neXtDRAFT 36. No Fixers Allowed

Published: Sun, 09/09/18

Hello and welcome to neXtDRAFT 36. No Fixers Allowed.

Jerry and I braved the 4 hour bus trip to Estancia yesterday morning to share World Literacy Day 2018. I specially waited to publish neXtDRAFT tonight (Sunday) so I could share some of the photos (there are more on the blog).

We spent Friday night making reading packs for 18 of our friends and put them in shiny bags. It was exciting, though Jerry was feeling a bit jealous as we filled them up with story books and coloured pencils.

The next morning Jerry proceeded to vomit up all his TB meds into the taxi, into the bus terminal, and then for most of the bus trip. Poor kid, no wonder he never wants to go anywhere.

Arriving in Estancia the children were thrilled when they saw their shiny presents. The mothers and I all talked and watched the kids open their books. I particularly loved seeing Rosemary (who I've written about many times on the blog and featured in neXtDRAFT) open her book and gaze at the shining lights. Her little sister and her mother Neda spent some time showing her how to turn on the lights. It was a lovely thing to see.

World Literacy Day 2018

Rosemary opens her new book on World Literacy Day while her little sister looks on and helps her operate the light.

About 30 minutes into our visit we noticed that Neda was limping. After some coaxing she reluctantly showed us her wound. A gaping cut just above her ankle, filled with some sort of white cream and looking red and angry. She'd somehow cut herself on some cans and said she was taking antibiotics. I immediately wanted to take her to the hospital but she refused.

"Hadlock ako" she said. [I'm afraid].

After an hour or so we managed to convince her to do it, so my friend Emelyn and I loaded her into a tricycle and set off for the hospital in the next municipality. Jerry and his friends transferred back to Emelyn's house to watch a movie on the tablet.

At the hospital, the first thing the nurses did was take Neda's blood pressure. 180/100. The nurse had her lie down immediately and instructed her to relax. Not likely when the doctor hadn't even looked at her leg. It turns out she'd self-medicated, using a tube of cream I'd given her 2 or 3 years ago when her young daughter had some insect bites. I vaguely remember giving it to her.

kids receive books on world literacy day

The wound was infected and she urgently needed a tetanus shot. The nurse gave her a blood pressure tablet and sent us to the pharmacy to buy tetanus serum - telling us it would be much cheaper to go to the next town rather than buying it at the pharmacy across the road. She was right too.

Taking a gamble with the tricycle drivers, who saw I was a foreigner and wanted to charge us double the going rate to drive us to the pharmacy, Em happened upon her mother's second cousin who agree to drive us there and back for 80 pesos. It worth worth it. We saved about $20 on the serum.

By the time we returned to the hospital, Neda's blood pressure had no jumped to 180/110 and she was instructed to go to sleep while we were given another prescription to replace the blood pressure tablet she had been given by the nurse. You see not a single pill, needle, bandage, or blood is provided at the public hospitals here. You need to go out and buy it (from any pharmacy you like) and then doctors and nurses will administer the medication.

While I was at the pharmacy inside the hospital getting the replacement tablet, I noticed a big sign over the counter ... 'No Fixers Allowed'. As their name suggests a fixer is someone who 'fixes stuff'. Like if you can't read and need a driver's licence, the fixer (for an exorbitant fee) will fix it. Arrange the appointment, do your test for you, and bring you back your licence.

People like Neda who have minimal literacy skills are terrified of forms and hospitals and government departments, so they hire 'fixers'. And in seeing Neda on World Literacy Day with a terribly infected leg (with absolutely no concept of how serious the situation was) all because she lacked the basic skills to negotiate the medical system -- hit home to me how just how important days like World Literacy Day really are and how critical it is to teach people to read.

Two thirds of the world's illiterate people are women. Women like Neda (and Jerry's brother who needed a driver's licence last month) who are preyed upon by fixers and other unscrupulous parties.

So how about we all create a world where there are NO FIXERS ALLOWED. Not because they are banned or put in jail or fined, but because everyone of us the world over is empowered and educated enough not to need them.

Now I'm asking all my readers to think about what you could do in your own community or area of impact to improve rates of literacy and get people reading, thinking and educated enough not to get ripped off by con artists and 'fixers'.

Till next week (Sunday).

Mel xx

PS: I"d also like to thank the people who sent a few donations in the past weeks, these were surely a help in getting us to Estanica, buying the book packs for the kids, helping Neda to hospital and paying for her treatment, plus giving her some money to replace her lost income so she could buy rice and food for her family.

Sincerely,

Melinda J. Irvine

[email protected]

Christmas starts here September and flies right on past December Christmas light shows in January yes! It’s absolutely necessary

1912 China Postage Dues 1/2c Blue 1c 2c Brown 10c Blue MH; 1c Br Used D207-9, 13

Stamp Corner (with Uncle Richard)

Postage Due Stamps - China

Postage Due stamps were used when insufficient postage was place on an envelope by the sender. The idea was for the post office to collect the shortfall when the letter was delivered. Most postage dues in the hands of collectors are in mint condition so used specimens are quite collectible. We currently have a number of postage dues from China listed in the eBay store.

1912 China Postage Dues (above) These are stamps from the Chinese Empire overprinted with Chinese characters to signify that they are issued by the Republic. Check them out.

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.

Last chance: this is the last of the French Air stamps in our collection and on sale now in our eBay store.

Standoff - a Sequel

I didn’t want to kill you Mr Spider

But I didn’t want Jerry to be bitten either …

WHAT'S UNDER THE FRYPAN? I really didn’t really want to do it, but a poisonous spider the size of my hand crawling down the wall over Jerry’s bed (while he was in it) was just too much for both of us. Even though I’m sure mothers have been killing spiders who stray to close to their kids with kitchen utensils for thousands of years — I still don’t feel good about it.

Teaching Mindfulness to Children

This blog about mindfulness is a ghostwriting assignment I wrote for the BodyICE blog last month. I loved researching this article and sharing some of the things I've been doing to help Jerry overcome the trauma he suffered as a very small child. Please note this was a ghostwriting assignment so my name was not in the byline.

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.

What I learned about SEO from WordCamp Iloilo

A few weeks ago I attended a great lecture at WordCamp Ilolio — “Managing your online presence on Google Search” presented by Aldrich Christopher (Webmaster Outreach Strategist at Google Asia Pacific). To help any of my readers improve their own websites, I wanted to share the three things that google specifically recommend for doing well on Google Search.

#SEO #WordCampIloilo2018

Copywriting Service

A good copywriter is like an extra member of your sales team, working with you to build an online presence that represents you perfectly. My mission is to write the copy that sells your products and services online (plus I’m keen to get you noticed by the major search engines as well).

My online copywriting services include ..

writing online product descriptions with a clear message to buy;
configuring eCommerce platforms and online stores so you can sell your products online and refine your sales funnel;
creating strategic landing pages so you can build your email list and market specific products like books, courses, webinars and workshops;
implementing email marketing strategies so you can keep your customers informed of new product releases, end-of-season markdowns, and exclusive offers;
scheduling newsletters and eZines that provide value to your customers and keep them engaged with your business;
reviewing existing website copy to improve search engine rankings and get readers buying your products or booking your services.

From the Vault: September 2017

Rehearsals for World Literacy Day 2017

This time last year Jerry and I were still living in Estancia and we were preparing for our World Literacy Day celebrations. The kids had been practicing their speeches and prayers and my dear friend June Perkins (author, poet and photographer) was doing a pre-skype test. June volunteered her time to talk to the kids over skype and we live-streamed the whole thing. It was really cool and what inspired me to return to Estanica this weekend and surprise the kids with books and writing materials.

I had just been explaining that a real author was going to be joining us on Friday and the kids are busy copying out the words to the song we are going to sing to her. I’m really just wiping my eyes, honest.