I had a little ‘wow’ moment during our recent Board of Directors meeting teleconference.  I was sitting there, ear glued to the phone, feeling extremely impressed with our powerhouse Board in New York City, when I suddenly thought yes, here we are, with all these incredible people, and all of them are focusing right then on something that started out as a simple idea shared between Ami and myself – sort of a ‘what if we . . . ‘ type idea, but an idea that grew and spread and activated people across the globe, from  New York and Vermont to Manila and Puerto Princesa.

Since starting our programming in January, we have tended to focus on the people of Pulang Lupa, the mothers we have been teaching, and the children we have grown attached to – and we know we have made a difference in their lives.  Ami and Lyn have now finished the cycle of 20 weeks of Reproductive Health and Human Rights classes and discussions, with five women achieving perfect attendance for the entire six months.  Many children have gained up to five or six kilos each and have learned so many songs and have responded so eagerly to reading lessons, have learned to love their teachers, and have really had fun.

But during the Board meeting I was suddenly conscious of how much our work, our organization, has changed not only our clients but also our staff – Lyn and Evetha and Jane and Joslyn.  We have provided each of these beautiful young ladies with her very first full time, substantive job, and we have challenged each of them to use her initiative and creativity to contribute, however possible, to the community and the organization.  They have already gone beyond all of our expectations – they’ve all just marched into the community and made friends, started teaching, set up medical exams, etc.  They know everyone there, mothers and children.  Lyn Lyn is the ‘right hand person’ for Ami, Marcus, and myself, and Evetha has been planning the overall curriculum for our Child Health outreach work and reflecting on the learning sessions to improve them.

Ami and Marcus and I ourselves have been challenged and have grown and are doing all sorts of things we didn’t know we could do.  On Saturday morning a visitor watched me stirring a pot in which six pounds of red kidney beans were boiling in preparation for the day’s nutrition supplement for children and mothers, and she said she had always wondered about cooking for huge groups like that.  The beans were part of an experimental new dish to keep things interesting, but we’ve gotten five or six recipes down solid.  We’ve become used to recipes that require 58 cloves of garlic and 24 onions.  We even have a chicken soup recipe into which we stir 48 beaten eggs at the end.

For one thing, I now drive a pick up truck.  The other day  I went to the market and had five 100 lb. sacks of rice loaded into it.  Marcus has been using the truck for vertical gardens – and he has learned all kinds of things about organic agriculture. The truck has transported all manner of things, from chairs for the children to sacks of soil for the vertical gardens, to huge pots of food and drinks, to some of the children themselves!

Ami has always said she didn’t want to teach, but she has done a magnificent job with the reproductive health classes.  She seems quite comfortable now, and the moms love her.  Marcus is really a teacher, but now he has been tasked to plan and oversee, with Evetha, a whole curriculum of our own making, in a culture that is new for him, and he is doing brilliantly.

Ami has also done a magnificent job of keeping Roots of Health organized, keeping the budget straight, writing updates and reports and grant applications.  Maybe these aren’t new skills for her, but I had no idea that she would be that wonderful and professional at doing them.  Marcus’s computer and website skills are also amazing, so as an organization we are really out there where we can be seen.

We have a wonderful advisory council here too, comprised of my eldest daughter Sara, Mae Legazpi, Ana Javarez and Rhoda Manalon from PSU, Dr. Socrates, Narcy Mikkelson of Aloha House, and Carlos Celdran, the writer and tour guide artist from Manila.

We have also involved a number of neighborhood cooks, one of whom put together 20 kilos of rice for us today, and of course Joseph the taho man, who dishes out his tasty drink at our Saturday Nutritional Support Program.

As a teacher I am used to trying to stir 25 or so people into mental activity, and sometimes what goes on in class ripples out in increasing circles too.  But this – this little idea we had a couple of years ago – has gone wild!  We hired our first staff member, Lyn Lyn, at the beginning of June, 2009, and here we are just a year later activating so many people!  Happy Anniversary Roots of Health / Ugat ng Kalusugan!!