The THT/Philippine program was in two sections.  The first was near Manila, in the town of San Jose del Monte, in the Bulacan Province, (August 23 - 24) and the second was on the Island of Mindoro where the volunteers worked with teachers and children in village schools in Banilad and Calapan in the Mindoro Oriental Province (August 25 - 28).

The THT delegation for the San Jose del Monte experience was made up of Cecilia Silva, Aya Dougherty, Maggie and Jon Lieb, Will and Minako Kay, Brent Jones, Colin Graham, George Mano, and Pat Dougherty and was attended by 200 high school teachers from the area.  The program was sponsored by the Department of Education, Division of City Schools of San Jose del Monte.  It was a classic conference with presentations that mixed theory with practice and kept the interests and needs working teachers always in mind.

Two highlights of the program were Dr. Cecilia Silva’s engaging plenary, Narrative:  Teacher’s reflections, and the first day capping plenary by Colin Graham entitled Blooming Materials.

On the final day of the conference a William Balsamo Memorial Scholarship was awarded to the San Lorenzo Ruiz School of Calapan, Mindoro Oriental, in recognition of need and merit.  Bill Balsamo would have approved.

THT/Philippines 2008:  The Mindoro Portion

After the the San Jose del Monte section of the THT/Philippines 2008 program finished, seven of the THT volunteers, Brent Jones, Cecilia Silva, Colin Graham, Will and Minako Kay,  George Mano, and Pat Dougherty traveled to the Island of Mindoro.  There began a program that the volunteers affectionately nicknamed, Extreme THT and Baby’s Boot Camp.  The nicknames had to do with the early hours the volunteers were called upon to awake, the early hours they retired for the evening, the martial discipline of Amelita “Baby” Matsushita (the organizer of the program), and the group’s evening bath and swim in the local river (it was fantastic).   These things, along with the opportunity to do no-tech teaching with the village children, made the experience unique among THT programs.