Like and share: School supplies for the kids of Hungduan, Ifugao

It was 9 a.m., the wind was cold, but the morning sun was already climbing high atop the rice terraces. The road was full of twists and turns, and there were occasional landslides. I’ve been on these kinds of roads before, particularly on top of jeepneys, but this was one of the most enjoyable “topload” experiences ever.

This happened two weeks ago when I joined a group of volunteers going to Hungduan, Ifugao, to deliver school supplies to the children of Baang Elementary School.

The project was headed by Sir Ephraim V. Domingo, whom we called “Sir If”, a college teacher at a university in Baguio. I met Sir If during an interview just last May, and on that same day he added me on Facebook. I browsed his profile and came across a post regarding a fund-raising project aimed to provide school supplies for children.

It was in April when he posted in his Facebook account the story of a girl who used a banana leaf in place of pad paper. He shared this story to raise funds with an idea that whoever “likes” the post promises to donate a pencil or a notebook. He would follow-up each “liker” and would personally meet them to get the donations.

Moved by the mission of the project, I hit the like button, and then started my adventure to the fields of Ifugao, because a few days later, he invited me to join his group to deliver the collected school supplies.

We left Baguio on a Sunday morning. We were seven in the group and five among us had been students of Sir If. None of us knew each other until that day, and Sir If was our only common friend. Yet it was easy to break the ice since we were all from the same university. After a few introductions, games, and a trip to a restaurant where we had pancit-buko, we got to know each other quite well for the rest of our journey.

Travelling to Hungduan from Baguio would usually take six to seven hours passing by Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya. But our trip lasted for more than nine hours due to multiple landslides in Banaue. Part of the delay was when we had to wait for the loader to clear the road. We were fortunate to get through smaller landslides; however, our driver was hesitant to cross a huge one just before Hungduan. As much as we wanted to arrive in Hungduan that day, we decided to spend the night at a homestay in Banaue. This decision was out of our budget, but we considered it as a treat after a long trip. We were excited for that hot shower bath– unfortunately, the landslides hindered the flow of water going to the inn and the tanks were empty. The innkeepers provided us cold rainwater for a bath that night.

At around 8 of the following morning, we resumed the last 45-minute trip to Hungduan. Upon arrival, we loaded the supplies inside a tramline. This transported the supplies to an area near the school, where some students would be waiting to help carry them.

We passed by a river through a hanging bridge, then a narrow path of rice paddies. Thirty minutes later we were welcomed by local officials and teachers of Baang Elementary School. When we arrived, the children, along with their parents, were cleaning the school grounds which was part of their brigada.

Before lunch time, we finished sorting and packing the supplies into kits. Each kit contained 8 notebooks, a pad of paper, a pencil, a pen, some crayons, and a sharpener. Sir If shared that his initial goal was to solicit for kindergarten and grade one students only. Fortunately, the donations had exceeded his expectations, thus, we were able to give a kit for each of the 126 students from kindergarten to grade six.

We also taught the children a few action songs; they enjoyed singing and dancing “Paa, Tuhod” with a twist. After lunch they drew and wrote notes to thank the donors. Their smiles showed gratitude for what they received. Some of them got really excited when they saw Frozen and Star Wars-themed notebooks. In a rural place as far as Baang, a set of school supplies is a big thing. Their happiness and appreciation made our whole trip worth it.

It is interesting how a creative idea fuelled by the heart of helping could go far. Generosity is an innate trait that needs to be triggered to cause a ripple effect. We thank each sponsor for making these children happy and ready for this school year.

We would love to be back next year, hopefully with even more to share. We wish to continue with the project and raise funds for the school’s TV set since most of them do not have this at home. It would be a great help if they also benefited from the perks of educational shows.

— BM, GMA News