for a Cause

Two years ago, as I was going about my daily business as a student, a friend of mine invited me to an event organized by a local outdoor shop here in Manila. The event was supposed to benefit a few kids in a rural school of Quezon province called, sitio bangkong kahoy (Wooden Bench Sector ) and we decided to join in, it is, after all, for charity. but that didn't graze my mind, not much anyway, for I was looking forward to the scheduled climb that comes after the charity ceremony in S.B.K.

being young, I didn't pay much attention to such things, I didn't quite put to my head what the event was about.

then came the day when the scheduled event was set.

we arrived at the meeting place at 6:00 A.M. we were supposed to ride a jeep to get to the place, which came to me as no surprise. a lot of the rural communities here are only accesible by rough roads. but was surprised however when we took to the road. It rougher than I expected, there were no houses for miles, as if it was not enough, a steep climb had to be taken for another two miles in order to get to our destination.

when we finally arrived at our destination, I saw this almost run down school. at an estimated elevation of 600 MASL. these kids greeted us with smiles that is unparalleled by anything I ever seen. we saw the local teacher and got to chat with her a while, and learnt that the benefit climb is for her salary. that she hasn't been earning her salary but continued to teach for three more years. they were about to shut the school down, but the event (scheduled to go ever month) saved the community and the kids, my heart sank deep for the good deed we did that day, which i didn't realize until later in the day. as we left the place, the teacher, along with the kids, told us in unison "Salamat, salamat, salamat!" (Thank you!) We climbed up that day, with heavy loads on our back, but with a light, unexplainable feeling in our hearts, knowing well that the school will go on for another month.