Bloggers Unite for refugees

I’ve been busy with a task for a family event the last two days, I forgot to finalize and publish my Bloggers Unite entry about refugees. As with the other topics I’ve participated in under Bloggers Unite, I’m not a resource person as far as the topic is concerned, but I’ve gone to a refugee center in Athens, Greece, in 2005, when I was there with my daughter and the members of the University of Asia and the Pacific Chorale. The number of the refugees we’ve seen was overwhelming. They could come from Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Afghanistan as well as from parts of Africa and other nations

Before the chorale offered a few songs for the refugees, there seemed to be an informal evangelism class, and I was able to shoot a photo as shown. Based on the pamphlets displayed at the center, I would say that one of the center’s focal activity for the refugees was evangelism. I found the website that tells more about this center and I hope through this post, people will visit the Athens Refugee Center website and see how they can help. Visiting a refugee center was a worthwhile experience, because now I know that a refugee center's programs can also help the refugees continue to dream big.

A home in Preveza

When I was a kid, my dream was to see the homes of gods and goddesses in Greece. I had no idea about the scenery in the countryside till the day we arrived in Greece with the University of Asia and the Pacific Chorale and rode the bus from Athens to Preveza. The common view was a group of houses arranged like an amphitheatre at the slope of the mountain, every house with a full view of the sea surrounding the mountain. The place in Preveza where we stayed was not at the slope of the mountain but it was a small town along the sea harbor. Small business establishments can be found all around.

If I am to recommend a hotel in this area, it will be the same hotel where we stayed, Hotel Urania. This place just felt like a home with many bedrooms.



The landlady, a beautiful Italian lady, serves our breakfast herself in a dining area that looks like the one found in big homes. For lunch and supper, we walk near the harbor to a “taberna” owned by a German whom we later called “Daddy”. Right after supper, we go to the shopping stalls near the taberna. After lunch, these shopping stalls are closed for siesta, until 4 in the afternoon. Why, sunset is around 9 in the evening so there’s a lot of time to shop.


When it was time for us to go, it was just like leaving home because there were tears of goodbye. Flowers were given by Arwin Tan, University of Asia and the Pacific Chorale’s conductor to our landlady, while the “Irish Blessing” was sung by the chorale to Daddy.

.... and until we meet again, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

A rare experience in Greece

The month of July will always remind me of a childhood dream that came true: to travel to Greece. My daughter and I had the opportunity to go to Greece with the chorale of University of Asia and the Pacific, a university in the Philippines, to watch them compete with the European choirs at Preveza which is in Ipirus, Greece, in July 2005.

The whole trip was a rich experience that started with the assembly and getting together of the choirs from the different European countries and the Philippines, before the scheduled parade, which marked the opening ceremony of the contest.

The photos will tell that it was a rare experience any photographer, which was my role during that event, will always treasure. Among the countries who participated in this event were Greece, Philippines, Romania, Latvia, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovenia and Bosnia.

The camaraderie among the choirs did not end with the parade. At the end of the contest, a few choirs won prizes, but most choirs won friends from other countries.