pattyboiniceboi

Today’s post will be covering my first couple weeks or so at Dansalan College in Iligan City. It’s been a pretty hectic couple weeks to say the least but that’s all under good terms fellas, so don’t you worry. Also, ya boy has figured out the best way to feature videos on this post. That has been something I’ve been trying to figure out with my site, and I finally did it. Without any further ado, let’s do dis.

So, something to share right off the bat; the picture above is not the actual Dansalan College. This building is where I’m stationed (and also living), but there is some brief history I will share about the college that I do feel must be known to understand why it is now located in the building above. I won’t be a full-on history lesson, but I’ll touch on the important stuff the best I can.

While this building is located a little bit outside Iligan City in Lanao Del Norte, the actual campus of Dansalan College was located in Marawi, the capital city of the province of Lanao Del Sur. It is officially known as the Islamic City of Marawi. Its people are called the Maranaos and speak the Maranao language. The school itself was founded by American missionary Dr. Frank Laubach in 1950. The school is known for its Christian and Muslim integration, with the majority of students tending to be Muslim. Throughout its years the school and its leaders have aimed to promote understanding between Christian and Muslim Filipinos in hopes of eliminating fear, discrimination, prejudice, hatred and enmity between the two groups. To echo this sentiment are the objectives listed out by the school itself- “Members of the faculty and staff are composed of Christians and Muslims who: see themselves as partners in development, strive to provide quality education to the youth, seek to unite Muslims and Christians in friendly relations, exemplify in their lives the best of their culture, commit themselves to the easing tension and the promotion of peace, and develop their full potentials as Filipino people.”

To briefly touch on the actual campus, it was a very beautiful and picturesque campus placed right next to Lake Lanao in Marawi. It had many different halls, elementary buildings, preschool buildings, a library, a technology/communications building, housing for staff and families, chapels, big campus pastures, and many more. It was a beautiful sanctuary that was built through over 60 years of hard work and struggle amidst intermittent wars and conflicts. And now I must briefly touch on why I have been describing the campus using the past tense.

On May 23, 2017, Islamic state-affiliated groups attacked the city of Marawi after the Filipino government launched a military operation to arrest a prominent figure who was associated with the ISIS and consolidating with two other ISIS affiliated groups in the city. The operation resulted in the ISIS factions opening fire on them, resulting in a siege that caused the once remarkable city to be turned into rubble. Dansalan College, sadly, was not spared from the chaos. The ISIS militant groups entered the school as well and either burned or damaged many of its structures. It was used as an outpost by the groups, and further damage came to the campus when the government launched air strikes on the college in an attempt to take out the terrorists.

Now in between all this chaos are also harrowing stories of survival. I have however chosen to omit the stories, not just because of the nature of them, but out of respect in wanting to protect the names of people who survived this event. What I will share though is that a fair number of people who survived the event still work at Dansalan to this day, continuing on the school’s mission despite the unimaginable event that this was for everybody. That to me shows the courage of the school to find a way to still continue on after a home for so many was essentially wiped away. It has been eye opening for me to hear about all these things, as I have been lucky enough to not even think about things like this happening in my hometown. And I don’t share this history to create a sob story, I share it because I think everybody should understand what the folks of Dansalan went through and how resilient they have stayed throughout everything. So it really brought things into perspective for me, that God always provides an entry way as long as you stay faithful in him, even through the worst of circumstances.

As I’ve stated already, Dansalan is now located in Iligan, in a single structure in a small little property outside of town. Kids, both Christians and Muslims, go to classes, go outside, do extra-curricular activities, and make friends with each other just as I imagine they did at the original campus. It’s smaller in comparison to the old campus yes, but the size of the heart in the people that work here and the kids that go here remain the same, and I believe God has blessed many here with the biggest of hearts. I, in turn, also feel blessed to be here amongst many brave and strong people, and I’m very excited to share with you all what I’ve been up to in the area so far.

Job Description and New Nicknames

Despite the fact that the current branch of Dansalan in Iligan City is still referred to as a college, the branch only has K-12 grade range. The previous campus did have college students however. My Filipino YAV partner for my time at Dansalan is Rapha Victor, or Raprap as he is usually called. Rapha primarily keeps track of records in the school and I will eventually be teaching some classes at the college pretty soon and participating in helping with any sports at the school as well. Raprap will also occasionally assist in any classrooms.

Another thing I’m sure many of you who read this blog are aware of is the amount of nicknames I have back home. Patzilla, Patty Boi, P-sizzle, Patty Poo, you get the gist. Well here at the college, they refer to teachers by Sir or Ma’am and then whatever their first name is. So in other words, I am referred to as Sir Patrick at Dansalan. Another one I have received just by being older than some folks here is Kuya Patrick, which is used in the Philippines for either older male relatives, an acquaintance, or even just a stranger who is slightly older. So yes, I have a few more nicknames to add to my arsenal. I swear I’m not bragging. Don’t get mad plz.

My Host Family

My host family primarily consists of Almer, Liberty, Sophia, and Liberty’s mother Ma’am Pat. Almer does professional services when it comes to repairs and fabrications works and Liberty teaches at Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT). Sophia is currently in high school. She is the one to most often call me Kuya Patrick. And now the funniest part, Ma’am Pat sometimes mistakenly calls me Kevin, which is my Dad’s name, because I mentioned it in one of my first conversations with the family. So I guess you could say another nickname of mine is Kevin.

Although I do not live with my host family, I am extremely grateful and lucky to have them. They have transported me around, kept me fed when I didn’t really have a food option, let me rest at their home on days when I’m not at the college, and most importantly have helped me get integrated into the church community at UCCP, starting with the choir. Speaking of UCCP and the choir….

UCCP

This is the Iligan branch of UCCP. I have spent two Sunday services here so far and they have both been very memorable. My first Sunday I got to sing in the choir for the first time and got to sing sort of a solo already that one of the choir members, John Erwin D. Salomon, kind of just lended to me at the end of the service and let me have at it. My second service I got to experience Children’s Sunday and listen to the children of the church give singing and dance performances, as well as even give the sermon for the day. I could be also joining the band at the church as well, which is separate from the choir, so we’ll see how that materializes eventually. Without further ado, here are the first video features of my YAV blog.

https://youtube.com/shorts/JR4jjoSASpA?si=2cxOUDxlUUDCo1nD

Singing of Faith in the Service of the People

https://youtube.com/shorts/M_Z_bgkgZcE?si=mFv_oi7qFfTo9Erl

Children’s Choir performance at UCCP

Extra Material about Dansalan or Iligan

Dansalan Children’s Festival

In my first couple weeks here at Dansalan, I noticed when I would go in to observe certain classrooms, there would usually be periods where the students got to work on a dance routine. I eventually figured out that these routines were for a festival that happens at the college once a year. Each and every grade level did a performance of some kind, usually of the song and dance variety. But some included a tribute to the old indigenous tribes of the Philippines as well. With that, it is now my honor to share these performances with you. Yes, I am posting a link to every performance from the festival from the youngest grade to the oldest grade. Buckle up. If you’re more interested in just outright cuteness, obviously check out the younger grades. If you want to see more elaborate and well thought out choreography, then the older grades are for you. Or heck, check out every one single one of them, the choice is yours dear viewer. Some are also longer or shorter than others. I think all of them are so tuff anyway so you might as well watch all of them. Anywho, the links will be down below going from youngest to oldest. Also, my filming gets better as the performances go on so plz forgive me.

https://youtu.be/qTx69RR19n0?si=HdnGRiePunJoveW0

K1 Performance

https://youtu.be/U0zi5ItztgQ?si=Tkp0MxWN7C3yYur4

K2 Performance

https://youtu.be/k6h9LAkLO2w?si=SgcVvKymhlHhxrnI

Grades 1-2 Performance

https://youtu.be/BGi1Hf0HbF4?si=mvhTZHoOHMhXhPwL

Grade 3 Performance

https://youtu.be/0Lv2pLc0L40?si=78s2o5AEZ54bxeOs

Grades 4-6 Performance

https://youtu.be/m3CBQ-3ogPg?si=q3vENo4Vwx5GC1Fd

Grade 7 Performance

https://youtu.be/O1JcDTt7R0Y?si=wMcsuFfcOKypCb-V

Grade 8 Performance

https://youtu.be/T9fIc7astaU?si=ZHlcDZ1Zuo7R2eSZ

Grade 9 Performance

https://youtu.be/IxVa9aM78YE?si=JyjlFXF2l14NeU8a

Grade 10 Performance

https://youtu.be/2ZF_KRKWzqo?si=t4rWVDdiq239YFXW

Grade 11 Performance

https://youtu.be/3zufMBUHkmg?si=2__w-xddqixzCf7S

Grade 12 Performance

Conclusion

It has been a memorable first couple weeks for me in many more ways than one. There are still battles I have daily. Those things are the heat and definitely missing all the people back home from time to time. But whenever I get lost in those things, I always just tell myself that it is an honor and privilege to be in this part of the world, as God has me here for a reason and it is a blessing to be here. And thank you to all who have made this possible for me to do. My teaching will start to ramp up here in the next few weeks, so stay tuned everybody. Now I’m gonna go eat 30 hamburgers and watch the Minions movies.

-pattyboiniceboi

This post will be covering some of the things I got to do for my orientation week in the Philippines! I got to experience a lot of cool things and spend those experiences with a lot of awesome people. I’ll be showing some pictures along with a little description of what’s going on in each. Here we go!

The full YAV group for the Philippines (minus Rev. Jonathan Pia in the center). The names will go left to right, top to bottom: Rey Mark, Joyce, Jessica, Russell, Kannya, myself (duh), Rapha Victor (Raprap), Ma’am Dobert, Makoy, Heewon, our lovely site coordinator Dessa Palm, and finally her husband Kabbi. This photo was taken in the Silliman University church sanctuary in Dumaguete after the Sunday service. Some foreshadowing; this will not be the only group photo of us.

Selfie in front of what’s known as the Dumaguete Belfry or Campanario de Dumaguete, a historic bell tower next to the Saint Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral. Shoutout to Dessa as well for taking the time to tour Kannya, Heewon and my annoying butt all around Dumaguete (she loves my sense of humor, and no I am not lying).

And this is the inside of said cathedral. This cathedral was completed in 1776 and is considered the oldest stone church on Negros Island where Dumaguete is located.

An important note regarding Silliman University is that during the orientation week, it was celebrating its 125th anniversary. They threw a huge parade that went through downtown Dumaguete, and Dessa so kindly let us join one of the groups walking in it and we were suddenly a part of the parade!

Oh and of course I couldn’t forget about my photograph with Succy the Mascot. I wish I could remember who specifically Succy is a mascot for, but I think it’s best left ambiguous.

This little structure and its accompanying cabins (not in the photo) is known as Camp Lookout, and its located in the mountains of Valencia. While used as a retreat site now, it is most known for being a hideout that American soldiers used to avoid detection from the Japanese during WWII. Local Filipinos also assisted by redirecting Japanese soldiers away from the direction of the camp so the Americans couldn’t be located.

Not much to say here, just a smiling Rey Mark and a smiling dog. What more could one ask for? Rey Mark also encourages my sense of humor, so I had to give him his flowers.

One night we were treated to a blood moon high up in the sky. Shout out to Heewon for this photo so I didn’t have to use one of my crumby phone screen quality ones🥴.

We also got to visit two very amazing waterfalls during our orientation week. The first photo up above is Casaroro Falls or House of Roro, and you can’t swim in the falls area of that one. In the second photo is Pulangbato Falls, with “Pulangbato” translating to “Red Stone” because of the amount of red stones that surround the falls. That one you can swim in.

We also briefly stopped to look at a hot spring that was near the Pulangbato Falls. You get that good ‘ol strong whiff of the rotten egg smell that every hot spring seems to have. It reminded of me of my family trips to the hot springs in Thermopolis, Wyoming during my younger days (shoutout to family).

And finally, the last night before we all went to our respective sites in the Philippines, we all signed a covenant that we made together and promised to stick to in the time that we are YAVs.

It was a very special first week in the Philippines and I already got to know so many amazing and insightful people so far and. I’ve gotten so engrained in the Filipino culture already, especially its culture of rice (seriously you would not believe the amount of rice I’ve had already, it’s like breakfast, lunch, and dinner for me every day). I cannot wait to experience the culture even more and see what else this journey has in store for me as I venture off to Dansalan College in Iligan City for my site work. I’m even more excited to share it all with you.

-pattyboiniceboi

Welcome to my YAV blog everyone! My name is Patrick Boyce, and this is my introductory post! I am from Cheyenne, Wyoming, the capital of the state with the lowest population in the U.S. In fact, there are 31 cities in the United States with a larger population than the state of Wyoming. Yes, you read that right; cities, not states.

I attended the University of Wyoming and graduated as an Elementary Education major. I have been working as a substitute teacher for the past couple of years in the Cheyenne school district and have lots of experience working with kids in schools from many different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. In the summertime, for the past 5 years, I have been a camp counselor in the Presbyterian-owned Camp Story in Northern Wyoming where I helped make Christ known in the great outdoors for so many amazing campers over my time there. At my own church in Cheyenne, I am part of the Deacons, and I also sing as a tenor in my church’s choir. I first learned about the YAV program from Pastor Karl Heimbuck in Sheridan, Wyoming, then learned about it much further at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium even tin 2025. That was when I seriously started thinking about applying for the program, and then I ultimately did earlier this year and was blessed with the Philippines as my site location!

To share some of the hobbies and things I enjoy doing, the #1 thing I enjoy the most is American football (Go Pack Go). Trust me, any friend or family member can attest to this. I also love to exercise, sing, dance and watch movies/TV shows. Specifically with movies and shows, I love what lessons they can teach me about the world and humanity. But through all these things I enjoy are great friends of mine as well, so of course I love to hang with my friends whenever possible. This year, I’m looking forward to getting closer to God in how He is going to lead me through the wilderness. I’m going to be challenged in ways I’ve never even imagined, but I know I will get through those challenges with God’s help. I hope to not only achieve a deeper understanding of myself, but more importantly understand the ins and outs of the Filipino culture and the social issues that persist in the nation as a whole, as this will not be an opportunity I take for granted.

To give some background on the Philippines itself, it is an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean with about 117 million inhabitants, making it the 14th most populated country in the world. It became independent from Spain in 1898 and the United States in 1946, in which it was used essentially as a plantation economy. The Philippines has continued to emerge from its colonial dependency on the two countries even today, as collusion with foreign corporate owners/stakeholders and Filipino oligarchs over the plantation blueprint have prevented wealth from staying in the country. This has hindered the country’s ability to develop and prosper as a whole. It is one of the poorest countries in Asia as a result and is torn by many internal conflicts and a long history of injustice towards the poor and marginalized. For my volunteer responsibilities, I will be assisting Dansalan College in Iligan City on the southernmost island known as Mindanao. My program partners will be the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and Silliman University.

One thing I want to make clear when it comes to this volunteer trip is that I am not going into this with a “savior” mindset. I’m going into this to work with the people of the Philippines, not for them. Too often when we go to foreign countries for this type of work, we think we have to transform people or teach them “our ways.” That mindset is harmful because then it makes it seem like we know better than the rest, when in reality there is so much we can learn when we just shut off that part of our brain that feels like we have to be in command. My hope is to build long-term community and many meaningful relationships while I’m at my site, and that starts with letting go of everything I think I know as well as any implicit biases I may still carry with me.

My goal going into this is to not only learn from the Filipinos and have a life-changing experience, but to also show everybody who views this blog the amazing parts of their culture and traditions and any fun activities that come as a result. This is going to be a positive space portraying God’s love, both by me and the Filipinos, in all the best ways possible. I’m so excited for everyone to see how living outside my comfort zone will challenge me, how building relationships will change me, and most importantly how showing God’s love and doing good works for Him can impact and transform all of us.

-pattyboiniceboi