Because Emirates Airlines deems its African destinations unimportant and ignores flights to/from the continent, despite my confirmed booking with them, I must detour from Antananarivo, Madagascar, to Port Lois, Mauritius, Mumbai, and Singapore for my destination in Manila and Zamboanga City, Philippines, flying multiple airlines. Emirates flights to most other non-African destinations are back to an almost regular schedule, despite the ongoing war’s mess and apprehensions. This trip to the Philippines has been months in planning, with local flights, hotels, and logistics all arranged, fellow Trustee Sohail joining from New York, so it is not something we can cancel or defer without considerable financial pain.
I’ve been to the Philippines before, of course. CAI donors have gifted three remote and poor locations’ elementary schools for children who did not have access to education. This is a due diligence trip to adopt 20 poor orphans into the CAI family. Public transportation in this country is amazingly inexpensive, even with fuel prices doubled due to the conflict in the Middle East. Immigration is a breeze, and a Grab cab drops me to my hotel for less than US$3. Comparatively, the initial cab fee from Dubai airport is US$6.80 plus the subsequent fare. Sohail arrives later in the night, and we are off to Zamboanga City the next day after the hotel breakfast buffet which is easily 90% pork based.
There is little doubt that Filipinos love their chicken passionately. The Jollibee chicken franchise is omnipresent across the country, alongside Kentucky and many other home-grown varieties. Anywhere I walk, from the airports to the malls, the streets, and the hotel lobby, I smell the chicken grease; it’s on the people as well. The smell clings to my clothes and even my body; I can smell it on me when I change or go to the bathroom. After a couple of days, this begins to upset me, giving me a queasy feeling in my guts.
In Zamboanga City, Khairudeen, our local partner with Comfort Aid International, Philippines, meets us at the airport, and we begin our due diligence and protocol in setting up the care of the orphans. The hotel we are put up in, LM Metro Hotel, qualifies for a two-star rating – I’m being generous. The rooms are filthy; I doubt the floor has been mopped in weeks. The furniture is falling apart, there is no hand soap, and no hot water. I grind my teeth and bear it since I have no choice; this is the best and most affordable hotel we could find. The only cheer is that all the food is halal. Finding quality, reliable halal food throughout the Philippines is a major challenge. Halal, in most instances, means no pork has been used in the preparation, not that the meat is zabeeha. And even if it is zabeeha, there is no guarantee that no wine was used during preparation, so we must be very careful. We try and stick to seafood, which is excellent.
The due diligence and related compliance setup required is painful, slow, and frustrating. Traffic in this city is atrocious, and a simple short trip leaves me irritable; I would have pulled my hair out if I had any left. Filipinos have their own pace and style of work ethic that must be respected. It’s not as if they are doing anything wrong, it’s just their way of operating. Being twenty minutes late for meetings or salaat, even by ulemas, is a chalta-hai demeanor, which drives me up the wall, and I don’t hesitate to voice my displeasure, to the surprise of our hosts. However, my bellyaches are not so important as long as the twenty kids CAI will adopt will get a fighting chance in life. We meet the orphans and their wary but hopeful mothers on the last day we are in Zamboanga City: twenty beautiful children who will begin school in June 2026. CAI will foot the bill, together with food support for the family, clothing, transportation, a stipend for hygiene supplies, and medical care. This support will give them a good start to their lives in our very uncertain and scary world. Insha’Allah. The setup is in place, so let’s see if the program will work as it does for 1,040 other CAI-sponsored orphans worldwide.
We return to Manila and the omnipotent chicken grease aroma the next day. Mohamad Mawji and family, one of a handful of Khojas in the country, kindly host us for a homemade meal the next day. Burp. I return to Antananarivo via Singapore, Mumbai, and Port Luis in Mauritius, and Sohail will return to New York later in the day. I have the CAI Baneen Maternity Clinic grand opening in Manakara on Saturday, April 05, another proud CAI donor undertaking.
Meet our orphans.
I’ve been to the Philippines before, of course. CAI donors have gifted three remote and poor locations’ elementary schools for children who did not have access to education. This is a due diligence trip to adopt 20 poor orphans into the CAI family. Public transportation in this country is amazingly inexpensive, even with fuel prices doubled due to the conflict in the Middle East. Immigration is a breeze, and a Grab cab drops me to my hotel for less than US$3. Comparatively, the initial cab fee from Dubai airport is US$6.80 plus the subsequent fare. Sohail arrives later in the night, and we are off to Zamboanga City the next day after the hotel breakfast buffet which is easily 90% pork based.
There is little doubt that Filipinos love their chicken passionately. The Jollibee chicken franchise is omnipresent across the country, alongside Kentucky and many other home-grown varieties. Anywhere I walk, from the airports to the malls, the streets, and the hotel lobby, I smell the chicken grease; it’s on the people as well. The smell clings to my clothes and even my body; I can smell it on me when I change or go to the bathroom. After a couple of days, this begins to upset me, giving me a queasy feeling in my guts.
In Zamboanga City, Khairudeen, our local partner with Comfort Aid International, Philippines, meets us at the airport, and we begin our due diligence and protocol in setting up the care of the orphans. The hotel we are put up in, LM Metro Hotel, qualifies for a two-star rating – I’m being generous. The rooms are filthy; I doubt the floor has been mopped in weeks. The furniture is falling apart, there is no hand soap, and no hot water. I grind my teeth and bear it since I have no choice; this is the best and most affordable hotel we could find. The only cheer is that all the food is halal. Finding quality, reliable halal food throughout the Philippines is a major challenge. Halal, in most instances, means no pork has been used in the preparation, not that the meat is zabeeha. And even if it is zabeeha, there is no guarantee that no wine was used during preparation, so we must be very careful. We try and stick to seafood, which is excellent.
The due diligence and related compliance setup required is painful, slow, and frustrating. Traffic in this city is atrocious, and a simple short trip leaves me irritable; I would have pulled my hair out if I had any left. Filipinos have their own pace and style of work ethic that must be respected. It’s not as if they are doing anything wrong, it’s just their way of operating. Being twenty minutes late for meetings or salaat, even by ulemas, is a chalta-hai demeanor, which drives me up the wall, and I don’t hesitate to voice my displeasure, to the surprise of our hosts. However, my bellyaches are not so important as long as the twenty kids CAI will adopt will get a fighting chance in life. We meet the orphans and their wary but hopeful mothers on the last day we are in Zamboanga City: twenty beautiful children who will begin school in June 2026. CAI will foot the bill, together with food support for the family, clothing, transportation, a stipend for hygiene supplies, and medical care. This support will give them a good start to their lives in our very uncertain and scary world. Insha’Allah. The setup is in place, so let’s see if the program will work as it does for 1,040 other CAI-sponsored orphans worldwide.
We return to Manila and the omnipotent chicken grease aroma the next day. Mohamad Mawji and family, one of a handful of Khojas in the country, kindly host us for a homemade meal the next day. Burp. I return to Antananarivo via Singapore, Mumbai, and Port Luis in Mauritius, and Sohail will return to New York later in the day. I have the CAI Baneen Maternity Clinic grand opening in Manakara on Saturday, April 05, another proud CAI donor undertaking.
Meet our orphans.
