neXtDRAFT 48. How we use our hands

Published: Thu, 12/27/18

Welcome new subscribers. If this is your first neXtDRAFT you'll find poems, stories and pics about my life as an adopted mum (and freelance writer) living between Australia and the Philippines. Each edition I also share my best tips for making money as a professional writer and how to navigate your home office workplace while serving clients from all over the world.

Here in the Philippines I support about 20 kids (and their families) from a rural municipality with food, school supplies and love; it's my way of encouraging them into school and maybe one day out of poverty. You'll read their stories here too. And if you are a stamp collector, you'll be the first to see the newest listings in the STAMPS FOR THE VISAYANS eBay store -- where 100% of the proceeds support the kids here.

neXtDRAFT is delivered to your inbox most Sundays depending of course on the frequent monsoons, powercuts and WIFI outages (which sometimes interfere with my publishing schedule). Sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed but there is usually a neXtDRAFT somewhere in the making.

Again welcome, I'm so glad to have you part of the neXtDRAFT community. Unsubscribe anytime using the link at the bottom of this page.

Melinda J. Irvine

https://melirvine.com.au/

Hello, happy Sunday, and welcome to neXtDRAFT 48.

HOW WE USE OUR HANDS.

For the past few weeks I've been using my hands to write blog posts for clients and getting ready for our Christmas celebrations. neXtDRAFT has been a bit of an afterthought as I've been juggling Jerry's school activities and travelling back to Estancia to visit family and friends in his home village Barangay.

Merry Christmas to all of you dear readers. I truly hope that you had (and maybe are still having) the opportunity to spend time with the people you love, and use your hands to prepare delicious foods, wrap a kind gift, hug somebody special, and write a letter or card of gratitude.

I want to thank all of you: who used your hands to send donations, buy stamps, sell and package stamps, donate stuff for us to sell, visit us in the Philippines, buy us a coffee or lunch, cook us dinner, give us clothes, send gifts for Jerry, publish my poetry, give me paid work and paid writing assignments, email us, comment on blogs and facebook posts, call us, take me to hospital, message us and say 'hi, we're thinking of you', put me up in your home, open neXtDRAFT and share it with a friend, loan me your car, sponsor kids, cash-in plastic bottles and cans then send us the money, help me pay Jerry's medical expenses. The list is huge and expansive, and all of it was noticed.

There were so many of you have helped us this year ... like when the house flooded; or when we transferred to the city and set a new house (twice); or when Jerry needed started in a new school; or when Jerry was diagnosed with tuberculosis; or when I was sick and covered in boils (unable to write or finish my client assignments).

You did all of these things and more and I'm so grateful to share these photos with you now, of what you (and our Creator) have made possible.

Giving 25kg of rice to a single mother of 9 kids (plus her own mother). Some days all they eat is rice, other days they don't eat at all. Earlier this year I sent them all story books for World Literacy Day, the kids tried to appear grateful but asked my friend who delivered the book packs ... 'did Tita Mel also send us some food?'.

Here we are packing 80 x 3kg bags of rice (and writing Christmas messages) to hand out in Estancia. Jerry's older brother Ryan helped us and it was lovely to see them working side by side. After we transferred the rice from 50kg bags into the little gift packs, we handed them out the next day to the kids who used to come to my after-school activities. Having learned my lesson from world literacy day, I figured it was better for them to have something to eat rather than toys.

We packed the rice at our friend Rowena's house. She also helped me hand out the rice packs in the rain. These little girls often came to my out-of-school activities in Estancia and it was great to see them again -- and let them know I hadn't just moved to the city and forgotten all about them.

Jerry's home Barangay in Estancia celebrate their annual Fiesta this week. The Fiesta parade is held today (27th November) and we sponsored a small tarpaulin sign to support his home village. It's a bit weird seeing yourself hung up on the front of a shop, but these type of tarpaulin signs are plastered everywhere in the Philippines.

And not just printed for sponsorships, you'll often see them on a front gate or perimeter wall or coconut tree to recognise family achievements: like a daughter winning a gold medal at a national swimming carnival, or a nephew graduating from university. Now imagine how many of these things are printed and hung on bamboo fences during election time.

They are never wasted though -- very often recycled to give an extra layer of rain security over a bamboo shack or bicycle rickshaw. I wonder where Jerry and I will end up? My friend Rowena once had one of her tarpaulins absconded by a tricycle driver who replaced the entire front seat with her smiling face. Now imagine sitting on that as you ride to the market.

I'm so thrilled to have ended this year with enough paid work and writing assignments to give Jerry and I a nice life here as well as continue to support the children of Jerry's home village in Estanica. And his extended family also.

Again Merry Christmas friends, I hope these photos bring a smile to your face and a little bit of Christmas gladness. I also plan to use my hands to bring back my regular publishing schedule and have neXtDRAFT appearing in your inbox again each Sunday. Even though today is Thursday.

All our love for the Christmas spirit and season.

Till next week.

Mel xx

PS: Pictured below with Jerry's new nephew baby Daniel. We met him for the first time and made a small gift of clothes, a big white Teddy Bear (which Jerry chose himself) and Baptism costume he will wear on the 29th.

Sincerely,

Melinda J. Irvine

[email protected]

we hold
in our own hands
EARTH and OCEAN

do we hold them as careful as our wallets?

1982 Whales 24c 35c 55c 60c Set of 4 in Marginal Blocks of 4

CTO Brisbane FDI

Stamp Corner: 1982 Whales

In keeping with our ocean and marine life theme, this week we feature the 1982 Whales series. These beautiful stamps were designed by Robert & Katrina Ingpen and display four of the whales found in Australian waters as they migrate south. This lovely set of marginal blocks is only $3.99 in the eBay store and feature the following stamps:

24c Sperm Whale (Physeter catodon also know as Physeter macrocephalus)
35c Southern Right Whale (Enbalaena australis)
55c Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
60c Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).

We also have a second set (pictured below), in mint condition featuring each of the whales.It's only $1.99 and even these small amounts help us to continue our projects in the Philippines.

Again a huge thank you to Uncle Richard who lists all these stamps each week, and each collector and buyer. You've been such an important part of our 2018.

PS: Stamps for the Visayans is a project of my Uncle Richard. In 2014 he inherited the family stamp collection which dates back 3 generations. He sells the stamps individually on eBay and sends the proceeds to help me live in the Philippines with Jerry (as well as run small projects for other disadvantaged children). It's incredible how these $5, $10 and $20 stamp sales (plus the odd big one) add up and make our life here possible.

1982 Whales 24c 35c 55c 60c Set of 4 MUH

Poem for ARTIVISM

there’s art
on the streets

over every
broken wall
we see ourselves

in paint

there’s art
on the streets

in every
broken leaf
(or the dirty sea)
we see ourselves

we paint

there’s art
on the streets

in every broken
promise, bone, and secret
we see ourselves

we are paint

Artivism is transforming public walls and dead spaces in Iloilo City into messages of global urgency. Public art with a social impact.

Jerry's 'Christmastime' on ABS-CBN Iloilo

Jerry was selected earlier in the year for the school choir (or Glee Club), we changed to a new school in June so it’s all still quite new for him. This year the choir performed some lovely Christmas songs live on the local Iloilo City TV station ABS-CBN. He was quite nervous and you can see him in the front row (second boy from the left) with his hands in his pockets.

He was excited to do some other community performances with his choir including the metro police and other essential services groups. It’s a big step for him to perform like this and it was his own initiative to audition for selection. I feel quite proud of him.

I've posted some of the videos from the choir on the blog (as well as his school Christmas party which was quite formal). All the boys had to wear a necktie, long shirt, and black slacks. It's such a leap from the wild boy I met 3.5 years ago with no shoes roaming about the Estancia pier.

#growingup #schoolchoir

Watch Jerry's choir perform for ABS-CBN Iloilo as well as his school Christmas concert. He was very excited to wear that necktie to his Christmas party.

I’m a professional writer making my way in the world of business. The WritingBiz section is for anyone wanting to make writing a career (or at the very least make some money writing). Each week I share a few ideas on how to find writing jobs, self-publish your own eBooks, as well as how to setup your writing business and run it profitably.

Book Review:

'Amazing Peace' by Maya Angelou

Amazing Peace is a Christmas poem, about that time of year when …

“We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled
by it’s presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But true Peace.
A harmony of the spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.”

The story follows a family who make their way from a place of isolation into the centre of town and community. Through the illustrations we join this family as they connect with the different members of their community and celebrate Christmas.

#amreading #peace

FREELANCE WRITER TIP # 10

Be an ethical copywriter

Being an ethical copywriter makes good business sense: you develop a reputation of integrity and get to work with reputable clients — good people whose products and services are adding real value to the world.

Confidently promise what you can deliver, but only what you actually can. In brief:

Be clear about the services you provide, how much you charge, and the time it takes to deliver a project. Communicate with your client through the job so they know where you’re at, then deliver your projects on time. It’s ethical AND it’s great customer service.
Don’t promise stuff you can’t deliver. Don’t tell clients you’ll get them to #1 on google (unless you can) and be clear about how that might actually benefit their business (just how are your going to get those people clicking your clever pay-per-click links into buying stuff or booking a service?). Be confident AND realistic.
Don’t sell clients stuff they don’t need. Eg, selling a small business client a package to get 1,000 new Facebook followers — if those followers aren’t going to buy anything you’ve just wasted your client’s time, your client’s money, and your professional reputation. Only sell customers what is actually going to benefit their business.

More poems and stuff on the blog

For more stories, poems, articles and reviews follow my Wordpress blog. More than 700 posts and 1,000s of photos. Tell your friends too.

Back Issues of neXtDRAFT

https://melirvine.com.au/nextdraft-back-issues/

From the vault: Dec 2014

Finding a sponsor for Roseann

At the end of 2014 I had returned to the Philippines just as another SuperTyphoon was looming -- over the same areas affected by SuperTyphoon Yolanda the previous year.

I spent several days in a shelter house and met a family (distant relatives of the house owners) who had lost their home in the last Typhoon and were taking refuge there also. A few weeks later we spent Christmas together (my first in the Philippines).

Over those few windy and rainy days, the children would scream when branches fell onto the metal roof (no ceiling) and their parents would jump also. I would find out later they had been in their houses when the roof blew off and the terror of it was still close in their minds.

At the time I put out an alert to find a sponsor for little Roseann (pictured above and then 4 years old) once WIFI signal returned to the town. I'm so grateful to my friend Jac Gallagher and her family (neXtDRAFT subscribers also) who answered that call and have sent money every single month to Roseann (and her family) since December 2014.

Roseann's older brother Rolando is Jerry's best friend, and it was through this sponsorship that I originally found Jerry -- wandering around with cut feet and not even a pair of thongs (flip-flops/jandels).

Over the past 4 years, with Jac's help we've helped Roseann's family with gifts of food, clothing, school uniforms, stationery, medical supplies, and doctor's fees. There was a 25kg sack of rice and some other gifts this Christmas too.

Many thanks Jac, Jason, Kate, Logan and Zoe (Gallaghers) for being willing to support someone for the long-haul. And really make a difference to their lives.

Jac and her family sponsored Roseann's first day of school (June 2015), and by some co-incidence (or grace) that same day I found a teacher who knew Jerry and helped me get him a birth certificate and enrolled in school.

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