Immersion

In October 2015, I went with the Oikos Sisters and their mission to a barrio called Carapdapan where we held an immersion.  When the Oikos Sisters do an immersion, they do just that....they immerse themselves deeply into the lives of others.  The Sisters spend three days in a barrio, living with the people there and building trust with them.  They cook food for them, bring clothes, school supplies, shoes, toys, they bring catechists to teach the children and the adults, medical doctors and dentists for the medical mission along with all the medicines they have in the charity pharmacy.  In Carapdapan, they brought a movie and lots of snacks to eat!  It was an amazing experience!  This year, we are going to a barrio called Conception, located in the northern part of Eastern Samar.  There is no easy way to get to Conception and so it is easily overlooked by NGO's and other aid.   When the parish priest of Conception and the surrounding barrios found out about the immersion program the Oikos Sisters do, he requested that they come.   Conception is a barrio with about 117 families.  That is where most of the immersion will take place, but with the medical mission, the Oikos Sisters are inviting three surrounding barrios to come, making the beneficiaries of the medical mission over 430 families!

I have spent the past two weeks helping to prepare for the immersion.  I have separated cloths into rice bags for mga bata (the children), mga nanay (the mothers) ug mga tatay (the fathers).  I have counted and separated into sizes over 200 of Tom's Shoes...yes, Tom's really does give shoes, and they are comfortable!!  Everyone who has tried them has liked them.  I have bagged up homemade baby diapers, beautiful blankets, tons of school supplies, over 300 toys for the kids, and reading and sun glasses.  I have made computer lists of all the medicines we are taking with us and have helped to pack up said medicines with stethoscopes, bp aps, thermometers, creams, and tons of dental equipment.  We are also bringing so many bags of rice, the kids play "King of the Mountain" on them!  Along with brown sugar, coffee, and some canned goods, each family will receive a nice food pack. 

We will be sleeping in tents and bringing our own traveling kitchen with us, along with a pot that is big enough to cook me!!  The utensils for this pot are huge...like the ones the Jolly Green Giant would use!  Also on this immersion, we are beginning two barrios in the FAITH Program, Food Always In The Home.  It will be a crash course on fruit and vegetable farming for their family's table and to sell in the market.  This is the biggest immersion the Oikos Sisters have undertaken.  Thank goodness that we are having more help coming!  Even as I write this, Mary Jane and Vic Trinkus are on their way to Borongan!  They will stay for two weeks and just happen to be getting here in time to help out in Conception!!

Here are some photos of our preparations.  It was hard work!!  But the fun part is coming up...where we get to give it all away!!

Please say a prayer for a successful immersion!!  Can't wait to tell you all about it!!  xxoo Sarah