21. July 2009 by Rick Turske.

Well, we are all back safe and sound in Ohio. The trip was pretty uneventful. The only issue we had was one lost bag from Chicago to Ohio. Sorry Jon, hope that shows up soon!

The flights back were brutal. I myself didn’t sleep any, not for lack of trying. There is just something about sleeping at 39,000 feet that doesn’t do it for me.

Well, this will probably be the last post on this site.

Thanks to all that prayed for us while we were abroad. God bless you all!

Posted in Travel | No Comments »

18. July 2009 by Rick Turske.

This is the closest to a buss system over here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014&id=100000039211132&l=e8729934c9

Posted in Pictures, Travel | No Comments »

18. July 2009 by Rick Turske.

Most awesome tour of Corregidor Island today. WWII battles on this Island took it’s toll. Pictures are here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013&id=100000039211132&l=65f4d9b1c2

Posted in Pictures, Travel | No Comments »

16. July 2009 by Rick Turske.

Construction Thursday
This is out last day at Boracay and Kevin, AKA the warden, has turned up the heat. We had a big push to get the outside walls done so they could finish them after we left. Also it will help with the water running in where they will be building the steps to the second floor. I believe they will be doing that next week. Since this was a big push, we enlisted as much help as we could so you will see lots of people in the pictures. I’m going to upload a bunch today so I will not be explaining each one like I have in the past.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1736&id=100000039211132&l=1bf3ca2a57

Posted in Pictures, At Boracay | No Comments »

15. July 2009 by Rick Turske.

Town Photos

These are some pictures from around in the area. I will describe them the best I can.

The first one is the hotel we are staying at.

The next five are from the main street that we have to walk to get to the building site. The first four are of the street and the traffic; the other is of a nicer store front.

The next couple are from the second floor of the building we are working on. You can see how close together the houses are.

The next one is a picture down the beach strip. This is packed with vendors and night life every night.

The next three are from a pool hall that we walk past every day to get to the job site. Kevin Smith is just amazing. Every time we walk by he talks to the guys in there, passes out fireballs. One day he played pool with one of them, got beat 2 to 1. The only reason he won one game, the guy scratched on the 8 ball.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1617&id=100000039211132&l=053ed5a6c4

Posted in Pictures, At Boracay | No Comments »

15. July 2009 by Rick Turske.

Construction Wednesday

OK everyone today was a complete work day for me so the pictures are all of construction. You will see in the first two pictures the staircase beside the building we are working on. The water from this AMs rain is flowing down so hard that you can not see the steps at all. You just have to guess where to put your feet so you don’t miss a step.

The next picture is of a visitor to the site. He was having a good time sloshing around in the water that was lying on the floor.

The next three pictures are of a wall that we finished in the morning. It was right after this wall that Doug S. went back to the hotel with back problems. We have been missing him on the job site, but its better that his back is in good shape for the trip back home.

Since Doug went back to the hotel, we have had to enlist more help with the block laying. The next couple of pictures are of Pastor Rob Barlow working on a cement header over the two bathroom windows.

Next you will see Kevin working on the outside wall.

Remember that mixer I was telling you about before? This is Doug A helping Jerry mix a batch of mortar for the wall construction.

Well that’s all the pictures I have for today. I’m going to try to get some feeding site pictures to put up either later tonight or tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for praying for us over here.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1613&id=100000039211132&l=7ed9ad2d1e

Posted in Pictures, At Boracay | No Comments »

14. July 2009 by Rick Turske.

These are the construction photos from tuesday!

 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1509&id=100000039211132&l=b1d5a6e8db

Posted in Pictures, At Boracay | No Comments »

14. July 2009 by Rick Turske.

This is one of the feeding sites that we are building a new shelter for. This is the kind of environment that I was expecting to see. The “houses” are nothing but little huts. The little ones are running around with minimal clothes on. One guy you will see in about the last photo was so excited that he had a pair of underwear to put on. He showed us about 10 times!

Now for the pictures. You will see the shelter first. Then a picture of the local jail! The next one is one of a boy that was helping us. THe first one is him helping mix the cement. The next one he is helping us fill the hollow block with cement. The next one is one of the huts I was telling you about. A whole family lives in here. Two generations. Next are pictures of the locals there. THe last photo is of a lady I saw on the street on the way mack. if you look real close at the picture, you will see that her foot is on backwards. Even with that, she got around as good as you and me.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1503&id=100000039211132&l=47a0b9ca35

Posted in Pictures, At Boracay | No Comments »

13. July 2009 by Rick Turske.

These are pictures from my first feeding site. It was at Jimmers chapel. We had about 60-70 kids there. Let me describe the pictures for you: 

In the first one, we were just getting there. The kids were trying to get settled and sat down. 

In the next seven, the kids are singing songs for us. They all had motions and unlike our kids, most participated.Please pay close attention to the little girl about in the center of all the pictures. She has on a white t-shirt and is the smallest girl in the front row. The white undershirt she has on, that’s ALL she has on, that’s all she had to wear. It barely covers her. 

The next two are of Rob Barlow telling the story. He does a great job with the kids. He is very animated so the kids tend to pay close attention to him and sometimes laugh at the goofy American! 

Then you will see one of a couple kids eating. Those cups have about two cups of oatmeal like stuff. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I’ll try to find out. It’s very hot when we first start dishing it out. I know this because I poured a spoonful on my hand while I was trying to get it in one of the smaller cups. While you are dishing it out. The kids are supposed to be in a line, but they are swarming around you trying to get their cups to you. It’s funny, we had balloons, candy, vitamins, and stickers to give them, but when we took the lid off the pot, they were definably the most eager. 

The next few you will see are from the balloon pass out. We do that and the sticker hand out last. Some of the workers made hats, dogs, and butterflies for the kids, but most of them were just happy to have a balloon. 

 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1395&id=100000039211132&l=d776dad8c9

Posted in Pictures, At Boracay | No Comments »

13. July 2009 by Rick Turske.

More pictures of construction from Monday. Doug and some of the guys are still working on the walls. I didn’t get any pictures of them because the camera batteries went dead. What I did get pictures of are the dimpling of the walls and the ladies moving rocks! You can see in the background that someone has already started utilizing the space drying their laundry!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1394&id=100000039211132&l=894fcdd5b5

Posted in Pictures, At Boracay | No Comments »