San Martin de Porres 104 children filled half the church. Their voices though carried all the chorals. A good thirty brought their violins and guitars. The Mass was held by Father Boyet, San Martin de Porres' Director and founder. On this Sunday of Ascuncion he reminded us that our fate was in our own hands and that we will succeed when we do the right things well Mass was also attended by many of San Martin de Porres' donors. They brought supplies and clothes which were unloaded at the Commedor after the ceremony Lunch after Mass with key donors has become a tradition at San Martin de Porres. During lunch teachers, house parents and Father Boyet informally update them about life at the orphanage and what is going on. In Philippino traqdition, the children choir entertained us with a few songs they had prepared. To nobody's surprise, they were all pop songs. The road sign planted in 2006 is not easy to find. Hidden by plants and buildings, one has to look for it Placed in November 2006, during ground breaking for the first house, it looked lost. Nobody could imagine what a thriving community would live here only 15 years later The greenhouse and the pig pen are now fully operational. The greenhouse delivers the fresh vegetables for the children. The pigs raised in the pen are sold to help cover the orphanage's and teachers' costs. Eight years after the inauguratrion of the first Hijas Cottage, the fourth and last girls' house was finally completed. As the others, it stands on stilts. The ground water level is too high and would enter the building if there was a traditional basement To make sure that the pools below the cottages do not become breeding ground for swarms of moskitos, we populated them with edible Dilapia fish. They feed on moskito larvae. All the Hijas cottages are moskito free. The fish can be seen on the photo above which reflects the outline of cottage no 1. The seven youngest girls now live in the newest cottage. They enjoy the lazy afternoon and spent it with reading and playing. It was a quiet Sunday afternoon. In the shadow of trees and plants, a peaceful tranquility reigned. One could hardly imagine that we were only one hour by car from the hectic Manila metropolis