After years of mountain climbing,
I still get nervous before each trip.
I lacked training plus my long-time traveling companion, who I really relied
on, couldn't make it for this activity. Bad weather also continued
to ravage Metro Manila where I live.
But much like in show
business, the show must go on. We got a mission to fulfill and that
is to deliver help for children who live in the mountains. Goodness
should never be delayed.
Our group's name is TREK or TRails to Empower Kids.
Our mission took us to
Quirino Province, a landlocked province located in the Cagayan Region of the
Philippines. We arrived early in the morning
the following day after about eight hours of bus ride, which included a short
stop in Madela, where we brought our
provisions for the three-day activity.
One of the group's co-founders and three of our volunteers led the
group as co-team leaders. They are
sisters Ponga and Judy May Jadulco and Doc Jo Gastador. They visited our target site a month before
to conduct a recon.
At the jump-off point, we
met Maesto Diego, the teacher of Tamsi Primary School, our beneficiary
school. It was Maestro Diego who told us
about the immediate need of the students of Tamsi
for books and school supplies.
To help us carry the
donations up the mountain, Maestro Diego
gathered the community members at the jump-off point, including some of the
students. They had with them
carabao-driven sledges for the heavy
boxes.
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Transporting the donations
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We didn't waste time moving
some of the boxes from the truck to the sledges. While
we didn't understand each other because of the difference in dialects, we
managed to send-off some carabaos, just in time before it drizzled.
After a short prayer, the
participants also started their ascent. I joined the lead
team. With us was Teacher Mary Jane, one of the teachers of the
school we are visiting, Tamsi Primary
School.
After about thirty minutes
of trekking, I asked if any of my
trekking companions were interested in resting. I was already panting and
I wanted to rest my legs and back. We spotted a good place to
rest. While turning back was not an option,
moving forward was a decision easy to make. The trails seemed
difficult, but they were the ones that would lead closer to our mission.
Much of the trails were
sloping, up to 45 degrees. It was exhausting but a community member
who joined us in one of our rest stops
said in his own dialect that yes, it is very tiring but it is fun because all
the community members were there helping haul the donations.
It was not long before my
untrained muscles started giving in. From the lead team, I moved to
the mid team. Half way on our trek, I was left behind until the last
team.
As a famous mountaineering
quote goes from Barry Finlay, Kilimanjaro and beyond "Every mountain top
is within reach if you just keep
climbing.”
So, after four hours
of trekking and crossing several rivers, I reached Sitio Tamsi, which is located on top of one of the
peaks of Nagtipunan, Quirino. The sun was already starting to
set. Some of the participants were resting. The others
were fixing their sleeping area inside the classroom. The expedition
leaders began accounting the donations. Some also started cooking
dinner.
There are two classrooms
made of wood. One of the classrooms has two small rooms for the teachers
and a little kitchen. Maestro Diego and Teacher Mary Jane stay here
during school days and just go down Fridays after class to their respective
families.
Teacher Diego was the one who helped put up a school in this humble sitio. In 2005, he was assigned to
conduct a study on putting up a school. At
first, he was hesitant, but he did anyway and from then on, he started
teaching until he became a regular teacher in 2009.
He and Teacher Mary Jane
have about 50 students ranging from kindergarten to grade four belonging
to an ethnic group called Ilongot.
After dinner, we started preparing the meals for tomorrow's
program. With the nod of Maestro Diego, we decided on a pasta
dish, a chicken stew, chicken soup, and rice. While chopping
vegetables, boiling water, and washing
pots, we started what mountaineers in the Philippines call
socials. Over rum, we started catching up with our good friends,
some of whom we just see during these outreach programs. We also took
advantage of this time to get to know our new participants and of course, some
members of the community.
The following day was a lot
busier. At every corner of the
classroom and the school grounds, there were
activities. Participants and some community members were cooking,
repacking, unboxing and cleaning. At about mid-morning, the school grounds were already filled with children
so we decided to start the program by conducting some games.
I tried leading but it was
not successful. They were just looking at me with their confused little
eyes. So, we let the teachers lead the games and we just assisted.
At first, it was hard to encourage the children to join. They were
very shy. After all, there were so
many strangers that day in their school and they are not used to it.
After showing them the prizes and prodding from their parents, they
decided to participate and started warming up to us. We had communication
problems but their smiles and laughter conveyed much of what we needed to
know.
After the games, we started distributing prizes, then
slippers, then boots, then school supplies, then backpacks. It must have
felt like Christmas for the children if
they knew what Christmas is. After getting their loot bags, they immediately ran to their parents to show them what
they got. We could here jolly screams of delights and
giggles.
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| with the kids |
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| We love TREK |
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| The beautiful children |
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| Busy kitchen |
We placed a lot of thought
on what we would give these children. We consulted a lot with
Maestro Diego and derived from our past experiences so that we could give the
children the best help we can provide. Living in an isolated place,
these children have been neglected. They are deprived of good
educational materials. They get by with whatever little budget
allotted to them by the government. Yet, they pursue their
education. That is why we wanted to give to them.
While we allowed the kids to
enjoy their new stuff, we formally turned over the books and other school
materials we gathered to Maestro Diego and Teacher Mary Jane. Since the
classroom didn't have electricity, we also bought a small solar panel for the
school that can light it up at night.
After the distribution of
gifts, we started serving lunch. It was a good time for me to absorb what
just happened. We successfully distributed the donations entrusted to us
by our donors. The children looked excited to go back to school with
their new backpacks and school supplies. The parents were all smiling as
they examined the backpacks with their children. The teachers were pleased with
the new materials they can use for school. The participants looked
fulfilled with the help they just provided.
We were there, in the middle
of nowhere, on top of a mountain, experiencing one of the greatest joys of
human life. I could see from where I was sitting the trail that would
lead us to the next school then eventually to the plains. It seemed
endless but I was overwhelmed with feelings of happiness that worry of the long
trek ahead didn't matter.
Gray clouds were filling the
sky but it didn't look like rain, more like shade to make our trek down
the mountain a little less tiring.
After a lot of goodbyes and
thank you’s, we made our way down. It was already midday and we expected
to reach the second school before 3:00 PM. We didn't talk much on the
trail. We walked fast and we reached the second school on time.
Kakidugen is a smaller
community. Kakidugen Primary School has less than twenty students.
The students were already there waiting for us when we arrived. We had a
shorter program, no more games, and
feeding but it was as fulfilling and happy.
We finished in less than
thirty minutes then we headed back to the trail, with lesser luggage for our
hands to carry but more glee in our hearts. It was a good trek and I am
excited to trek again.
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