341 meters up on the mountains of General Nakar, Quezon sits a village with no electricity. The people of Sitio Cablao, Brgy. Pagsangahan welcomed us with the biggest smile that shined brightest in the dark. It was nighttime when we reached our destination after a full day of travel. Waze failed on us and turned a 2-hour ride into a 4-hour adventure, with the last 11 miles trekked on the rocky, muddy, unpaved road. We finally reached the Agos River. Crossed her on a stand-up barge then walked the boulders on the banks of Tinipak River that felt like forever. The last leg of the 3 kilometer hike was visually challenging as the sun was setting on us, tempting our motivation knowing the people of Sitio Cablao will be waiting for us in the dark.

 

Exhausted, hungry, and in pain, but we made it. Our determination got a boost from everyone’s smiles and greetings. And with nothing but the light from our phones and flashlights, we handed out those donated clothes, who themselves have traveled across the Pacific. Vitamins, candies, and wafers for the kids. Powdered milk for the babies. By the end of the distribution, the countless smile and thanks have re-energized us to make that hike back home.

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***We added a video of Nanay Lourdes. She moved to Sitio Cablao in 1986, and at 84-years old, she's the oldest resident of the town that survives without electricity. The head of a family of 100, including 62 grandkids plus great-grandkids, she graced us with a quick interview in the middle of our donation distribution. She asked for some vitamins, and sadly we only had vitamins for kids. We can see on her face the age, the experience, the emotions. She is a sad reminder that there's still women her age living in villages like Cablao. Let's always be thankful of what we have. We couldn’t ignore Nanay Lourdes’ request so we sent her a care package a week later that included the vitamins she was asking for. Also sent her some collagen food supplement, vitamins, paracetamol, noodles, wafer and other canned goods. 

 

***We also added the Batch3 Thank You Video. Since we arrived at Sitio Cablao late, it was too dark for some families to join us in our distribution. So we left many bags of clothes for our contact to hand them to those who missed out. He sent us these THANK YOU photos. Also included some Thank You vidoes from the night before. Again, we would like to thank everyone who has donated clothes for this distribution. Salamat!
 

 

We would like to thank everyone who has donated for Batch3. And thank you to Sitio Cablao for welcoming us to your peaceful village.