Joe Is Back....

Yesterday, in the early morning, on Feb 26, Fr. Joseph Mclauglin, an American Marist missionary, ( my English teacher) came back home to the Sta Ana community in Davao city of the Philippines. Last November 2008, he went back to his own country for vocation.

During his three months vocation, most of the days, he stayed with his beloved 92-year-old mother who had recently been hospitalized in New Jersey, and his younger brother who has been suffering from down syndrome since his childhood. He visited his brothers and sisters who are living in different cities in the States. Besides, Fr. Joe had a talk with the students in the Marist high school in Atlanta Georgia. There, he shared about the mission in the Philippine Marist district.

Fr. Joe has choices to stay in the States and he can have the opportunity to stay closely with his ailing mother and brother, his close friends, and relatives. But, as a devotedly committed missionary, he came back to his Sta Ana community in the Philippine district and he dedicated his life to missions where he has been assigned and he lives with the poor people.

In fact, Fr. Joe, Joe for his friends and those who know him, came to the Philippines on January 1, 1998. Now, he has lived for eleven years in Mindanao especially Davao city.

His first ministry was in the gold mining areas in Diwalwal which is northern part of Davao city. There, he lived with the poor mining workers and their families for months. Then, he came back to Agdao in Davao city as his second assignment. Normally, he lived the people who lived by the sea and they were extremely poor. He worked there for three and half years. After that, he was assigned to Digos which takes an hour by bus from Davao city. He was then a chaplain there in the public high school for two years. Then, he was assigned to the Sta Ana community.

He is now in charge of finances for the five Marist communities in the Philippine district. Also, he is in charge of the formation program for those who want to become Marists.

Pieces Of My Memories

After passing my high school with three distinctions at No (1) BEHS, I got a job as a tutorial teacher in Myitkyina city, the northern part of Myanmar(Burma). Normally all my students were high school students but some were not. Some of my students in my sections would know me as a very terrible and forceful teacher. Sometimes I hit them with a stick as a punishment if they did not study the lessons properly or talked in the study time.

Did I have a choice for the punishment? Of course, I did have. But, I wished them to pass their exam. I wished them to do their tasks properly. I really did not like to hit others especially those who were still very young. Honestly, I did not have any intention or desire to hurt them. But I wanted my students to pass the exam and realize that studying for the exams was not easy. Of course, all my students were very sensitive and gentle but they needed to be forced.

As a tutorial teacher, I often discouraged to go to those sections every day because I did not want to push my students to do against their will. But it was my task to make sure that all my students would pass their final exams.

During those days, I encountered most of my students who needed encouragement and support especially from their parents and family members. They hungered care and attention at the right time with the right manners. I supposed to help their lessons alone but most of the time, I solved their emotional conflicts. I always prepared for my students who had just quarreled with their parents. I helped them to soften their temper by making open conversations with them as a big brother and made them see their parents' concern.

Honestly, I would not fix their lives nor change their future but I helped them to pass their exams. It was my goal and intention even though I hit them with a stick or I argued them with strong words which would hurt their feeling. I expected that they would not like me after all, but I was very happy to know that they passed their exams.

Final Exam Project....

With former vice-major and businessmen

On Feb 21, I had a class exposure to Samal Island which is about 15 minutes away from Davao city by bus. It is known as the Island Garden City of Samal. The name Samal is derived from the word Sama, a tribal group in the island. But people used the word Samal because of the Bisaya who miscalled the word Sama. In the Philippines, they have many tribes as we do in our country. Normally, in the Mindanao, there are many Bisaya speakers living with the Muslims and other tribes. My teacher explained the word Samal that means ”partnership" or" staying together".

Vice-major with some of my classmates

It was a school trip for our magazine production in this final exam. For our final exam project, we have to go out and look for materials and experiences. Of course, studying inside the class is not enough for a student. Obviously, our final exam is coming and all students in each group are very excited and eager to have good pictures for the magazine.

We went to Hagimit waterfall, bat cave and then we had two press conferences with Vice major, former vice major, the senior city councillors and businessmen in Samal city.

Strangely, those politicians and businessmen were very friendly and hospitable to us. They welcomed and accommodated us with lunch. Besides, they provided two tour guides for us. During the conferences, the speakers were very open and patient with our questions. They shared their childhood stories and experiences.

Sunny Side of a Coin

The Burmese women take greatly care of their beauty like the Filipino women do. But there is a big difference between these women in the two countries on how they maintain their beauty. In the Philippines, people can easily buy the international and national branded cosmetics with affordable prices such as Baby power and Maybelline products. However, the Burmese women still keep on practicing natural ways of beautifying their bodies especially their faces.

For the Burmese people especially for the women, Tha-na-hka is the most affordable and popular cosmetics. Its botanical term is Limonia Acidissma Linn, which mainly grows in tropical areas of Burma. The central part of the country is very hot which gives an amazing blessing ,Tha-na-hka out of the horrible heat.

Of course, most of the outsiders are very curious to find these Burmese women, girls and young boys with the Tha-na-hka on their faces. It seems to put yellow mud on the faces!

The Burmese people cherish the Tha-na-hka very much as it is a natural product out of the local tree and it can grow only in a certain region of Burma. A Tha-na-kha tree is used from 3 years old until 35 years old. There are two types of the Tha-na-hka plants, the male plant and the female one. The male plant is better than the female and very popular but quite expensive. Among them, the Shin-ma-dawng Tha-na-hka is the best and most popular among the Burmese.

The Tha-na-hka means a lot for every age of the Burmese people. Since they are born into the world, their mother puts the Tha-na-hka on their babies' faces as well as whole bodies. It is deeply rooted in the Burmese society. People also apply it as a medicine to cure different kinds of the skin diseases.

Normally, the Burmese people use the Tha-na-hka to protect their skin from the sun and to control coolness on their faces. They believe that it helps whitening and smoothing to their skins. The younger ladies use the Tha-na-kha not only for foundation but also for powder. They believe that its fragrance of sweet-smelling constantly arises sexual attraction to opposite sex. Generally, every woman applies it in the morning after they take a bath. It gives their satisfactory sensation and fresh perfume for the whole day.

Most of the Burmese still use the old way of applying the Tha-na-hka on their faces and bodies. They chop the Tha-na-hka as a moderate size of joss stick and put a little amount of water for grinding it with two hands on the Kyawk-pyin which is a round and smooth surface with 3 legs of flat rock। After a while They put a little water again and grind it until a certain jolly-juice paste. Then, they put it on their faces with different styles and limitation of density. Besides, its daily activity contributes physical exercises for arms as well.


The Tha-na-hka is cheap and affordable for everyone in Burma. Today, the western cosmetics are strongly influenced in the cities, but all of the Burmese women still stick on the Tha-na-hka as a source of maintaining their beauty. The most significant effect of the Tha-na-hka is that it has a certain vitamin which enables to fight against the aging for the old women and it gives youthful and smooth skins constantly.

For the Burmese, the Tha-na-hka is inseparable from their lives and daily activities. Traditionally, they heritage it from the past generations. Today it becomes a custom and norm in the Burmese society. Hopefully, the Burmese women can easily have the Tha-na-hka like the Baby power which is widely and largely used among the ordinary Filipinas.

ref// pictures are from internet sources.

East and West Comes Together

Today I have some new faces in my blog. I know some of them for quite long time. They are from China, Germany, New Zealand, Philippines and Spain.

When I was still in my country, I did not have any idea about people from the West as well as outside countries। I thought that they would be very hard to make friends and they would be totally different from us.

Today, I have found that we have a lot of the similarities too. One of the most basic similarities is friendship. They are quite easy to make friends as if we have been together for years. I mean we are not absolutely or totally different। we can be good friends.

Of course, when we say friendship, it will be different forms based upon how we grow up and where we come from. And so does functions of friendship such as the way we share, the feeling we have and response for this feeling. But the most important thing is that we have a common ground, friendship, which will bring together whether we are from the East or the West or the Oceania।

Again, we also have the same signal which we commonly show the feeling toward friendship. This is smiling. Obviously, we can pretend and smile. But when we encounter our true selves with another, there is no secret, nor differences but sincerity. Actually sincerity comes in when true feeling gives birth as a certain reaction out of our true selves. Of course, it is very individualistic.

if we don't want to open our mind and embrace the reality, we can not sense this feeling and will be strangers how long we stay together in the same roof। But there, the sincerity dwells, then, we will be friends under the same sky.

I do believe if we can open to one another and embrace our similarities, we will never be strangers and we will never be different nor isolated from one another।

So, my friends, let's just open our mind and talk with whom we share the same calamities and the same challenges in the country. Whether we are belonging to the different ethnic groups or the different religions, we must have to be friends।

Surely we will have difficulties at first, but practice it constantly and adapt to it well. This will become part of our lives. Do learn how to trust people and enjoy time with them. We all are friends.

Have A Safe Trip, father!!!

On February 2, Fr. Christopher Thadeos Ganzon, SM, will leave to Australia for a six month-formation course by 3:00 pm flight to Singapore. Then he will arrive Singapore tonight and continue to Sydney in Australia. Fr. Ron Nissen, SM, will pick him up in the airport.

Fr. Chris will start his course on Sunday of February 8. After this formation course, he will be a Marist Postulant formator in Sta Ana community.

Previously, Fr. Chris was assigned to the Digos city and provincial jails as a chaplain in Digos city.

As an energetic and handsome priest, Fr. Chris was ordained on Nov 7, 2002 as a fourth Filipino Marist missionary in the Philippine district.