When my best friend invited me and my sis to accompany them to Bohol for her company's CSR project, I imagined white sandy beaches and chocolate hills. :) i immediately said yes! :) then she specified we were visiting an isolated island in Bohol to give out gifts to their main supplier - Seaweed farmers (their business is Carrageenan). I thought, "why not? Adventure?" :) oh boy was I in for an adventure! :)
We met at 5AM in her house and chartered a big banggka to bring us to Bohol. Still with wine in my system from the night before, coupled with huge waves as there was a tropical depression hitting Cebu at the time, I was barfing my life away for the entire 4hour boat ride! Hahaha when we got there, it was low tide so we had no choice but to wade through the water to their beach.
The water was crystal clear and the sand was immaculately white, colored fishes sweeping by your feet with lots and lots of Starfishes, but a few meters away from the shoreline my face wrinkled when I smelled something familiar (I've been stationed in Payatas for community rotation - and that familiar scent of garbage just can't be mistaken). And true enough, on the shore was piles of trash. :( I wondered where all this trash was coming from, maybe the storms that coincidentally hit Bohol? But our guide informs us, this was normal haul - the sea had brought it in. :(
When we got on the island, immediately little kids with sun-burnt Amber colored hair curiously followed us, tan-skinned mothers would greet us "Maayong Buntag" as we passed through the town to get to my Besty's new warehouse.
Huge jars could be found beside each house, which catches rainwater - their source of drinking water (bottled water cost more than a limb over there). Every flat space/area was filled with drying Guso/Seaweed - their main livelihood. No radio, no TV, (no electricity!) no cellphone, in sight - kids were playing outside, and parents were interacting with one another if not working. My sister whispers "real island life" and my Besty sighs "they probably don't have any stresses here". I smiled and thought of all the posts I've seen with #islandlife and thought people should know what real island life was! :))
Then I wondered "kuya, naa moy doctor diri?" And our guide looked at me as if I had asked an outrageous question "naa! Along igagaw sa Chong Hua" and I was flabbergasted at the idea that the "closest" doctor was 3-4hrs away, by boat! And it suddenly hit me that these were the statistics we are shown in the many health-leadership seminars I've been to, the 60+% of the Philippine population who live and die without ever seeing a doctor. Everyone I knew had at one point been seen/treated by a doctor, so I wondered where that majority was - turns out they were right there. That was 1 island in a country of 7,107(give or take?) so I guess a majority might be just about right.
What the island lacked in commodities, they made up for in natural resources - oh, the food! It was amazing! When we got to the warehouse, I immediately smelled something familiar again! :) this time my face didn't wrinkle but my tummy started to grumble - and there by the beach were 2 of the largest lechons I've ever seen being cooked for our little group. :) the seaweed farmers and their families had prepared a huge boodle feast for us - crabs, shrimps, shells, lechon, tihi-tihi. We dined with them and it was amazing! :) i learned the pigs were actually grown on the island by one of the farmers' wives - she had them prepared for the group. It was amazing to think how well they took care of us with the little that they had when really, it was us who needed them - they were the main suppliers to the national corporation that my Besty runs.
After the feasting, it was time to give out the gifts - simple Shemberg bags with shirts, a few products - but the families were eternally grateful. :) it was amaZing witnessing that. They treated us as if we were the ones who had given them so much, when in a span of a day, they had given us so much more - an eye-opening experience of what real island life was.
Going home, it was another wavy pukefest adventure! Hahaha but it was well worth it. :) Someday I hope to go back to that island, and maybe visit others like it, and maybe give a little bit more of myself away. That doctor situation needs to be looked at. Hmmm...
We met at 5AM in her house and chartered a big banggka to bring us to Bohol. Still with wine in my system from the night before, coupled with huge waves as there was a tropical depression hitting Cebu at the time, I was barfing my life away for the entire 4hour boat ride! Hahaha when we got there, it was low tide so we had no choice but to wade through the water to their beach.
The water was crystal clear and the sand was immaculately white, colored fishes sweeping by your feet with lots and lots of Starfishes, but a few meters away from the shoreline my face wrinkled when I smelled something familiar (I've been stationed in Payatas for community rotation - and that familiar scent of garbage just can't be mistaken). And true enough, on the shore was piles of trash. :( I wondered where all this trash was coming from, maybe the storms that coincidentally hit Bohol? But our guide informs us, this was normal haul - the sea had brought it in. :(
When we got on the island, immediately little kids with sun-burnt Amber colored hair curiously followed us, tan-skinned mothers would greet us "Maayong Buntag" as we passed through the town to get to my Besty's new warehouse.
Huge jars could be found beside each house, which catches rainwater - their source of drinking water (bottled water cost more than a limb over there). Every flat space/area was filled with drying Guso/Seaweed - their main livelihood. No radio, no TV, (no electricity!) no cellphone, in sight - kids were playing outside, and parents were interacting with one another if not working. My sister whispers "real island life" and my Besty sighs "they probably don't have any stresses here". I smiled and thought of all the posts I've seen with #islandlife and thought people should know what real island life was! :))
Then I wondered "kuya, naa moy doctor diri?" And our guide looked at me as if I had asked an outrageous question "naa! Along igagaw sa Chong Hua" and I was flabbergasted at the idea that the "closest" doctor was 3-4hrs away, by boat! And it suddenly hit me that these were the statistics we are shown in the many health-leadership seminars I've been to, the 60+% of the Philippine population who live and die without ever seeing a doctor. Everyone I knew had at one point been seen/treated by a doctor, so I wondered where that majority was - turns out they were right there. That was 1 island in a country of 7,107(give or take?) so I guess a majority might be just about right.
What the island lacked in commodities, they made up for in natural resources - oh, the food! It was amazing! When we got to the warehouse, I immediately smelled something familiar again! :) this time my face didn't wrinkle but my tummy started to grumble - and there by the beach were 2 of the largest lechons I've ever seen being cooked for our little group. :) the seaweed farmers and their families had prepared a huge boodle feast for us - crabs, shrimps, shells, lechon, tihi-tihi. We dined with them and it was amazing! :) i learned the pigs were actually grown on the island by one of the farmers' wives - she had them prepared for the group. It was amazing to think how well they took care of us with the little that they had when really, it was us who needed them - they were the main suppliers to the national corporation that my Besty runs.
After the feasting, it was time to give out the gifts - simple Shemberg bags with shirts, a few products - but the families were eternally grateful. :) it was amaZing witnessing that. They treated us as if we were the ones who had given them so much, when in a span of a day, they had given us so much more - an eye-opening experience of what real island life was.
Going home, it was another wavy pukefest adventure! Hahaha but it was well worth it. :) Someday I hope to go back to that island, and maybe visit others like it, and maybe give a little bit more of myself away. That doctor situation needs to be looked at. Hmmm...
