An enthusiastic group of 29 Year 11 and 12 Swan Christian College students, accompanied by seven teachers and Principal Darnelle Pretorius, are currently in the Philippines, serving and connecting with local communities in Boracay and beyond. The life-changing trip has been filled with meaningful experiences, including wrapping gifts for local schoolchildren and being greeted by joyful singing at Masa Ati School.
Students have joined in sports days, playing basketball (and being soundly defeated by the skilled local players), and engaged in team efforts such as carrying buckets of gravel up a hill for a construction project, displaying remarkable teamwork and determination. They’ve also embraced cultural experiences, sampling fresh coconut juice, local delicacies such as fertilised eggs and chicken feet, and building connections through face painting, traditional basket weaving, and sharing meals with locals in a remote mountain village.
Principal Darnelle Pretorius joined the team on Sunday, 8 December, to provide encouragement and support as the group continues its mission.
The team will return on 16 December. Please keep the students and staff in your prayers as they share Christ’s love and grow in faith through this life-changing journey.
The following are some excerpts of blogs our students have written while in the Philippines.
Cockadodaloo! Morning time… meaning it was time for the Swan Team to rise and shine in order to adequately prepare for a trip of a lifetime. We suited up, grabbed our packs, and split into our mission groups. After a journey through the streets, an adventure on a ferry, and a trek up the hill, the Swan Team had successfully arrived at the Masa Ati school once more, greeted with smiles and fist bumps. We spent the morning running stations (such as Maths, English, and Craft) as well as doing some construction work. Though the forces of nature were against us, the Swan Team stayed strong… no rain, hail, or shine (or pure humidity) could stop us.
Whilst at the Masa Ati school, we met up with Dr Pretorius and got her straight onto the shovel after asking about her flights… of course. After some construction work, Leona and I marked some Year 12 exams before some of us got our hair braided by some of the students. But that’s when everything changed. We saw Mrs Spurgeon coming towards us… luckily it was good news: “Lunchtime!” we heard her exclaim. We eagerly made our way to where our lunch was served. Though the lunch was not as intriguing as chicken fetuses, as was the night before, it was simply sublime and dearly appreciated by all of us after a morning of hard work and service.
We’re all having a great time in the Philippines and can’t wait for all the upcoming opportunities!
– Oliver
As we awoke to the feeling of humidity clinging to our skin, we found relief in the air-conditioners, and the pineapple iced tea we drank with breakfast. We then walked to the other end of the island on a conquest for a cold drink. As we passed people asking “sir, souvenir?” we spotted the holy grail, Seven Eleven. The Gatorade was worth far more than the 30 pesos for my sanity.
Today was the first day we went to Masa Ati School. We took a ferry boat over to the mainland and then travelled in a van knee to knee with our peers. We trekked the humid jungle of twisting and turning pathways. The stray dogs and cats and chickens and cows keeping us company by putting on an entire orchestral performance on.as we walked through the bamboo gates of the school.
On arrival we were greeted with the sound of bongos and ukuleles being played by the school children and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of warmth and as they began to sing (far better than the dogs and cats I add) tears began rolling down my cheek. During the assembly we introduced ourselves to the school. After the school day we trekked through the jungle to give the children food and make them balloon animals. Once I had finished meeting a group of teenage Ati girls and boys, some balloon dogs and flowers, they asked to take many, many photos with me.
One of girls once given her phone back proceeded to kiss the portrait of me on her phone. This was proceeded by Dr Todd saying, “I’m going to remember that” and me now being called the” local celebrity” from my peers. As I am writing this entry, I am drinking a lovely iced cold passionfruit punch Hydrolyte to replace the buckets of sweat that I have lost.
– Year 11 student
Day 5 started strong with a church service about the book of Exodus and about having a victorious faith. After that we journeyed to a village deep into the mountains where some locals resided. After a quick feeding program and some story time, a quick 10-minute (it actually went for around half an hour) game of basketball commenced, of course we were told to go easy but the locals didn’t know what easy meant. So, after a quick flogging we came home to some nice dinner consisting of local delicacies such as chicken foot, chicken intestines and last but not least, fertilized egg which surprisingly tasted very good, just avoid the beak.
– Cooper
In my opinion, today was one of the most wholesome days we have had in the Philippines so far. The morning started when we headed off to Jubilee for a chapel service, where every child and adult in the room sang and danced to praise and worship songs at the top of their lungs. Honestly this made me and some of the Swan students around me tear up a bit because it was so crazy to see how many of the students at Jubilee who have very little, praise God as if they have everything in this world that they need, it was so powerful to see. After the music we were then invited to stand in front of the assembly as the students presented us with bracelets, hand-made thankyou cards, and a million hugs. This made me realise that even the smallest interactions that we have with both the students and the teachers have made a massive positive impact in their lives, and this in turn has made a positive impact on my life as their attitudes of being grateful for even the smallest things and always looking for the positive even in the hardest of situations has rubbed off on me. We then ended chapel by creating a guard tunnel for all the students to exit out of, which was super fun.
After chapel we went to the markets and bought a bunch of jewellery and hand held fans. I also bought the most delicious mango ice cream which tasted like pure mango, I’ve never had anything like it before, it was amazing. Then, after this we had lunch back at the Vista and then some of us went for a quick swim before getting ready to leave for the feeding programs, my group went to the feeding program uphill. We taught the kids the song and dance “Father Abraham”, and they taught us some catchy song and dances as well. I read the story “Good Good Father” to the kids (with the help of Jade T turning the pages), and once this was finished, we helped the other students who were with us creating balloon animals and serving the dinner. After this we went home for dinner and just relaxed and soaked in the massive day we had.
– Rebecca
