Books for Babuyan Islands (Part 2 of 2)

Read Part 1

We left Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City at 6:00 a.m. on March 17, 2015. With a truck and a pick up loaded with school supplies, slippers, raincoats, books and bookshelves, we travelled all the way to Sta. Ana, Cagayan on a mini bus that we borrowed from the Dominican Seminary.

The next day, with good weather welcomed us as we were to embark on a four-hour boat ride across Babuyan Channel, a route that is always rough and does not have regular passenger ferry boats.

Although we were spared from a typhoon that was said to be entering the Philippine area of responsibility a few days before we crossed Babuyan Channel, we were not spared from a coral rock that we accidentally hit on our way to Morol Elementary School on the second day of our mission. With a hole in the hull of the boat, the volunteers had to abandon the boat and swim to shore about 50 meters away. Luckily we were rescued by fishermen who got news of our mishap. We had to abort our mission on that day.

On the third day of our mission, I requested just six volunteers to come with me to pursue the delivery of bookshelves, books and school supplies to Morol Elementary School. From the parish church, reaching the school would take a two-hour boat ride and 45 minutes trek.

Some Grade 3 pupils joined us during the trek. I asked them about their dreams. Sunshine said she wanted to be a teacher. Another said he wanted to be a policeman. A boy named Ricky, on the other hand, said all he wanted was to be in Grade 4, and his answer elicited laughter – a laughter that would turn into a contrite realization that perhaps due to poverty, this boy was really not sure if he could make it to Grade 4 at all.

The remaining days of our one week mission were spent sorting and distributing school supplies for the four schools. Among the volunteers were Rey Bufi of The Storytelling Project and teacher Chinky Carandang. Dino Dimar, a survivor of the Florida bus accident in Bontoc, was with us to document the mission. It was his first time to ride a bus again after last year’s accident.

During his first visit in 2009, Mon Corpuz met a group of children in Sitio Tangyud whom he photographed and promised to give copies to when he returns. It was a happy and emotional reunion between the photographer and the children who had since grown up.

Mountaineers Yay Ortega and Shella Milaor, were our kitchen staff together with Mon Corpuz. Kuya Nine, who used to work for Joey Ayala, brought his guitar and ukulele and played music for us. Before we left, he gave away his instruments to a couple of children who wanted to learn how to play.

The volunteers in this outreach mission to Babuyan Islands were a mix of artists, photographers, mountaineers, musicians, and adventurers. We brought home with us and will always cherish the memories of the poor school children in the island, who in spite of their poverty, hope to fulfill their dreams for a better future.