The Quest for the Enchanted Bamboo

Wild Orchid
overlooking Tipunan

.

At least, it should have been enchanted after what we went through to get it.


Let me back up and explain. One of my projects here is helping to build a Science Greenhouse. I planned this with one of my counterparts months ago. Our hopes are that we can build a greenhouse that can be used as a controlled environment to conduct experiments on plants and soil that are related to the science subjects. This is really great because it would relate to students interests as most of them are farmers. If we can show them that science can be useful for something in their personal lives, then hopefully they will become more eager to learn science. In order to build this thing as cheaply as possible, we decided to build the frame out of bamboo poles. And here begins Part II of Matt's Magical Adventures in the Philippines.


Of course, we could have just bought the poles. We were offered a set of bamboo for p100. Whoa! That's like $2.50! But if we could get it for free by walking, then that's what we would do. It would be worth a nice little hike if we could save some money. Or so we thought. It was told to us that if we were willing to walk a few kilometers, we could cut our own bamboo and carry it back for free.

See the peak in the distance? That's my house.

And so, one of the teachers told us to meet him one bright and sunny morning in the far-flung village of Tipunan. I met the students at the school and we started our trek. I assumed we would simply follow the national highway to the little road that wound its way down to Tipunan. It's a long walk but mostly down hill. There are no rides passing along the road, so anyone wishing to go to (or leave) Tipunan must hike.


Almost immediately the students veered off into the bushes along what revealed itself to be a narrow path. Down, down, down we went. Every now and then we would pop back out at the national highway before the students cut off onto another invisible pathway. As it turned out we were simply cutting the curves of the highway, saving us distance and time.

Arabica Coffee Beans

Eventually, the students who were leading (so much for my chaperoning) wound there way behind a house, down a slippery trail, and onto a dirt road. We walked for nearly 2 hours passing very few people along the way. Those we did see passed us slowly, hands clasped behind their backs, and dirty cloths around their necks to shield them from the sun. They seemed to be concentrating on putting one rubber boot in front of the other in absolutely no hurry whatsoever. We practically galloped by them as we charged down the mountain. 

Native bananas

After a while, we finally reached the bottom. A river rushed past and we crossed a rickety hanging bridge. Natural vegetation was scarce. Nearly everywhere I looked I saw rows and rows of cabbages or potatoes. We all resisted the temptation to jump into the river and cool off, and decided we had better keep moving so we could meet Mr. Pakipac and find the bamboo.


It took us a few more minutes to wind our way into the village of Tipunan. We found Mr. Pakipac's house which was nestled behind the high school. In order to finish our work before lunch, he offered to take us right away to the bamboo grove. I was pretty tired, but agreed we should just get it over with.

Mr. Pakipac shows us the bamboo.

And then we hiked what seemed to me another mountain just as tall as the one we just came down. Up, and up. And up and up. This time there was no road, or even a dry trail. We scrambled up slick mud stairs that had slowly given into a steep slope leading up to the peak. The sun beating at our backs, we climbed breathlessly to the top.


We nearly dropped once we reached the top, but Mr. Pakipac marched straight to a small clump of bamboo and started hacking away. We formed a sort of assembly line; some students cut, others removed the leaves, and the rest passed them down the mountain. After we cut 12 long bamboo poles we headed back down. 

Stripping the leaves off the poles.

At one point I slipped and instinctively grabbed for something to hold on to. However, the only thing around was razor sharp "knife" grass. One of my fingers was sliced open and started gushing blood. One of the students saw and ran and picked some leaves from the side of the trail. I'd seen these before because they are everywhere, and I had always assumed that they were just weeds. So, you can imagine my surprise when he mashed them up and pressed them to my finger. The bleeding stopped instantly!


However, before I could properly thank the student, my attention was caught by something even more amazing. We had reached the a break in the trail and decided to follow a road back to the village. It was longer but not as steep and slippery. Just as I was looking up to ask about this incredible plant that had saved my life, I caught a glimpse of a carnivorous pitcher plant hanging on the cliff above the road. I had never seen on before! And as I looked closer, I noticed there was an entire colony of them! Another student, seeing my interest, walked to the cliff and uprooted a small plant, and handed it to me to grow in my apartment.

Pitcher plants

While waiting for lunch, we decided to
help the community and add to our bottle bricks!
Demonstrated here is the "Igorot Squat."
See if YOU can sit with your butt suspended and
your heels flat on the ground...

After lunch came the hike back up the mountain. We decided to take the road, rather than the trail. Again, it took 2 hours, this time all uphill. I learned why the farmers I had seen before were walking so slowly. Near the end it was all I could do to place one foot in front of the other. But thankfully, just as I was regretting again and again under my breath for not forking over the p100, we reached the national road and it began to rain. The walk back home was easy after that.


By the time I got home, it was cold, and I promised my self I would heat some water for a warm bucket bath. Little did I know I was about to walk in on the beginning of a 3 day brownout and would have no electricity for the next few days.

Focusing on the Good

Before I start, I just want you all to know I can cross off what was possibly the most challenging goal on my list. Yes that's right, I successfully cooked a PERFECT pot of rice! Even though it was just a little pot, it was soft and fluffy and not a single grain was scorched. If I can do that, I can do anything.

Time here at my site has become what in the back of my mind I was secretly trying to procrastinate. But, there is no denying it now. What I'm doing every day is - Full. On. Work. Not the easy, leisurely work I imagined as a volunteer, but full-time, stress-filled, dedicated work. I love it, but I sure am tired at the end of the week. This school year, I've taken on the full responsibilities of a Filipino teacher and then some. Arriving to school every day before 7:30 and staying until 6:00. Managing 5 classes and three after school clubs. Plus developing a remedial course while tutoring two students after school. My week is booked solid, and I didn't realize how busy I've been until today when I realized it was the first day I've had to myself in the past two months.

For the most part, I feel increasingly more accomplished than those first few months of service. I'll admit there were days when I was wondering how much good I was actually doing, if my service would even make the tiniest bit of difference. There were times I felt my community didn't appreciate all the work I had been doing. In fact, there were days I wanted to shout, "Hey! I'm a volunteer. There's nothing holding me here because I'm hear on my own free will! I'm dong more work than you and I'm not even getting paid for it!" 

I'm sure other volunteers have had similar thoughts. They creep up on you and it's easy to dwell on them and let them worm their way into your head. It was scary how fast it happened and I had to constantly remind myself of the reason I came here in the first place.

When school started, I was afraid it would bring the same stress as last year. The first week was frustrating because the kids wouldn't behave. It's hard to find that balance sometimes between "friend" and "teacher," and I was having a really hard time trying to keep class fun, while holding the respect of the students.

There was one day, when it was just too much. Two periods in a row of misbehaving students and I slumped into a chair in the office while waiting for the coffee to heat. Two other teachers were also in the office gossiping about their classes. All our class sections have names, and in this case, they were upset with the Dhalia class's behavior. Finally, one of them proudly stood up and declared, "Dhalia, you are not enough to ruin my day!"

What a wonderful phrase! It was at that moment I realized that the negative thoughts I had been thinking only bother me because I let them. Since then, it has become my personal slogan to myself. When there is something that would bother me, whether it be students or co-workers, I just smile at them and think life's too short for you to ruin this day for me. It also opened my eyes to all the students who are behaving and the teachers who do care. It's sad that out of a group full of good people, it just takes one to create a bad impression of the whole. Thankfully I have come to see the good impressions before the bad ones. Seeing the good in other people makes life easier on yourself.

Until next time,

Matt

Photos:

1. Mt. Data Calla Lilly 

2. Woman standing in rice fields

3. Grilled fish wrapped in banana leaves

4. Class hike

5. Spider fighting

6. Barangay clean-up in lower Bauko

7. Things got a little crazy in a game of SPOONS when charcoal got involved

8. Provincial Athletic Meet

9. Welcome sign on my first day at site

Grow Your Goals

Wow, I have been running nonstop! School is going great and I'm really enjoying teaching 5 sections of English, as well as help out with the English Club and Achievers' League. I was also asked to help out two students in a remedial program. We have a lot of fun a few days a week singing on the guitar, trying to untangle the crazy rules of the language (although it seems that there are more exceptions to the rules than there are rules), and have a good time. I also conducted one training on the Understanding By Design theory and, this past week, two fellow volunteers visited me at site and helped me conduct two trainings that I can knock off of my goals list. 


On Friday, we held an all-day training for our school's Supreme Student Government. It's almost the same as  Student Council would be back home. The students are elected by the student body and are expected to organize activities, school projects, and act as liaison between teachers and students. Our training introduced them to Robert's Rules and the basic elements of a parliamentary meeting. We also discussed the roles of officers and the expectations of the organization. The second half of the day was focused on project development, and we discussed creating some school unity through school spirit, and prioritizing a list of projects the SSG can begin to work on. The kids were great and I hope they'll be able to use some of our advice. The next goal (cross your fingers) is that our students can now go and lead the same training at the other schools in our district.

The next day, we conducted a Classroom Management training for the teachers at my school. We even had some guests come from another school. It was a day filled with learning about teen behavior, how to react to different situations, and make the classrooms better for everyone. We had the teachers do all kinds of insane activities that were very entertaining to watch. We even ended the day by teaching them the Electric Slide!

Both days were very successful, and I had a great time watching the teachers and students get excited about their future plans to make the school better. Hopefully I'll get to see some small changes take place before I leave. But already this year the teachers seem to be trying extra hard, and their effort is being rubbed off onto the students!