When I awakened the next morning, I began to even more fully appreciate the situation the orphanage was in at Atlantis. By the time I had arisen and brushed my teeth, I knew our priorities and activities for this day, the one full day we had remaining in Surigao City, would have to change.

I telephoned Allan and Juliet Japor who, along with Marilou, were our biggest co-workers in supporting the orphanage. I told them we would be changing our previously planned schedule for the day of arranging for a "Welcome to Atlantis" sign and interviewing children for our Orphan Sponsorship Program. Instead, we would be going shopping for nutritious food and a new refrigerator.

We split up into two teams. Allan, Christian, and I went shopping for rice and a new refrigerator. Juliet and Joao went shopping for fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, chicken, and fish. Our goal was to purchase a month’s supply of nutritious food to supplement the orphanage’s next month’s insufficient food budget.

Joao, our photographer, had the camera and took pictures with Juliet along the way. We should have taken my backup little Fuji camera to take pictures of our refrigerator and rice search, but we didn’t think of it. What follows is the adventurous day Juliet and Joao had shopping.

It begins with this shot Joao took of a bicycle transport as she and Juliet and Juliet’s daughter headed out for their day of shopping:

Here’s one of the fresh fruit stands they encountered along their way:

And here are some fresh vegetables:

What about some meat:

And, of course, we had to have fish:

And have them fileted:

And what would all of this shopping for 50+ people to supplement their food for a month be without the always desirable eggs:

Hey! Why is this girl so happy? Because Joao’s taking her picture with her big camera and lens, of course!

Now it’s approaching late afternoon. In this photo you can see Joao, Juliet, and Juliet’s daughter in the back of the orphanage’s jeepney as it is heading out for delivery to Atlantis:

And, it’s already been loaded with the 15 sacks of rice Allan, Christian, and I had earlier purchased:

At the last minute, all six of the sewing machines we had brought with us from Hawaii arrived and were loaded onto the jeepney as well:

And now the jeepney with its passengers including some of the older orphanage children recruited to help load and unload the new equipment and supplies headed out for Atlantis:

Coming up in the next post is the arrival of all of these "goodies" at Atlantis, and how the children and staff reacted to it.

Stay tuned for the next episode of "The Return to Atlantis."

Thanks again for listening,

Scott and the HP2HT Team