Ain’t really no mountain high, no valley low, or river wide
enough to keep me from pursuing my passion.
Since 2007, I have been combining my love of the outdoors and with with my desire to help kids through a group I co-founded called TREK or TRails to
Empower Kids. We go to far-flung areas
to provide aid to kids.
So, it didn’t matter that I had to travel 1,500 miles by
land, air, and sea for 30 hours from Bangkok (where
I attended the World Travel and Tourism Council Summit sponsored by my client,
AirAsia) to
Casiguran. I had to be there when our
group conducted our second in a series of ten outreach programs to celebrate our 10th or Anniversary - or our
#trek10for10.
Casiguran, Aurora was the site of our group’s second
project, held in May of 2008. Our beneficiaries in Casiguran are
members of the indigenous group called Agtas or Dumagats, who are students of a
School of Living Tradition called Sentrong Paaralan ng mga Agta,
or SPA.
Our 2008 outreach was followed by another activity in
2012. So, our recent project was
actually our third for the school.
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| #trek10for10 Casiguran volunteers |
The site is specifically located at Sitio Disigisaw in
Casiguran, Aurora. Unlike the usual
sites of TREK where we have to hike in, this time we
only had to ride a boat to the site. The
ride is about an hour and a half.
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| Sitio Disigisaw |
We were the last team to take the boats to Sitio
Disigisaw. Our other volunteers left
earlier and they had the donations with them. When we arrived, the kids had already
finished doing their artwork; our kitchen team already halfway
done with the meal preparations; and our volunteers were finished conducting
their dental mission, storytelling session, and games.
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| Boat to Sitio Disigisaw. Photo by Nelfie Flores |
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| Volunteers arriving with the donations. Photo by Nelfie Flores |
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| Storytelling. Photo by Nelfie Flores |
It looked so much different now. For one, they already have a classroom so the
teacher and the students are no longer camping in the barangay hall. We helped build that classroom the last time
we visited. There are also more finished houses now in the village.
I remember the last time we were there, we stayed overnight and
we were awed by the beautiful sunset and the fireflies that took over the
display of wonders. We stayed in the
barangay hall, and some of the community members
joined our socials, which lasted until the wee hours of the night.
I remember this kid was asked by his mom to fetch his
father. The father didn't go with him,
so the mother went herself. The irony
was, instead of the father going home, both of them stayed and entertained
us. The poor kid had to
sleep in one of the benches with us!
We weren’t able to stay overnight this time. We only had three days and the site is quite
far from Manila, where most of us stay. Our
travel time ate up most of our itinerary. Nevertheless, the short time we spent again
in the community was very memorable.
All of the kids we saw in 2008 and 2012 were no longer
there. Some had transferred, the others
graduated.
The school only takes up to grade 3
now. The older kids are transferred to a
bigger school in the town proper.
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| Some of the kids of SPA |
Aside from the usual gifts we bring to the kids - which
are backpacks, school supplies, raincoats, slippers, toys, art kits, and
hygiene kits - we
also brought cloth the kids can use as their tribal costume, tables for the
school, water system, sacks of rice for their feeding program, and also
some pre-loved clothes.
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| This is me with the kids |
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| Picture with the kids after the turnover of donations |
It is really a joy to watch these kids’ faces light up when
they receive their gifts. It takes a lot
of effort, not to mention so much stress, to put these projects together, but
their shy smiles are more than enough to reward us.
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| Turnover of donations led by our youngest volunteer, Izyan |
It’s sad that it started to rain, so we had to leave
earlier than planned. I still wanted to
spend more time with their kids. But it
was still okay, because that meant more bonding time with my fellow
volunteers. We spent the rest of our
time together exploring the tourist attractions around. We take voluntourism to heart.
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| #trek10for10 Casiguran volunteers at Dilasag's grassland |
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| one of the beaches of Dilasag |
Thank you very much to all my fellow volunteers, led by the
expedition leaders JP, Jane, Joseph, and Marren; the community members of Sitio
Disigisaw; the tourism officers of Casiguran; and of course the kids for
another unforgettable weekend.
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