On the Realm of Self-fulfillment

The warm rays of the eight o’clock sun highlight the panorama of an unspoiled rural charm- the verdant color of coconut trees, a row of indigenous huts made of nipa and bamboo slates, the ensemble of the natives clapping their hands, tapping their feet on the floor while singing a welcome song. Not from afar, a stretch of pebbled beach exudes a crisp scent of breeze to complement the sweet taste of buko juice I am sipping while lounging at the Coconut Pavilion of Costa Aguada, a resort within Inampulugan Island.

Following that respite, I boarded the tram to my final destination and got off in front of San Ernesto Elementary School. The frail look of the school building in termite-ravaged columns, patched walls of both bamboo and wood, and its dilapidated nipa roofing mislead me to regard it as only one of the native huts in the island. But tucked within this odd educational refuge are a number of students willing to learn despite the hurdles of sharing a worn-out textbook while sitting in their respective chairs devised only from the excess materials of the resort. The scarcity of learning materials goes up to the wall where the alphabet, the numbers, the color chart and the likes are only drawn if not cut out from magazines or from their old textbooks.

However, they have regained hope as we hand them school supplies, children’s books, and a set of Grolier Children’s Encyclopedia- which, with the advent of modern technology and the internet, have become obsolete for us, yet for them is still modern compared to their decades-old textbooks. Their innocent faces illuminate an innate feeling of happiness which I can’t help but mirror out.

Looking into this bizarre set-up makes me think of the realm of self-fulfillment where no earthly happiness can take me to; only a rare encounter with the children of Inampulugan who changed my inner perspective. Realizing how things I have taken for granted could mean so much to them is an affirmation that finally, yes I am there!