Well I survived my 10 K run. It was very exciting. When I was at the start line I realized that I would be running with very fast people and I figured it would take me likely an hour to finish. I was worried I would be last and that the finish line would be on the way down. When the start gun sounded I was in the middle of a sprint. I couldn't believe how fast the start was and it just confirmed even more that I would struggle. Well with all the excited I think I ended up finishing 5 th for women (the top 4 were tiny little teenage girls. You can see me on the stage beside these other girls. I think I have a foot and about 50 pounds on them!!) I was very impressed to see how fast they were. Without an official clock, they didn't announce times but I was about 40 to 45 minutes and these girls were well well out of my vision. Anyways I didn't end up last and I got respectable first for my age even if I was likely the only over 40 lady running. I think there were just over 10 women in total. I have to say that it was one of my most exciting runs. There was a 3 K and a 5 K at the same time. (even got a t-shirt for the run) It was really neat to see all the children in the 3 K many of them already new my name. In some of the pictures you will see Fernando. He finished the 5K in his own (personaly designed and constructed) wheel chair. He has good function in only one arm and he gets around very well. He helps out at Bahatala doing wheelchair construction and repair for other patients. It is much more of a challenge for wheelchair dependent people to get around, I have trouble just walking to work, let along using a wheelchair. He is definitely a inspiration and pioneer in Puerto for wheelchair dependent people.
In the pictures you will see much of the staff I work with. They came to cheer me on and we were able to promote Bahatala in our very nice t-shirts. I added a picture of a symbol use for Bahatala (it is on the back of the t-shirts). It is not the official symbol but it on the teaching center. I like the picture and the diversity depicted in the actions of the people. The teaching center is new and already has beautiful landscape that is put together and managed by Dr. Soc and Cecilia. I am amazed how fast things are growing so I have taken a few pictures of the landscape to see how much it will changes in the year. It is amazing that all the rocks are hand picked from a river and put in place by Dr. Soc and the pictures do not even show it all.
Some of the other pictures are from after the race. We had a pancake breakfast and then went to an annual celebration of the forest. Everyone gets to plant a seedling. I'm not sure if the picture of the crowd really shows one of my observations but overall there were many teens and young adults. (They certainly don't have the baby boomer, aging problem we have in western world.) Well there was big crowds of people, loud music, and a festive feeling. It was very nice to walk into the forest area and see some of the native plants. My employer Cecilia is in one picture with a very original flower (sorry no name for the flower) She is an excellent photographer (if I ever need more pictures of my time here her pictures are much better than mine).
I also included a picture from the airplane. It is flying over the north west coast of Palawan, and it was just before that picture that I deleted all my conference pictures.