Why Retire in the Philippines/Marinduque Vacations: My Youngest Grand Daughter- Carenna Katague Thompson

Planning to Retire Soon!

If you are planning to retire in the Philippines soon, I suggest you visit several excellent websites on pro's and cons of retiring in the Philippines. However if you want to retire in the provinces, where life is simple, standard of living cheaper, less traffic congestion and pollution, availability of fresh seafood and vegetables compared to the big cities, my island province is the place for you! If this is your first time in my site, welcome. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights. The photo above is the front yard of Chateau Du Mer- Our Retirement Home in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

Friday, November 29, 2024

My Youngest Grand Daughter- Carenna Katague Thompson

Carenna and Me at my other grand Daughter( Alix Katague) Wedding, Berkeley, CA 2023

I received the following E-mail from my youngest grand daughter( Carenna Katague Thompson) yesterday (Thanksgiving Day) giving an update of her current life and also asking for donation for her favorite Charity-Camp Kesem.

I have six grand children, and all have finished Bachelor's degrees except Carenna. My other grand daughter Marina Katague is currently in her second year of her Doctorate( PhD) Degree in Public Health. My other four grand children have finished college ( Bachelor's Degrees) and working.

Carenna is the daughter of my youngest daughter, Ditas Katague. Ditas a Presidential Appointee in the Bureau of Census will lost her job when Trump takes over as President of the US next year.

Here's Carenna E-mail to me, including her plea for Donation for Camp Kesem💚.

I’m a junior at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. double majoring in International Affairs and Geography, with a minor in Geographic Information Systems. In January, I will be studying abroad in Paris to advance my French language skills. Additionally, I was selected for a competitive research program at my university called Dean’s Scholars where I am designing my own research. I will return to Belfast, Northern Ireland (my first study abroad) to research the lives of immigrants to post-conflict spaces. My mom, Leif (our dog), and I live right outside of DC in Alexandria, VA (for now).

Camp Kesem provides a free summer camp for kids whose parents have been affected by cancer. Nationally, 1 in 14 children, around 5 million are dealing with a parents cancer. I went to camp for 10 years, joining 3 months after my dad passed away from colon cancer.

Hosted by universities, Kesem is completely student run and led. Which means, yes, a bunch of college kids are responsible for putting on a camp and fundraising for it. This year I am the Operations Coordinator for Kesem at George Washington University. This means I am responsible for planning, organizing, and running camp this year. I spend most of my free time in meetings, cleaning storage units, and of course planning the best activities for an amazing camp program! It has been so enriching for me to use my knowledge from my 10 years at camp to ensure that the children I am now serving have the same magic experience I did. That being said one of the most important things to making camp possible for these kids is…FUNDRAISING!!!

This year we need to raise $100,000 in order to make camp happen. Our goal for Giving Tuesday is to raise $20,000 of that $100,000. If we do not meet this goal we will not be able to provide buses for the 115 families we serve and would require them to find their own transportation to camp. Our chapter serves the DC, Maryland, Virginia area (DMV) and more than 50% of our families said they would not be able to attend camp without transportation.

So, I am asking you, to find the goodness in your heart (noting that Kesem is a 501(c)3 and any donation of any amount is tax deductible!!) and donate to Kesem at GW. ANYTHING helps no matter the amount.

For direct donations you can donate to my Classy Page. (make sure it is to Carenna (Taro) Thompson and for George Washington University) OR

If you would like to donate via an In-Kind donation check out our Amazon Wishlist for camp and program supplies!

All of my love,

Carenna Katague-Thompson

💚https://www.kesem.org/

Personal Note: I am very proud of your accomplishments Carenna and I donated! Keep up with your good work and see you soon on my 90th birthday. I also survived the first Thanksgiving Day ( after 64 years of celebrating the Day with Relatives) of being alone.

I spent the day, watching the Macy Parade, cleaning one of my closets and searching for ideas for my daily blogs. I also binged on old Apple TV series, Slow Horses, Bad Monkey and Shrinking. I also had a gastronomically satisfying lunch of Pork Sinigang ( Best Tasting Soup in the World by Taste Atlas, 2024), steamed rice and Spicy Pork Short Ribs in Black Bean Sauce.

I have also had a call from Daughter Dinah in Portland, Oregon visiting her daughter Elaine and Husband, Kyle Bishop. I also had a call from Ditas. I also have a 💗FB message from Carenna that she and her Mom are with Ella Lazarte, Ditas first cousin on her Mother's side of the Family. I have several Thanksgiving Greetings via E-mail from other relatives and friends, So I really did not feel alone. 💗Carenna and Ditas with Ella-Thanksgiving Day-11-28-24

The David B Katague Clan has a history of charitable work( medical missions and personal donations). I am reposting my two articles on my Donations. The first article, I titled "It is better to Give Than Receive". The second article is my donation ( $10K) to the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) Library Fund.

1. https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2020/05/it-is-better-to-give-than-to-receive.html

2. https://theintellectualmigrants.blogspot.com/2022/10/my-donation-to-upv-library-fund-in.html

I hope you had ALL a Fantastic Thanksgiving Day with Relatives or Being Alone!

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Fruit Trees in the Gardens of Chateau Du Mer

The Mango Tree-I have three varieties in my Garden-The Indian, Guimaras and Carabao Mangoes My caretaker/gardener informed me last month that due to the El Nino drought in Marinduque, two of my Durian trees died in spite of his vigilant watering. One of the tree was attacked by insects that looks like a big fly but yellowish in color that sucks the sap of the seedling. The roots of the other tree was attacked by ants residing in the soil. However, my other fruit trees, the rambutans( 2), the lanzones(2) and the jack fruits ( 2) trees are doing well. The above eight fruit trees were given to me by Retired General Recaredo Sarmiento of Boac and Lucena., about three years ago. General Sarmiento is the “atid” of my wife. “Atid” is the colloquial term for brother. Evidently, Macrine's father, the late Bernardo Jambalos was the Godfather of General Sarmiento during his baptism and comfirmation. Gen Sarmiento's hobby is orchard planting, reforestation and farming. The other fruit trees in my garden are guayabanos, cashew, avocados, starapples, duhats, ates, guavas, mangoes( 3 varieties) and papayas as well as several varieties of bananas . Of the above fruit trees, my favorite is the guayabanos, also known as soursop tree known for its anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties . The following are photos of the fruit trees. The Durian photo is from the web. Note that it almost look like a jack fruit tree, except that the leaves are bigger and shiny. My desire is to have a passion fruit tree in the near future. You are welcome to visit my orchard and flower gardens any time, if perchance you are in the vicinity of The Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center.

The Rambutan Tree and Fruits

The Lanzone Tree and Fruits

The Jack Fruit Tree

The Durian Fruit Tree