Mission to Camiguin Norte, Babuyan Islands: In the spirit of volunteerism

MANILA, Philippines - After three days of waiting from the shore town of Sta. Ana, Cagayan, our group finally got the green light from our boatman Harley to prepare for the sea crossing to Camiguin Norte, Babuyan Islands on the morning of June 5.

On board Harley’s boat were Dominican Order missionaries, educators, mountaineers, health workers, outdoor explorers, businessmen, students, and a photojournalist, together with loads of school supplies.

The mission is seemingly simple – to deliver and distribute supplies to students of several schools in the remote island.

The ‘Brent Josephine’ took more or less four hours as the boat braved each wave. A year ago, the force of those billows capsized their boat on a similar mission. That must have had solidified our desire to be more successful in our endeavor.

After all, we were not just simply individuals on a mission, we were volunteers.

For most of us in the mission, the spirit of volunteerism requires a great deal of commitment and the right level of understanding. This spirit begs questions beyond our simplest notions of who and how to help. It reaches out to the inner most core of our hearts, attempting to transcend our awe inspirations into so much more.

Fr. Joemar Sibug, one of the Dominican missionaries aboard, somehow assured us that the mission would be a worthwhile enterprise. He also chronicled to the new volunteers how the whole Babuyan Islands mission started. “It was all started by Mon Corpuz and his Black Pencil Project; he and his group went to Babuyan to do some whale-watching years back, and they thought, why not also do something for the community through their collective initiative of providing school supplies since it was back-to-school season.”

What fascinated me was the fact that the group’s initiative managed to go beyond him and his group’s name.

Upon reaching the shore of Barangay Balatubat in Camiguin Norte, our group prepped for several tasks up ahead, mostly unloading the  boat of the school supplies under the heat of the scorching sun.

After lunch, our group repacked and regrouped almost 1,100 bags with school supplies in each of them. These bags were sorted to be delivered and distributed to nearby Camiguin Norte Elementary School and Cadadalman Elementary School, and Morol Elementary School, which was a boat ride away.

Projects such as our back-to-school initiative stress the importance of education.

At the end of the day, we were satisfied with what we accomplished. While some of us prepared snacks for the children playing on the grounds of Lyceum of Camiguin, others went on with their personal yearnings. Some wore their adventure straps on and trekked the luscious mountain of Camiguin Norte, some simply played volleyball with the other kids from Balatubat, some strolled on the stunning beach of Naguilian and captured the setting sun, while a veterinarian in our ranks set on vaccinating the dogs of the locals.

The work of volunteerism just became more enriched each day we lasted on the island. Meeting people, interacting with them, understanding their plight and triumphs made us question our own contributions for the mission to be considered a success.

On our last night together, we unofficially agreed that our group might have been one of the most organized to undertake the mission. No one really took this to heart, but deep inside, we knew we did what was asked of us. We contributed.

Presence. Our presence. This struck me lightly. I was thinking of the weight of my contributions in delivering and distributing the school supplies. None of those menial actions that we had done can outweigh the fact that we were present in the mission. Our presence gave body to the spirit of volunteerism we held so closely to our heart.

(Note from the author: Our gratitude goes our to sponsors like St. Theresa’s College Alumni Association, Letran Manila, Letran Abucay, UST Junior Highschool, OB Montessori, Facade Advertising for the truck and Black Pencil Project.)