Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Beyond Impressions

Beyond Impressions
A tale of unseen fervor beyond ordinary

Immersion Surprises
Immersion activity at the Rover Moot defines it from any other activity in Philippine Scouting. It involves challenges for anyone will not know what to expect until one IMMERSEs with people. It needs a cleric heart to get motivated to work hard and finish the task. The Rover Moot was set at the Province of Aklan. To bring help no matter little and to ease burden no matter short-ending.

Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) badly ravaged the Philippine Visayan Region.  Though not being mentioned in the Philippine news as hyped as Tacloban-Leyte area, the province of Aklan was roughly torn by the typhoon. The Aklanons remain silent, unaware or perhaps unfrenzied by all the annoyance and hypocritic relief episodes being exposed in the news every day.  Seeing the place at first glance would anyone realize they too are screaming for help.  


The Call
In such short notice, I was asked to be part of the 5-man team to participate in the Immersion activity at the 10th National Rover Moot in Aklan, Panay Islands, Philippines.
Given a round-trip air ticket,  all-expense paid details with exclusive airport transfers, I decided to go and left my alone wife who will be celebrating her birthday a day following my departure. It was indeed surprising on her for I never did leave her on her special day all 20 years of our married life. Though lonely and feeling abandoned but given the worthy cause of my departure, she finally gave way.

The 5-man Laguna Council team was dispatched to Brgy Polo, municipality of New Washington, province of Aklan. I will lead the three other Laguna participants in the immersion while our Scout Executive was part of the monitoring staff in the locality. Without much validation of my being in the place I realize, my presence would dictate our goal: to deliver well and genuinely in the immersion activity. 

Call of duty
Riding a local tricycle chartered in Kalibo, we wandered at the town finding our designated accommodation site. We had checked three public schools before we found it.  It was already dusk when we arrived at Polo Elementary School in New Washington.  Anxious to settle-in, we still need to wait for the person in-charge to get down and recognize us.  Hungry and apprehensive I told my team, the challenges have just started.  The hunger has already forgotten when we had our first dinner.  But thanks anyway, dinner, at last!  Finally, I met Mr. Principal whom he temporarily offered his office for our first night stay.  As I understood, there was no other room available so we need to improvise. The principal’s office is already being used as mess area for the school’s teaching support staff for the activity.  And so after dinner….we removed all plates, glasses and spoons on the tables for those tables will serve as our bed for the night.  Challenging indeed for my team as I watched them tossed and turned the entire night finding a way to lay their weary bodies to rest.   They were not used to it I supposed.

While waiting at the principal’s office earlier, I had a chance to meet and talked to “Julito” a teacher who told me stories of their flight caused by the typhoon. He said, he will do something the following day to help us on our accommodation. I welcomed his idea and thank him in advance.

Early next day, a room was given to us. Julito even introduced me to the teacher/adviser named “Analyn” whom she said was requested by the principal to join the 3-day Immersion activity.  This means that the children will not have their classes for 3 –days to give way for our stay.  Ms. Analyn, the adviser even handed to me the classroom key.  I felt extra lucky realizing the trade-off but could not help feeling guilty of the sacrifices which the people need to undertake only to provide for us. The entire New Washington participants may not know but we were the luckiest persons in the area that time having the best shelter the place can offer.


Having said we were the luckiest, at the back of my mind we really need to perform well on our assigned tasks to compensate for all the privileges given to us. 

In our three-day immersion activities we were brought to Ochiando Elementary School for a clearing tasks, Dumaguit Elementary School to get to order the ragged covered court and school stage, Fatima Shoreline Elementary School  to clear a big mango tree which put the entire 2-classroom school building down, Cawayan Elementary School to cut into pieces branches and trunks of Narra trees hoping to salvage or if not make charcoal out of them and lastly, New Washington Central Elementary School for more clearing tasks. We did it. And we did it above par! I have to commend my team for their complete submission to the immersion activity.  They had cuts and bruises same as I but we never did realize those as excuses and just went on with our assigned tasks.


Impressions of an eager roverette
It never crossed my mind to check other participants for it was not my job anyway.  Never did we know that there was another team who arrived later than us:  the Lanao del Norte 5-man team composed of 2 Scout leaders, 2 roverettes and a rover.

They came in half-day late on the first day of the immersion activity.  I just heard about it during our closing activity, night of our third day of stay in Polo Elementary School.  At the program, some participants shared their impressions on the concluded activity and there was this young lady from Mindanao who gave hers. Petite, burnt with sun, with wavy long hair which I think has not given enough pampering due to our busy activities.  But despite that, she never seized to smile whenever being stared by anyone. And there she went ahead of her prepared speech:  a eloquently spoken Pilipino piece (tagalog ) whom I realized later that she was the one from Mindanao!!  Great demonstration of effort.

Beyond Impressions
She is “Via” from Sultan Naga Dimaporo (SND) of Lanao del Norte.  She, together with her team traveled 3 days and 3 nights from Lanao to Cagayan de Oro City, crossing the sea by boat to Cebu then land traveled to Bacolod, from Bacolod to Iloilo by boat, then finally a long and rugged land travel from Iloilo to New Washington in order to render service to the victims of typhoon in any way they can. 

The impressive piece given by Via is heart-warming but the astounding efforts and sacrifices by the team  just to get to participate in a valuable cause such as a Rover Moot has struck me the  most.  A total submission of one’s self for a worthy cause.

We had a chance to mingle with The Lanao de Norte team during our trip back to Kalibo. They were our travel mates from New Washington and our roommates too in Kalibo Pilot Elementary School.   Simple, silent and unassuming….I had a little chat with them when there was opportunity. 

Upon our arrival at Kalibo, we went at once at our assigned room and settled-in.  While we, the Luzon people were busy preparing for our respective places to sleep on….the Lanao team busied themselves for their travel arrangements going back home. I heard they will again land travel from Kalibo to Iloilo; sleep-over at BSP Iloilo City Council and air travel from Iloilo to Cagayan de Oro. From Cagayan de Oro, another humpy and bumby ride episodes going home.


After dinner at around 7 pm when it was already dark because of the general blackout in Aklan, we prepared ourselves to retire.  Not minding the ravenous mosquitoes, we immediately fell asleep because perhaps of exhaustion.  Early morning when I got up, I saw our roommates still in their deep sleep.  They are lying down on the room’s floor with their pretty malongs on.  Looking at them in an instance reminded me of the beautiful Maranao people of Mindanao.  Almost glittering in their traditional malong costumes, showing how beautiful its people and their rich culture. Eye-catching and attractive, my mind traveled to the land of the beautiful – Mindanao.   Hands down, I admire them not only for their beautiful malongs but their modesty a true and honest display of scouts’ ideal character.


Moments later, they finally got up.  We greeted each other “good morning” and once more I took the chance of talking to them.  With their malongs still on, I invited them for a short walk outside and some photo opts that they graciously accepted.  Indeed, it was a fruitful-enlightening chat with them.  Dreaming to become, a journalist, a certified public accountant and a civil engineer someday, with their outlook in life-- I am truly hopeful that they can become what they want to be in due time!   

Lucid thoughts
Today, as I again watch these good pictures taken of our encounter with the people from the land of the beautiful, Mindanao.  As I again read the original manuscript given to me by Via that she used to deliver her impression in the Rover Moot.  Sincerely, It gave me another good reason to get inspired and inspire people.  They may not be as big or as brawny as ours today.  They may not bring up a 6 years old tattered narra tree and put it back to life once more; they may not climb a roof and reinstall galvanized sheets for a school classroom should need to be prepared again; they cannot carry big chunks of tree trunks that were ravaged by the storm and pile them up to be recycled as charcoal. It’s just their genuine hearts to offer a little help to the needy.  A true sense of compassion to people who needs support the time they need it most.  Even a touch of plain sympathy to those people in grief can be very astounding if expressed timely. And it was what I have seen in the Lanao del Norte team.  More than what we accomplished in the performance of our tasks in New Washington,  more than our sweat, more than our pains….it’s plain Sincerity. We salute you! Via, Doreen, King John, Sir Imperial and Ma’am Bado. 





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