Day 4

In day  five, the group is separated into two groups. One group goes to Oxfam Fair trade, an international movement that ensures producers in poor countries to get a fair deal. Meanwhile, I belong to the group who goes to St. Michael Church.

St. Michael Church is arranged differently from the usual churches we have in the Philippines.  It is found out that the number of youth attendees has decreased. Only old people who still regard the tradition attend mass. The Belgians who were with us were fascinated by our sharing of the strong religious practices of the Filipinos.

The Pieta

Arge shares about how churches in the Philippines are usually full of people and what the interventions of our churches our for the youth (eg. Youth camps, Bible studies, etc.)

While having tea, we have a nice conversation with the Belgians about Belgian culture and politics. We share to them the many challenges our countries are facing and they were overwhelmed.

After tea, an organization inside St. Michael's church shares to us their intervention for the poor Belgians and most especially for immigrants who are in hiding and are afraid to seek help.

We have dinner and met Johanne, whose daughter had been to the Philippines before. Johanne invited us as guests at the Psychiatric hospital where he presents his daughter's projects to the friends and families of the patient.

Afterwhich, we walk in the rain to the museum 1302, where we learn the history of Kortrijk, especially the story about the 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs.

At the lobby of 1302 museum. I am fascinated at how modern the museum is inside.

At the 1302 Museum with some of the battle garments

I expected we would have a tour guide to speak about the things inside the museum, like how it's usually done in the Philippines, but we have this electronic devices instead that records the important information you need to learn about a specific exhibit. All you have to do is press the code numbers labeled on the specific exhibit.

Each statue personifies people who had important roles during the 1302 battle.

Philippa. daugther of Guy of Dampierre had been promised heir to the English throne. However, she was brought over to Paris where she died there in 1306 in a death that is still unresolved.

To culminate the museum tour, we watch the film showing us three characters surveying the seven centuries events that gives birth to the Flemish tradition and community.