At 28 hours, our group,
TRails to Empower Kids or TREK, just had its longest trip ever. What was
supposed to be just 14 hours of travel, no thanks to our rented bus that had to
stop at every corner because of overheating, doubled
in length. But, it was all good.
TREK Tinglayan is our
group’s fifth outreach activity this year, in a series of 10 to celebrate our
10th Anniversary. Our chosen
partner community is the village of Loccong, which is tucked in the mountains
of Tinglayan, close to Buscalan where the Whang-Od, the famous mambabatok or tattooist practices her craft.
TREK first visited Loccong
in 2014, the only outreach activity of TREK in its decade of reaching out to
the country’s far-flung communities that
I have missed. I was recovering then
from a mountain climbing accident.
We were supposed to arrive
in Tabuk, Kalinga early morning, have breakfast, then travel a few hours more
via mini bus or van to the town of Tinglayan, where trucks were waiting for us
to bring us to our jump off point.
Instead of arriving early afternoon at our jump off point, we arrived at
midnight.
When we were supposed to be
either merry making or sleeping soundly, we were in the mountains, trekking, in
that pitch dark, silent and cold night.
But, as they say, never
curse the darkness for it reveals the brightest stars. Am not just referring to those hordes of stars around the
Milky Way stretching overhead us. I am talking about our volunteers, who did not
only carried on without complaints but
also remained cheerful; and the community members of Loccong, who waited for us
to the wee hours of the morning, to
welcome us.
I have always known the
people of Kalinga to be very hospitable.
Loccong was already the third
community in Kalinga I was able to visit.
In 2008, also with TREK, I went to Lobo in Tanudan. Two years ago, we visited Tawang in Balbalan.
But, I was still overwhelmed
by the reception of the community. I didn’t expect that spread. I have never been that excited to eat fried
chicken and pineapples in my life. If my mom were there, she would have delighted to see
so many rice cakes. There must
have been more than 10 kinds of viands there.
We learned that the mothers
have been waiting for us for hours. The
food had gone cold, but not their warm smiles.
For the next two days, it
was one beautiful gesture of kindness after the other. We had hot cups of Kalinga brews always
waiting for us. We didn’t have to worry
about our meals because they always cooked for us.
As our expedition leader, Rex, said during this speech “Naging sentro
ng pagtutulungan ang Loccong.” (Loccong
has become the center of brotherhood (or sisterhood)).
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| Some of the students of Loccong with the volunteers of TREK Tinglayan |
The tasks of cooking were
divided among the moms of Loccong. The
fathers took charge in hauling the donations.
Even the kids had their chores.
They were in charge of washing the dishes and fetching water.
Every member of the
community also took time out to prepare a program for us. Almost everyone performed. The kids started the program with their
traditional dances. Their parents
followed. The teachers had their own
surprise. They got us teary eyed when
they sang an original composition to the tune of Kanlungan.
The program lasted almost
the whole day, and it extended until nighttime. The
men lit a bonfire for us and taught us their courtship dance.
When we do these outreach
activities, we get applauds from people for all our efforts. But, the truth is, it is usually us who benefit more than
the people we serve. Sure, the kids got
new backpacks, school supplies, raincoats, and other gifts. The school got construction materials for a
new makeshift classroom (Thanks, PSBank!). But, what we got are a lot more.
 |
| Some of the donations |
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| #teamsimplengmaasahan |
We experienced authentic
indigenous cultures and traditions. What
can be more genuine than seeing traditional dances performed by the members of our cultural communities, in costumes passed on to them by their forefathers, at exactly the
places their ancestors performed them?
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| Students performing a traditional dance |
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| Loccong Elementary School students |
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| Kids of Loccong Elementary School |
We met people who we will be
fond of for the rest of our lives. There was the affable Kapitana Susan, whose
message got us all stirred up. “Go forth
and multiply,” she said. There were the
inspiring teachers of Loccong who showed us the true meaning of serving. There were also kids whose hopes keep us
positive and determined to continue this advocacy.
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| Our Expedition Leader Rex dancing with Kapitana Susan |
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| Kids sharing to us their dreams through their artworks |
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| More kids doing artworks |
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| Artworks time! |
We gained more friends from
diverse backgrounds, and I must
emphasize, across different generations. Our ever reliable “elders” are now
complemented by our equally hard working millennials.
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| TREK Tinglayan volunteers |
We were also able to step
foot in some of the country’s most beautiful places. Imagine a school perched
atop a mountain, surrounded by endless peaks, sometimes obscured by clouds and
highlighted by rice terraces.
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| View from Loccong Elementary School |
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| The village of Buscalan as seen from Loccong |
On our way down, we got to
trek in these rice paddies, met Whang-Od, and refreshed in a waterfall. We also
got to marvel again at its most famous mountain, Sleeping Beauty.
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| Some of the volunteers with Apo Whang-Od. Photo by Darwin Fabrigaras. |
Cliché as it may sound;
volunteering gives us things money can never buy – happiness, fulfillment, and
a new sense of purpose.
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