neXtDRAFT 63. Waiting.

Published: Tue, 10/08/19

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 share a few tips for creating a writing business and working as a professional writer serving clients from all over the world.

Here in the Philippines I support about 20 kids from a rural municipality with food, books, uniforms and love -- it's my way of encouraging them to go to school and maybe one day out of poverty. You'll read their stories here too.

neXtDRAFT is delivered to your inbox most Sundays and I hope it will inspire you to get writing and create your own writing practice. Again welcome, I'm so glad to have you part of the neXtDRAFT community.

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Melinda J. Irvine

https://melirvine.com.au/

Welcome back to neXtDRAFT 63.

Waiting.

This week has been a week of waiting. When somebody dies, you wait. Wait for the results, wait for the release, wait for the return. Then you wait for the pain to go away, but it never quite does. We've all been to that place.

Rosemarie's mother Neda waited several days for her daughter's body to be released from the morgue. We all waited at the house for the truck to arrive.

There was no fanfare or formalities -- the simple coffin was lifted out of the back and balanced on a table while the plastic chairs, tables, floor-stand candle holder, Catholic Saint plug-in electric lamp, lace curtains, and other gear included in the funeral package was unloaded.

The kids were all waiting at the top of the embankment for Rosemarie to be carried to the house. Oh it was tough going on those men -- and they are hard labouring men -- they sat under the tarpulin at the end of it gasping for air, not speaking. The next day Jerry wrote a story for his class assignment about how they carried Rosemary up the hill in her coffin and nobody dropped her.

If you look really closely at that bank you can see how steep it is, those railings are made from young bamboo and tied together with bits of rope.

Rosemarie was placed on the bamboo bed where she used to lie during the day while the people from the funeral home got to work. They hung curtains through pieces of chord, and somehow (with the help of rocks, pieces of wood, and cardboard carton) got the coffin stand level so it wouldn't topple over.

Meanwhile another worker was busy hammering chord into the coffin, so the lid would stay open. All the kids strained on their toes to see. There was no disrespect, only love and awe. That this was once their sister -- and how beautiful she looked in her white dress and makeup. The funeral home people had really done a wonderful job.

The lamp was turned on, the candles lit, and Rosemarie's photo placed on the coffin. She was home.

giving kids clothes for dengue protection

Jerry, Rosemarie's brothers and sister (plus a few neighbours) are mesmerised as the man from the funeral home attaches chord to hold open the display lid on the coffin.

One by one the guests started arriving. Neighbours, passers-by, cousins, officials -- walking up the steep hill, paying their respects, and helping Rosemarie's mother Neda make flowers from crepe paper, and garlands from pink ribbon.

The doctor in the next town (the only one in the district who can sign death certificates) was on vacation, so Neda waited until the end of last week to book the funeral with the church and arrange the lot at the cemetery.

As the week marched on relatives arrived from far-away places. One aunty had travelled on 3 bamboo ferry boats and a bus across many islands to be with the daughter of her younger brother.

And though the names, faces, and circumstances differ I think we can all find ourselves in the story of it -- relatives arriving, kids unabashedly kids, and the getting it done. The human story that is each us: intense love, suffering, frustration, sacrifice, pain, and fleeting moments of extraordinary joy.

Making flowers in Rosemarie's favourite colour pink.

So Jerry and I arrived back in Estancia today (see blurred photo below) and will stay here for the remainder of the week -- until after the funeral. Jerry will catch up missed school work with his tutor next week.

I thought about him missing school and realised that in 20 years time he won't remember a week of school, but he will remember a week of closeness with his family -- and the friends who looked out for him when he was very small.

He'll remember Rosemarie all the better.

Till next week.

Mel (and Jerry) xx

PS: thanks for reading my stories, I'm not sure this is the writer's zine I first planned, but you can only write what you know.

Sincerely,

Melinda J. Irvine

[email protected]

A joyful soul, we never expected little Shairy to live past 6 months -- and yet here she is 5 years old. Nice to visit Estancia again.

Blogging in a Blackout

Even though blackouts are commonplace here in the Philippines, I did love the way these young baristas just kept working with a minimum of fuss when the power was cut at this inner city shopping mall last week.

Website Upgrade

For the past 5 years I've dreamt of opening a dedicated learning centre for the kids of Jerry's village back in Estancia. But I'm just not a property-owning type person, and the thought of all those permits, running expenses, and red tape required to build it has halted me in my tracks more than once.

Until now.

While I was in Australia last month I started thinking -- why not build an online learning centre at the back of your website? Rather than fundraise for hundreds of thousands of dollars for a building that needs upkeep, security, and staff, why not an online space that houses free tutorials and creative activities?

Once it's built and rolled out I can run it from anywhere and keep in contact with all the kids through Facebook and other online Apps.

It's a whole new world.

So with that I'm very excited to announce I've just begun upgrading my website and rolling out a whole new look and applications. What is exciting is the new features will include a dedicated Learning Centre for the kids.

Of course it's probably going to take me another 1-2 years of consistent work, but ultimately I'll have a set of customised learning materials (in their native language) to assist with English proficiency and numeracy, as well as business skills and creative applications.

Practical, fruitful, achievable, and affordable.

It ticks every box.

So if things are looking a little wonky on my website now -- and in the coming months -- just smile with me, because you know why.

I’m a professional writer making my way in the world of business. Each week I share a few WritingBiz and freelance tips -- as well as the odd content hack. At the moment I'm busy building an online learning centre and digital download service, and thrilled to tell you that once it rolls out, my sponsored kids will be able to access all the educational content for free.

Reflections on a writing practice

For the last five years I’ve been writing everyday, and over that period have evolved from a sometime poet and blogger to a full-time professional writer. This blog is a short reflection on my writing practice and the art form I’ve come to love and call my own.

#reflections #output

WRITINGBIZ TIP #27 in the beginning, just concentrate on the writing

It’s simple, obvious advice. And it’s so true. When you are getting started as a freelance writer, just concentrate on the writing. And blog on an established platform (ie, medium, Linkedin) so you spend your writing time writing — instead of making your website look amazing (ie, fiddling around with column widths, or interchanging WordPress themes).

#justgetwriting #writewritewrite

Writing tips, poems and stuff on the blog

For more stories, poems, articles and book reviews follow my Wordpress blog. Please share with your friends too.

Back Issues of neXtDRAFT

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

From the vault: October 2017

weaved by hands
hanging, basket & bauble
beautiful

I love all the bright colours in the Iloilo City Market -- filled with handwoven baskets, necklaces, bags, and boxes.