Alright, here's the longest post. Day 3. The day that was filled with the most number of surprises, both good and bad. That day, left the greatest impact on us.
3. Day Three
On the third day, after breakfast, some of us went on a venture to the farm behind the centre. Although it was meant to be a visit to the farm, some of us decided to go further. We wanted an adventure. We walked up stream along the side of the river behind the farm. However, due to time constraints, we had to return to the centre shortly after reaching the side of the damaged dam. Later on upon returning to the centre, we were greeted with a surprise. We were going to the beach! We took about 20 minutes to travel there. On the way we passed the Airport which serves the domestic flights from Manila. The runway looked decent, but the fence was similar to that of a private house. How good it would be, if terrorists never existed, and Singapore’s Changi International Airport had fences like those? The waters at the beach were crystal clear, not the very salty, bitter water we have back at Sentosa’s beaches. One could wade more than 20 metres away from shore, but the waters were no higher than just above the waist. The houses there were mainly attap, with only one or two modern-looking bungalows lining the backdrop of the beach. When some of us went to wash up, the tap we used was something that was extinct in Singapore. We had to pump up water from a pipe into a pail!
In the afternoon after lunch, we met up with students from Candau-ay Elementary School, who brought us on a short tour around the village. Firstly, we visited a dumpsite serving the city. Once there, it was not the majestic hills of refuse that shocked me. It was the people who did. There were scavengers, young and old, scavenging for recyclable items among the hills of refuse! Some of the young were still children, and were students from Candau-ay Elementary School! It hit me that the families who were hit with poverty had a key to help them escape the poverty cycle. The key was their children. The community gave out scholarships to top students who deserved to carry on with their studies at high school or college. If the children were able to move on with the help of a scholarship, there would come a day when the child of an affected family helps the family to break free of the poverty cycle.
Next, we walked back to the centre, and along the way we explored an avenue, looking at the extent of the damage done to the area, caused by a very serious flood on 7th February. Once back, we decided to continue the adventure from where we left off earlier in the morning. This time, John, our teacher in-charge decided to come along with us. We went further up stream this time round, with the aid of our guide and young host, Elaine. Many of us discovered something about ourselves during the short expedition. We had the intention of reaching a waterfall, which Elaine said she knew of. However we had to turn back once again as we were running out of time to go any further. During the journey, we met with many dangers. However, with us working closely as a team, we overcame every obstacle and everyone returned safely. Along the way, we observed the immense damage caused by the flood on 7th February. It was shocking to see the amount of damage caused. Even the rock wall which protected the village from flooding was badly damaged.
Dinner that evening was very special. We were going to have dinner under the stars! On a side note, almost all of our dinners at the centre was candle-lit, including the dinner we had that night. The guys also had a pleasant surprise, when we were given a bottle of local beer to drink. It tasted very different from the local brands we have back here, and it was better, in fact, although the alcohol content was similar.
That night after dinner, Mr Saceda invited us over to his residence for a sing-along session. He taught us two songs, Seasons of Love, and If We Hold On. Those songs showed me the spirit of the people of Dumaguete City, nicknamed The City of Gentle People. Although it was just the second day of the trip, we were already feeling the warmth of the people there.
Upon returning to the centre, we had our preparation for the first of three days of lessons for the students of Candau-ay Elementary School. That evening, we also managed to clear the grey areas in our purposes for the trip. After we were done with the planning of lessons, some of us decided to integrate a small campfire with our rehearsal for the Cultural Night which was to be held on Tuesday evening. We managed to set everything up quickly, but there was only one problem. We were unable to get the fire started! I even used a can of deodorant spray in hopes of increasing the intensity of the fire, but that failed as well. Mr Chan was surprised that, with us using the whole bottle of kerosene to fuel the fire, we were still unable to get it started. A bottle of kerosene was enough to start two to three fires larger than the one we were having that evening. Although we failed miserably, we decided to try again the next evening. I felt that, although it was a failure, it was good that we admitted our failure to the group, and decided to not give in and try to have the campfire again the next evening when we were having our rehearsal again. The night ended with our very first debrief session in the trip.
Today, I had a great dream. We were back at the centre on a follow-up trip, and this time, there were 2 other schools with us! So that makes 4 schools in all. We were all missed by the people there, and they were so glad to see us all back as well! The centre had been through an upgrade, and it now has 2 storeys! Facilities were better, and it sure looked like a small school with modern facilities! Sadly, for today, I had not started on the research for my part of the presentation, but I'll be doing it as soon as I post this up.
Anyways, the next few posts from tomorrow would be a little short, for I had forgotten the flow of activities we had planned in advance. Hopefully I might be able to recall as I go through the day's events one by one.
Three more days to the end of my first module in the first semester of my second year!
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