Batch27: Sitio Haduan
S&B
As part of our monthly community outreach, we at 1in3out gather for a day or two for "S & B" or "Sorting and Bagging," a time to prepare the donated goods for the upcoming distribution. Usually held at our headquarters in Pasig, this particular S & B took us to Pampanga, where the idealism of our organization originated. We stayed at Krystal Homes, our residence for the 2-day gathering provided by a very generous sponsor. Together we prepared 100 bags of rice, groceries, and dental kits (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss). We also prepared bags of candies, school supplies, and medicine. On our way to the distribution site, we picked up 100 cheeseburgers and drinks as part of our 100for100 feeding program. A successful S&B, topped off with some fun team building activities.
D-Day
Late on the eve of the Sitio Haduan outreach, we wait for Tropical Storm Falcon to decide if he’ll set his path towards us and ruin everything we planned months before for this small Aeta community outside Clark Airbase. Days leading to D-Day, Falcon has already unleashed his heavy downpour, flooding parts of Pampanga and turning the dirt roads of surrounding villages into untraversable mud. Mother Nature’s humor favored us hours later as we woke up to a very dry and extremely humid morning with only Falcon’s dark clouds peeking from afar.
Our community expert friends from Project Kaluguran guided us to Sitio Haduan through volcanic ash roads from Mt. Pinatubo’s explosion back in 1991. Days of rain has destroyed part of the ground forcing us to drive literally through the edge of a cliff. The local Aetas welcomed us and helped us set up near the foot of Haduan Bridge. These people are from the same bloodline of the earliest inhabitants of the country. Once the leading hunter and gatherers of the Philippine’s unwritten history, only less than 50,000 of them remains spread around the archipelago.
We came almost fully staffed with more than usual items to distribute. Cheeseburger and drinks from the classic Burger Machine joint, vitamins and medicine from Doc Al, candies for the kids, school supplies for the students, dental kits from Dental Oasis of Orange County, bags of groceries, and a kilo of rice per family. A generous sponsor funded the custom printed reusable eco bags to match our org shirts. Our excitement couldn’t match the crowd’s when they started lining up for the distribution.
The whole day went better than we planned for. One of the biggest events for our organization. Another successful distribution thanks largely to our sponsors and donors: Elmore & Mary Hidalgo, Rosita & Nimfa Hidalgo, Jon & Fannie Delgado, Rick Brood, Xavier Santiago, Ismael & Grace Ocampo, and Eva Maria. Appreciation to our dedicated and hard working staff and volunteers: Neo, Mike, Khy, Mina, Mark, Denon, Karen, Boi2, Tutoy, Ais, Gold, Roda, Jas, Ka Jes, and Ken. Shoutout to Project Kaluguran for connecting us to the village and people of Haduan. And much love to every Aetas that showed us love that day.
Ateh Sonia
Meet Ateh Sonia Panlao. She had a lot to say. Maybe no one has ever asked her how she’s doing. Maybe no one has checked up on her well-being. No one has asked her for her opinion, or listened to her concerns. Maybe she and everyone in Sitio Haduan are just so accustomed to the poverty. Calling herself and her people KULOT (curly) shows signs of bullying and persecution from the outside world. Telling her grandkids not to be like her shows signs of hope. She had a lot to say, maybe no one has ever told her everything will be ok. Even just for a day.
The Bridge and The Watch Tower
As with previous distributions, we try to add a side activity to begin or start our community outreach as our way of learning the local lifestyle. A visit to Sitio Haduan is not complete without walking on Haduan Bridge and climbing the watch tower. Rebuilt and improved time and time again, the bridge is slowly showing signs of wear, making that walk more exciting and challenging. The half-mile bridge hangs above what’s left of Sacobia River still covered by the Mt. Pinatubo ash flow from 20 years ago. A little bit pass the bridge starts the short trek up a hill to the top of the watch tower. It’s white walls barely seen behind the forest that covers this area. From the top, you have a panoramic view of all of Haduan and its surrounding towns.
