Mary Ann picked us up at 9 AM to get to the docks for a 10:30 am departure to take an hour long ride to Bohol. We first had to obtain tickets from the M/V Star Crafts ticket office in Cebu.
We entered the terminal and there we waited with all the others for our departure. At about 10:00 am they called for boarding so we headed to the craft awaiting us. We had to walk about 50 feet to get to star craft.
After our little walk in the hot sun we arrived at our star craft.
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| Star Craft |
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| Seating arrangements / Air Conditioned |
We arrived at the docks to be greeted by the local transportation merchants. We had heard about these little motorized tricycles but now we get the opportunity to experience them.
We have about a 35 minutes drive to the chapel but before heading out we stopped at the local McDonalds for lunch, afterwards boarding our tricycle Calape.
Would you like to know how you get two people in the front seat. ???? I could not find a shoe horn big enough.
Our trip to the chapel is about 30 minutes away and we had about an hour to spare so we stopped and visited one of the TESDA Centers. These are governmental sponsored training centers which the Church uses in providing skills training to members in various fields such as Baking, Sewing, Auto Mechanics and the like.
After our visit with TESDA we headed out for the Chapel and saw the countryside filled with many rice fields.
We finally arrived at the chapel before our meeting started. We understood this was to be an ACE fireside but it became a Self Reliance + ACE fireside. Jenee and I found out this morning on the boat ride that we were going to be speaking at this meeting.
After the opening song and prayer the Stake President said a few word,s then turned it over to Jenee. She did a great job giving an overview of the doctrinal support for self reliance and the purpose of the new Self Reliance initiative. After she finished it was my turn.
Here is where ACE comes into play. Stephen Gibson (the Founder of ACE) and I have been talking over the past three weeks about how we can find a workable transition for the Starting and Growing My Own Business graduates into ACE. As I looked at the SGMB program there seemed to be a gap between graduating and actually succeeding in starting a business. After being introduced to ACE, I saw here a valuable tool that could truly assist the SGMB graduates. ACE teaches the SGMB graduates how to actually apply the tools they learned by using alumni mentors to teach the practicality of building a business.
After discussing this concept with Mary Ann (my boss) we came to a conclusion that it could be beneficial for both SGMB and ACE if I became a liaison by showing the need for a successful transition between the two during my visits with the Stakes/Districts, Ward/Branches as well as the ACE Chapters. Finally after a month of doubt, I finally feel I can be a benefit here in the Philippines and am so excited about this development and opportunity. I will be working with both groups while here in the Philippines. Next week Stephen Gibson and I are going to visit a member who is running a pig farm to evaluate how he is doing and what can be done to increase his output and profitability. After that they are lining me up with 12 ACE alumni who have been in business for a while but need further help to increase their operations.
At this meeting I presented a concept, that came to my mind while riding on the tricycle, on how this transition should happen. I will work on it over the next week or so and make a powerpoint presentation for future meetings.
After I concluded Sister Betty Gibson the co-founder of ACE spoke followed by Stephen.
After the meeting was over we flagged down a tricycle and once again took a 30+ minute drive back to Tubegon ("toBEgun") catch the 5:00PM boat back to Cebu.
All-in-all this has been a GREAT day. We finally got out of downtown Cebu and into the real Philippines countryside, culture and beauty. We look forward to many more of these kinds of trips.
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| Sewing Trade Center inside TESDA |
After our visit with TESDA we headed out for the Chapel and saw the countryside filled with many rice fields.
 |
| Drying rice on the roadside |
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| Rice Field as far as your can see |
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| Laborers in the rice fields |
We finally arrived at the chapel before our meeting started. We understood this was to be an ACE fireside but it became a Self Reliance + ACE fireside. Jenee and I found out this morning on the boat ride that we were going to be speaking at this meeting.
After the opening song and prayer the Stake President said a few word,s then turned it over to Jenee. She did a great job giving an overview of the doctrinal support for self reliance and the purpose of the new Self Reliance initiative. After she finished it was my turn.
Here is where ACE comes into play. Stephen Gibson (the Founder of ACE) and I have been talking over the past three weeks about how we can find a workable transition for the Starting and Growing My Own Business graduates into ACE. As I looked at the SGMB program there seemed to be a gap between graduating and actually succeeding in starting a business. After being introduced to ACE, I saw here a valuable tool that could truly assist the SGMB graduates. ACE teaches the SGMB graduates how to actually apply the tools they learned by using alumni mentors to teach the practicality of building a business.
After discussing this concept with Mary Ann (my boss) we came to a conclusion that it could be beneficial for both SGMB and ACE if I became a liaison by showing the need for a successful transition between the two during my visits with the Stakes/Districts, Ward/Branches as well as the ACE Chapters. Finally after a month of doubt, I finally feel I can be a benefit here in the Philippines and am so excited about this development and opportunity. I will be working with both groups while here in the Philippines. Next week Stephen Gibson and I are going to visit a member who is running a pig farm to evaluate how he is doing and what can be done to increase his output and profitability. After that they are lining me up with 12 ACE alumni who have been in business for a while but need further help to increase their operations.
At this meeting I presented a concept, that came to my mind while riding on the tricycle, on how this transition should happen. I will work on it over the next week or so and make a powerpoint presentation for future meetings.
After I concluded Sister Betty Gibson the co-founder of ACE spoke followed by Stephen.
After the meeting was over we flagged down a tricycle and once again took a 30+ minute drive back to Tubegon ("toBEgun") catch the 5:00PM boat back to Cebu.
All-in-all this has been a GREAT day. We finally got out of downtown Cebu and into the real Philippines countryside, culture and beauty. We look forward to many more of these kinds of trips.
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