Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Brigada Eskwela 2013 at Gen. Pio Del Pilar National High School

Jeff
This year, Breaking Point Foundation Philippines was given another opportunity to conduct pre enrolment seminars for parents and their children enroling in Gen. Pio Del Pilar National High School. Earlier today, we conducted the seminar for the first batch of parents and students. The seminar is required by the school for students who had academic and behavioral problems in the past year. We tackle the topic of 'Avoiding Financial Tension' with the understanding that most of the students who had problems had family conflicts as its root and that finances is the number one source of conflicts among families.

The other topic is 'Building Strong Families' and it is geared towards reminding parents how they can improve expressing love to their spouse and children. Building homes is more than having financial needs met or having broken plastic handles replaced but to fill each other's hearts with love knowing that the family was designed by God for this purpose.

During this morning's seminar, we also shared about having a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ and 17 made professions of faith, 4 of which were parents. Tomorrow, we will be having our second batch of parents and students. We ask for prayers as we impart God's principles and share the gospel to them.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Pamora Farm Free Range Chicken

J.
Truth be told, good ol' free-range chickens, I only get to have a taste of whenever we visit the province.     There is a huge difference in its taste than our usual commercial chicken. Some weeks back, we got introduced to Pamora Farm's free-range chicken and met with its founders Gerard Pappillon and his Filipina wife, Tina Morados.

 

Pamora Farm is located in Abra. It was interesting how a French businessman would choose the hard road of breeding free-range chicken than the easy route of importing them like every other brand would. Good for us that we get to have that better alternative to a healthier diet. We all know too well how commercial brand chicken get their doses of antibiotics and growth-boosting medications. It would really be nice for our family to go to Abra sometime and swing by Pamora Farm. 

Some questions I had answered during our introduction to Pamora Farm products:

What is Free-range Chicken? 
Free-range chickens are slow growth chickens that are grown using the method of farming husbandry where the birds are permitted to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner. Its principle is to allow the chickens to as much freedom as possible to live out their instinctual behaviors in a reasonably natural way. 

How long it takes to raise a free-range chicken? 

Free-range chickens are grown for longer period, minimum 81 days, in a range or barnyard in the farm. These chickens are set out of their shelter to live freely to roam around the field, foraging for natural foods, scratching the ground for insects and whatever vegetation are available for them. 

What are the differences between commercial chicken and the free-range chicken? 

The difference is the quality. Free-range chickens are not confined and crammed together in cages. They are grown the natural way chicken should be, not forced to grow super-fast, so the meat of Free-range chicken is of better quality, firm and lean meat.

 
Preservative-free Pamora Farm Pate Variants

I have always loved pates for bread spreads. I think Filipinos have a special knack for this. My favorites from amongst this bunch are the Chicken Breast Pate and the Chicken, Liver & Gizzard Pate. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Robert Smith's 20,000 Days and Counting | Book Review

Jeff

A book that is designed to be a quick read, “20,000 Days and Counting: The Crash Course for Mastering Your Life Right Now” by Robert Smith is worth all the short time you spend reading it. It is not a motivational book because, first and foremost, it shares that motivation is a myth we really all have only two choices in life – to say yes or no. It is, as self-described, a crash course on leading your own life and helping its readers become decisive right at the moment of reading.