June « 2009 « The Unbeaten Track

Xylophone Time!

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

While out and about with Alex from BALUTI, he invited me to go visit the Paranaque National High School. BALUTI do classes here, and he wanted me to see their work in action…

When I got there it was NO ordinary school - it was HUGE! In fact, so many kids go to school here - they have to work shifts - one group will go early morning till early afternoon - the other group will work until 7pm. Heavy. Check out this photo of them all lined up for registration.

school

I sat in on Alex’s session in one of the classrooms - it was massively interesting - afterward I hosted a question and answer session - which i think went pretty well… Lots of kids asked questions - which was cool.

I really admire Alex and BALUTI’s work - without them all of these kids would be left in the dark when it comes to sex ed… and that’s when things start to go wrong.

Me in class!!!!

I was pretty wow’d by the music and performances at the school too - every recess the kids would come running out - they’d dance, practice their color guard…and my favorite - play the xylophone!

Here’s me trying my hand at it…

http://www.vimeo.com/5279426

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Georgia, Alex and Plans for BALUTI…

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

BALUTI leader Alex Sarza and Staying Alive Foundation Founder Georgia Arnold discuss achievements and plans for the future of the project…

BALUTI have, so far, recieved a $12,000 grant from the Foundation - seeing how far they’ve made this relatively small amount of money go is just amazing…

http://www.vimeo.com/5264486

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Travie Shows the Kids How It’s Done…

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

It’s a rare occassion you’ll see a hip hop dude putting a condom on a six-inch wooden penis in the middle of a sex ed class in the Philippines…

If ever there’s proof needed that Travis McCoy is a hands on ambassador - this is it.

As ever, Travis was modest with his skills, “There’s quite a difference between wood and skin, so if my technique looks a bit suspect - that’s why!”

http://www.vimeo.com/5263902

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We Want Your Questions…

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Okay, so we’re nearing the end of this epic journey (well, the traveling part of it anyway!) - and we want to know what you think about it all, along with any questions you might have for Travis.

Submit your questions now via the comments form on this post and the best five will get asked on Tuesday night after we return from Bhubaneshwar - the next stop on our whirlwind tour.

You could win a fly Shepard Fairey Tee as sported by Trav himself … AND… you might just get it signed too…

So, get thinking - and post those big Qs now.

Quick update:

We arrived in Mumbai today after leaving the Philippines. Loads of updates coming up - so keep an eye out

Until later…

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So Sad…

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

This place is like nowhere I’ve ever been before…

http://www.vimeo.com/5259090

It’s one of the many extreme poverty-stricken areas in the Philippines. It was just a real harrowing place to be.

Take a look at the photos below…

The concrete blocks that you see are graves. The ones that remain hollow are yet to be filled. Families rent these plots for 5 years. It’s just so sad.

They can’t bury people under ground because of the high contamination risk. It’s so rainy here, the graves in the ground would just turn to water…

This photo shows a block that’s been filled, if you look really closely you’ll see that some of these graves are filled with babies bodies, some only a day or two old.

tombstones

It’s like another reality here. Kids have no qualms about playing on the graves…

kids play on the graves

This area is one of BALUTI’s main targets, as it’s a hotspot for casual sex and drug taking…

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Manila Playlist…

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Travies “Thrilla in Manila” Playlist
1. Micheal Franks “Popsicle Toes”
2. I Am The Avalanche “Brooklyn Dodgers”
3. Travie ft. T-Pain “The Manual”
4. The Jackson Sisters ” I Believe In Miracles”
5. Cursive “Donkeys”

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Day 1 - Manila

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

This morning I visited another project funded by the Staying Alive Foundation called BALUTI…

http://www.vimeo.com/5251566

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Global Grind

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Big respect to Global Grind for covering my trip.

Read the blogs I wrote exclusively for them by hitting up the Global Grind site.

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Manila Style…

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Our first night in Manila was spent sampling the local culture.

We headed off to a seafood restaurant across the street from our hotel - it had all of its fish in tanks out front - including the hugest crabs and lobsters I’ve ever laid eyes on.

The restaurant was just closing, as it was coming up to midnight, but we sneaked through and were given the most amazing hospitable welcome ever. The owners fed us all fine food and drink, and when we came to pay - and were slightly freaked out thinking about how much we’d probably spent - they insisted that the meal be a Welome to Manila gift. We love them.

seafood

Next up we went on the hunt for music, and ended up finding a bar that had a live band playing. A guy outside shouted us over and told us how great it was going to be - so we thought, why the heck not, it’s not everyday you’re in Manila. When we got in it was pretty empty, BUT the band were actually really good - they sung a bunch of covers but gooood covers… you hear…!

Travis, noticing the spare drum kit at the back of the stage got right up there and beat the final two tunes out - watch the video below…

http://www.vimeo.com/5250731

All in all, a total Manila Music Mashup!

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