Naomi's presentation

1. My ICS Experience

2. Host country- The Philippines
My ICS placement country was Cebu city, The Philippines. A very westernised part of the
Philippines, with shopping malls, starbucks and Mcdonalds on every corner. It did however still
have a very large amount of people living in extreme poverty conditions.
The main mode of transport in the Philippines are ‘Jeepneys’ small jeep like buses that got you
round the city.. The first time we all used a Jeepney was really exciting, by week 2 we all dreaded
the commute to work on them.
The Philippines has extreme weather conditions, and they experience around 30 Typhoons a
year. During my stay I experienced super typhoon Yolanda and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.

4. Host Family
Living with a host family was probably one of the best things about ICS, you learn about the
culture and have a true experience of life in a different country.
I lived with my host mother, her son and her brother, and next door was her other brother his
niece and nephew. There was 2 British volunteers, and two Filipino volunteers in my host home.
As soon as we arrived my host mum told us how she would treat us like her own children, which
made us feel part of the family right away.
Living with host families enables you to experience different celebrations, we celebrated in the
Cemetery on Halloween for those family members who had passed away.. A daunting idea at
first, but actually an interesting experience.

6. Work Placement
The main aim of our project was disability inclusion and awareness- with the main focus being
on the Deaf community.
We worked together with two organisations (GVSP/ CGAD) whos aims were to improve the
rights of the Deaf community.
My project had many different aspects to it, fundraising, teaching basic sign language and
general admin help for the organisation.
Humanitarian response- whilst our stay in Cebu we experienced super typhoon Yolanda(Hayian)
therefore we did relief packing alongside our projects, such hard work but worth it when we
received the thankyou from the victims.

8. Counterpart
My host home counterpart was Regina, a 19 year old Deaf Filipino. It was daunting at first as we
couldn’t communicate very well, however she constantly put effort in to teach me sign language
every day.
After a few weeks I was able to communicate with Regina so much better, sometimes I became
an interpreter for her when at my host home, as my host mum knew no sign language despite
having a Deaf niece.
Living with Regina enabled me to learn about the views and ways of life of people my age living
in different country, and how it was different to the way myself and my friends in the UK live.

10. Most memorable experiences
- Spending time with my host family
- Visiting the mountains, and south cebu for MPR + DEBRIEF
- Community action day – SOS children's village
- Relief packing for typhoon Yolanda
- Witnessing a court hearing for the murder of a Deaf girl in cebu
- Witnessing the signing of the first Deaf friendly desk in Asia