ADEN83 AND CSI83 OUTREACH IN BUHI: Men & Women for Others

Tempting for me to end this blog article with just a posting of this cover photo.  After all, it is often said that a "picture is worth ten thousand words." And the cover photo does include the more than 2 dozens of smiling and euphoric Ateneans and the Colegialas of High School Batch 1983 together with the principal and a handful of public school teachers  that participated in the batch outreach last Feb 5, 2019 in Barangay Igbac in the town of Buhi.

 But to do so would be a grave injustice to the hard work, determination and serendipitous sweet spot  needed to generate such a picture of goodwill.  Allow me then to tell the long story with words and more photos. 

Let me start from the very beginning.  The idea of a batch outreach occurred  almost immediately after the dinner party that celebrated our 35th batch reunion last Dec 28, 2018.  The night ended for us 83neans soaked figuratively in nostalgic nirvana from the reunion and literally in rainwater as Tropical Depression Usman relentlessly battered the Bicol and Eastern Visayas regions on the last remaining days of 2018. Looking at the heavy downpour in the relatively safe confines of Naga City, we cannot help but think about our fellow Bicolanos out there in the surrounding towns and provinces. Already, a handful of batchmates from Camarines Sur and Albay were unable to join us in the reunion in Naga City given the floodwaters steadily rising in the road network of Bicol.  The quantity and duration of the downpour reminded some of us of the squally days of Tropical Storm Ondoy. 

True enough, radio reports and news headlines talked about the tragic fate that befell many of those in the path of Usman. News reports talk of the death toll rising from 20 to  60 to more than 100 in Bicol region alone. Small towns like Buhi, Baao, Nabua, Tiwi  and a few more bore the brunt of the devastation - landslides and floods. The loss of life was depressing and sickening. Depression could really set in during these calamitous times. 

But appeal for help and action for help came out. Local government and civil society mobilized to provide relief to the badly hit areas.  For the Ateneo de Naga community, the call for action came directly from the President. Fr. Robert Rivera directly appealed to all Ateneans during the Grand Alumni Homecoming in Dec 30. The response was quick.  The alumni association initiated the "Tabang Atenista sa Buhi"and enjoined all alumni and active different high school batches to assist. Many batches responded positively and our very own HS Batch 1983 was  inclined to act and remain true to the Jesuit maxim of "men for others."
         

The Social Media post informing all Ateneo de Naga University alumni of the call to action from ADNU President Fr. Robert Rivera, S.J.  

So act we did.  For this affirmative action, the Ateneo de Naga HS Batch 1983 is blessed to have the collaboration with our sister batch in Colegio de Sta. Isabel (now known as Universidad de Sta. Isabel). And we  decided to focus our efforts on Buhi as two of our active batch members are from that beautiful yet rugged municipality.  One of them actually used to be the vice mayor and is very much knowledgeable of the dynamics in the place.

Consultations with the CSI83 leader Bitang Sanchez, our guy in Buhi Omar Mercurio and a couple more Bicol-based batch leaders  resulted in an outreach plan involving  2 phases.  Phase 1 involved the immediate provision of key relief items (e.g. bottled water and canned goods) to badly affected areas  thru the relevant agencies of the Buhi LGU. Phase 2 involved the undertaking of a relief distribution and feeding program in a public school in one of the affected barangays in Buhi to be participated in by a sizeable number of batch volunteers from both Aden83 and CSI83.  Timetable for Phase 1 was set for the 1st week of January. Timetable for Phase 2 was scheduled  a handful of weeks after Phase 1.

Phase 1

Bitang of CSI83 proved to be much adept in identifying and shepherding key resources for relief items and we followed her lead. This resulted in a successful collection, in less than 2 days,  of 50 cases of bottled water, more than a dozen boxes of canned goods & noodles  and a few more boxes of used clothings.

The boxes of Refresh bottled water was donated by Universal Robina Corp. (Branded Consumer Foods Group) courtesy of our fellow 83nean Gil Guerrero.  The boxes of canned goods and noodles were purchased  using cash donated by a handful of generous batchmates  from CSI83 and AdenHS83 based in the Philippines and abroad.  The boxes of used clothing came from the classmates of Bitang. These items were patiently collected by a a bunch of batch volunteers led by Allen Tolledo, Joel Tresvalles, Ruel Tolosa and Jessie Valle. 

Allen with the boxes of noodles donated by CSI83 

Pick up of Refresh bottled water supervised by Gil at the URC warehouse in the outskirts of Naga City. 

Ruel and Jessie helping out in the logistics.

By the 4th of January, the relief items were ready for pick up in Allen's house which served as a temporary storage area.  It was on the 6th of January that a mini-truck commandeered by the ever-resourceful Omar  picked up the relief items in Naga City to be delivered the following day to the Buhi LGU.

Omar with the mini-truck picking up the Phase 1 relief items from Allen's house. 

Not bad. Phase 1 on schedule and the outreach plan was purring as expected

But there was an unexpected development. A welcome development which we coined Phase 1B.

Phase 1B

Unbeknownst to the core planners, our  fellow 83nean Noel "Ghibz" Guevara, who is a past president of Rotary Club Alabang, has been in touch with several of his Rotarian contacts as soon as the call to action was made. One of such contacts is an executive in Gardenia Philippines, the operator of the largest and most modern bread manufacturing facility in the country.

By the time Omar picked up the Phase 1 relief items in Naga City on Jan 6, Ghibz was able to solicit two truckloads of Gardenia  bread that will come from Southern Tagalog.  Immediately,  Ghibz was in contact with the indefatigable Omar and together they planned the  distribution of the bread in  Buhi. The schedule of the distribution was set for Jan 10 with Ghibz and  his fellow Rotarians motoring overnight from Manila to join in the distribution.

Buhi map showing all the barangays. 

The beneficiary barrios  for the distribution of bread were Barangays Dela Fe and Sagrada which which were   hit by floods.  By Jan 8, Omar already touched base with barrio officials for the mechanics of the distribution.

Dela Fe barangay officials organizing the distribution for the Gardenia bread.     

With the arrival of the Rotarians on Jan 10, a brief courtesy call was made to  Buhi Mayor Margie Aguinillo  and they were off to the distribution.

Courtesy call on the Buhi Mayor. 

The distribution was smooth and disciplined with the barrio folks appreciative of the generous help from Gardenia and the Rotarians.  With Ghibz and Omar representing, Batch 83 was honored and thankful for the opportunity to assist in making good happen.

Gardenia, Rotary and AdeN83 volunteers ready to distribute.  

Distribution in front of the barrio chapel in Dela Fe.  

Dela Fe residents crossing a river with Gardenia bread. 

Ghibz in front of the tarp of thanks from the community. 

And more good was to come with Phase 2.

Phase 2

For Phase 2, the initial plan was to conduct a distribution of school supplies to the schoolchildren of the public school in Barangay Iraya, the hardest hit barrio in Buhi. The barrio is located on the mouth of a river which empties into the deepwaters of Lake Buhi. Days of heavy rain brought about by Tropical Depression Usman resulted in the lake waters flowing back into the river causing massive floods into the barrio community and the surrounding ricefields. The elementary public school was not spared by the floods and even after 3 weeks since the weather disturbance exited the Philippines, classes have not yet started due to the knee-deep mud that caked the classrooms.  Understandably, much of the relief assistance from both government and civic organizations flowed into Barangay Iraya.

Observing truckloads and boatloads of relief items destined for Iraya, our core team on the ground decided to consider other barangays for our Phase 2 outreach activity.  We figured our relatively small contribution will be redundant from the Iraya perspective.  A few options were considered and we finally zeroed in on Barangay Igbac.  It is a barrio close to the poblacion but has far flung sitios in the hills  which include indigenous people community. The location of the Igbac public school is on the lowlands and this was also affected by the flood waters, though not as devastating as the one in Iraya.

This is the reason why implementation of Phase 2 was delayed from the 3rd week of January to the 1st week of February.  But with the final decision made on the target barangay, actions were swift and decisive.

Omar, our man on the ground, touched base with a teacher of the Igbac elementary school.  The teacher, Ms. Laura Labordo is a graduate of Ateneo de Naga and she was cooperative. She immediately gave us the number of students per grade level.  Given the number of pupils, Bitang and her CSI83 team swung into action and already made purchases of the needed school supplies (i.e. pad paper, pencils, notebooks, scissors and envelopes). The expense for the school supplies was shared 50:50 by the 2 batches.

The number of students at the Igbac public elementary school. Thank you Teacher Laura.

By the afternoon of January 26, a joint team of volunteers from AdeN83 and CSI83 did the packing of the school supplies into the various grade levels. Camaraderie was very much evident among the Atenistas and Colegialas and it was a harbinger of good things to come.

Goldie and Larry teamed up.

Standing (Mia), sitting (Nitz) and on the floor (Jeanne). Doesn't matter as long the task gets done.  

Group photo of the packers of CSI83 and AdeN83. All smiles on a job well done.  

5 days before D-day, Omar visited the public school in Brgy Igbac and coordinated with the school authorities lead by school principal Mr. Ronnie Lacoste. A short  program was discussed. In addition, after the feeding program for the kids, a boodle fight among the batch volunteers and teachers was suggested.  Hearing Omar how we will eat bikol express, sardines, itlog na maalat and pansit bato with our bare hands, it sounded  finger-licking delicious.

Omar visiting the teachers of Igbac elementary school 5 days before D-day. 

D-day (as in distribution day) was penciled for Feb 5.  It is a serendipitous sweet spot as it is a non-working holiday on a Tuesday thereby offering the welcome opportunity of a long weekend. Plus for long distance running fanatics among the 83neans, and there are quite a handful among us, Feb 3 is the day we run the Mt Asog 360 ultra marathon in Bicol. Given this, several of us from Manila were on location already by the time of the long weekend.

The break of dawn of the 5th of February saw 3 vehicles  driven by fellow 83neans lining up in front of Allen's house in Naga City to pick up the school supplies for transport to Buhi, more than 50 kilometers away. In another part of the city, a handful of cars and vans were congregating to drive the volunteers to Buhi.

Vehicles getting ready to transport the school supplies to Buhi.  

By the time we arrive at the Naka-Buhi monument at the entrance to Buhi poblacion by 8:30am, Omar was waiting together with another Buhienon classmate Mike Reburiano.  We did not enter the town poblacion but instead the caravan made a right turn to a dirt road which took us to Brgy. Igbac.  We passed by ricefields which gave way to coconut groves nestled on hills.  After more than a kilometer drive on the dirt road we reached the entrance to the public school.

Photo of batch volunteers at the Naka-Buhi monument. 

Mr. Lacoste, the school principal, was waiting for us and he and several of the pupils helped us unload the boxes of school supplies into the central assembly ground of the school.  There the whole student body was assembled already in rows per grade level.  A short program ensued where a couple of batch leaders shared inspiring messages and the school principal expressed thanks for the visit and outreach efforts from AdeN83 and CSI83.  With the short formalities dispensed with, the real meat of the outreach proceeded - the distribution of the school supplies.

School principal Mr. Lacoste with our Omar. 

Batch volunteers and school children working together to unload the boxes of school supplies.  

The school community and  batch volunteers getting ready to start the program.  

Delivering a message in behalf of AdeN83 (The Shield). 

Great to see Jovy active in the outreach.  She delivered the message from CSI83.  

Batch volunteers from CSI83...

...and AdeN83 working...

...together in distributing good. 

The school principal lending a helping hand in the distribution

We can see the glee on the faces of the schoolchildren and it made us feel happy to have shared something that the pupils will find useful.  The distribution of the school supplies was followed by a feeding program for the kids.  Freshly-cooked lugaw with hard boiled egg was the food shared with all the children in the school.

The school chidlren  naturally curious with their new notebooks and pens. 

Bitang with the pupils. 

Ed helping out in the distribution of the lugaw.  Very much in demand among the kids.  

Yummy!

Today is a fine sunny day. 

Happy, smiling and even a thumbs up. The school children on the way back to their houses after the outreach. 

With all the kids finished with their lugaw, it was time for the adults to have the boodle fight.  The principal author, Omar took center stage and oriented us on the mechanics of the boodle, the military way.  With much cheering bravado, the caboodle commenced with the eating.  Bonding was in the air on that lunch table inside the classroom. It permeated beyond lunch and outside as the batch volunteers had a great time sharing buko and stories under the shade of the trees inside the school grounds.

Omar orienting the participants to the very first joint boodle fight of CSI83 and AdeN83.  

Attack!

With the teachers. 

Iristoryahan kang panahon. Old high school friends feeling nostalgia in the shade of the trees.  

All together, D-day had 22 colegialas from CSI83 and 15 atenistas from AdeN83 present in the  outreach activity in Brgy. Igbac in Buhi. Their names shall flow like the stream in the hall of men and women for others.  CSI83:  Bitang Sanchez, Evelyn Bellen, Leoli Gavino, Ruby Romagosa, Nannah Rosin, Jovy Tataro, Malou Beldua, Imelda Ani, Goldie Villamor, Nitz Rosales, Rose Amores, Lil Agor, Mia Biancaflor, Juvy Nocete, Evelyn Bautista, Tessa Espiritu, France Antonio, France San Jose, Chie Saballegue, Jeanne Favorito,  Julie San Jose and Marlette Calustre.  AdeN83:  Omar Mercurio, Allen Tolledo, Bob Castilla, Ed Balcueva, Ernie Badong, Ruel Tolosa, Mike Reburiano, Rufino Mendoza, Noel Aureus, Jun Erfe, Gil Guerrero, Don Primavera, Jessie Valle, Jun Sotaso, and Vicboy de Lima.   Por da lab.       

Group photo.

Wacky group photo.

Group photo inside the chapel of Fatima Center in Iriga City.  

Truly, there is a certain kind of high to be experienced when one gets the opportunity to be of help to others.  Such a high is even magnified when the act of helping is done in a collaborative way in a bigger group involving several individuals with the same altruistic intent. Forces for good, that is what we are.

Life is great. Dakulang pasasalamat po sa gabos. Dios mabalos.