some relief.

There was a small chapel packed with prisoners and many more filled the courtyard.  It was a sea of yellow shirts, all reading "BJMP Detainee" on the back and though we were standing amongst them, we never felt threatened or unsafe at all.  These were not the prisoners we had envisaged.

As the mass drew to a close we were invited to introduce ourselves and were later warmly welcomed by other members of the Marist Community and the prisoners alike.  We then had to move into the chapel and lock the steel gates whilst 1600 prisoners were assembled for a head count.  This was quite an interesting moment as we felt like all eyes were on us, and Father Chris even joked "Today you are celebrities."  This Filipino curiosity has become quite natural to us now and we encounter it wherever we go.

Before leaving, we made one last stop to the female section of the prison grounds and were quite surprised by the setting and the warmness of the people there.  One very energetic woman greeted us and acted as our tour guide, taking us past every colourful cottage decorated in Christmas cheer and filled with up to 30 prisoners.  As we walked past them they waved and smiled and shouted out compliments at us - we joked about how it is unlikely we will receive that type of attention upon our return to Sydney.

Our visit ended in song, as so many of our visits do.  The female prisoners sung Christmas carols in English and Filipino and it was a joyful experience, so much so that we forgot we were in a prison.  It was a professional set up, with speakers, an electric guitar and microphone. Once the women had finished their program, it was our turn - this also included the new noviciates of the Marist Fathers who came from Fiji, Tonga, Africa and New Zealand.  Our collective performance was the Salve Regina and then the Australians sung their national anthem before each noviciate took a turn.  They sounded much better than us, as each of them seemed to have some musical talent.

It was a nice way to end the morning and we farewelled the prisoners promising to pray for them as we left.

Day 7 - Balay Pasilungan & The Touch Tournament

We arrived at Balay Pasilungan (or Bapas, for short) at around 10:30 am and were quickly ambushed by the boys.  We spent the whole morning playing and working up quite a sweat, but we laughed the whole time.  The boys described our varying skin colours as 'chocolate' versus 'milk' and it seemed as though our 'stick' noses were the topic of conversation for a little while.

A family arrived with a generous donation - an entire roasted pig!  This was carved up and shared by all, with boiled rice on the side.

Once the eating was done, it was time for the boys to freshen up and take their baths before heading out to their big touch football tournament.  There were a few nudie runs going on as the triplets struggled to be contained, but they got there in the end.  After everyone had had their hair spiked it was time to distribute the jerseys that we brought them from home.  Some were just too big unfortunately, and we promised to send more over as soon as we returned.

The touch football tournament was being held at a Rehabilitation Centre some distance away and we needed to take both the school van and a Jeepney to all get there.  We were piled in and everyone had a boy propped up on their lap, but it was a fun journey despite the bumpy roads.

The Rehabilitation Centre was actually quite shocking.  The facilities were not good and many of the participants were underage.  These were kids of 7 - 17 years old who had serious addictions to drugs and also glue, which we have learnt is the preferred substance of street children as it helps to relieve them of their hunger.  However, it has serious side effects on the brain.

The football 'field' was a concrete basketball court which the kids ran on fearlessly but there were no tears, even when they fell or lost a match.  We were lucky to be there as this was the Final Round and a presentation ceremony followed.  Many of the boys were awarded medals, but it was Christian who won MVP (Most Valuable Player) that received the biggest cheer from the Bapas Squad.

Just prior to the medal ceremony the skies opened up and we experienced a monsoonal downpour. This rush of water served to point out just how poorly constructed the buildings around us were as there was no proper drainage system and enormous puddles of water quickly appeared.  The rain did bring the temperature down a bit and for that we were thankful.

After a busy day of playing and boys scrambling all over us we were feeling tired and less than clean as we piled back into our transport for the journey home.  Sister Sheila had arranged for us to stop in at the Sisters' house on the way back for some cake and a cool drink.  It was exactly what we needed and we were so grateful to her for her hospitality.  The boys were appreciative too.

We were pleased to make it back to our hotel and a shower had never felt better, but saying goodbye to the boys that day made us realise how difficult our final goodbye would be the following day.