My last week on the Island

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/200s f/3.5 at 54.0mm iso200

Yosel, photographed at Mama Helen's shack on the beach.

Happy Birthday yesterday to Mama Helen!
...when I asked her daughters what we could get her for her special day, they said she would appreciate some 'prepared foods', so right before Sunday's Mass let out, I got her a kilo of fresh pork from the street vendor chopping it up right on the street.

If you've never tasted pork from a freshly roasted pig, you're in for a treat as it's absolutely delicious - Mama Helen & her kids loved it, as they are not able to treat themselves to this everyday.

This is my last week on Bantayan Island, and I'm preparing to get to Cebu by the weekend, and onto Manila by next Monday for my flight back to the US.

I've been working on image & website projects 6:30am here until 7:30pm everyday, trying to get so many different things done here before I go, so I've been able to give a little paid work to LittleFish to assist me compiling & transcribing text for my new website, and I've also been able to give her paid work cleaning the house of BN where I'm staying until he's back from Europe later this month.

So it pleases me she can earn some much needed money for her Family and her baby - she's a hard worker who will take care of the house while I'm on the laptop all morning until 2pm (BN's got a big house with a palm garden that needs to be looked after, and I just don't have the time here to also attend to that with my schedule)

I'm creating the text & images for a new Bantayan specific travel related website, using my many images of the Island, and I hope it can even be advertiser supported in the future, so I can base myself here longer then a few months, and continue to do what I do.

In the meantime, Littlefish is coming with me after 2pm each day when I'm out photographing the hotels & landmarks here, as I'm doing that she's compiling the text & website copy on those places - it just pains me I can't pay her full time to do this after I leave here, as she needs work very badly.

Maybe later this year when I get back I can work on getting her computer literate - if that can happen I can hire her more, or even on a semi permanent basis, or she might be able to get full time work in Bantayan Town with those skills, and I'd be pleased & happy to be able to see any of that happen for her & her Family.

In the meantime I'm just trying to get all the pRICE issues straightened out while I have the resources to do it, while doing all I can possibly do for her & Mama Helen's Family while I'm still here, and I've been able to get them food & necessities over the past few weeks (THANK YOU TO CONCHA IN SPAIN!) and that's more to write more about on tomorrow's post!

Thanks for stopping by today,
PJAMES