3 days in Calbunacan

The view of Brooke's Point from our hut in Calbunacan.

After taking some time to rest after our hike, we decided to get some lunch started. Our meals for the next couple days would take a little more effort to prepare, cook, and clean up after. Our only heat source was a single brick burner. Since it rains alot up in the mountains there's not alot of dry wood to burn, so we used coconut shells to build our stove fires. So while 1 person was maintaining the fire and the food, another person would be chopping up coconut shells to refuel the fire when it would get low. 

After we ate, LeAnne and I went to help Tanya do the dishes. To do this we needed to collect all the dishes and walk them 5 minutes down a slippery, muddy, hilly trail to this little stream. Here there is a little pipe with "clean" water that we wash our dishes under. We got pretty comfortable here, because this is also where we showered, did laundry, and got our drinking water from.

The kids wait for us to finish doing dishes to collect their
water.

The main reason for coming up, is that the PAMAS team has been doing a lot of work in this village. Every Thursday, a member of the PAMAS team will come up to Calbunacan and teach reading and writing to the youth, offer medical advice and medicine if needed, and have nightly sermons. This presented a lot easier when the helicopter was working. However, due to some mechanical issues with the helicopter blades, the helicopter is currently out of commission. However, we did not want to deprive the people of Calbunacan of their weekly visits and lessons. So now, every Thursday, a member of the PAMAS team hikes up into the village and spends 3 days with the people.

The people are extremely grateful and excited to have this opportunity to learn and to be helped. So while we were there they would bring by many gifts of food. Coconuts, Vegetables, whatever they have they will give in appreciation. Our first afternoon there they brought us Buko. So we were able to enjoy some fresh Buko juice, it was amazing.

Later that night we had a worship sermon with the people and then we headed to bed. LeAnne and I slept in a hut with the Reyes' Family. We had brought some hammocks with mosquito nets but Shielah didn't want us to sleep too far from the "missionary village". So we set up our hammocks on the floor of the hut and had a mosquito net hang over us. It was a long night. Not only due to the pain of sleeping on the floor of a bamboo hut, but also because it was really cold. It does tend to be a bit colder up in the mountains than in the low lands. It also doesn't help that the floor isn't a solid surface. So air can creep up between the bamboo slits. For me, it also didn't help that I couldn't breathe through my nose...so regardless, it was a long night.

The next day, we woke up and helped to cook and then clean up after breakfast. Then the students came for their lessons. They basically separate them into 2 groups. The younger kids and the older kids....pretty original, eh? J/k. The younger kids are currently learning the Palawano alphabet and Vocabulary. While the older kids are learning to read Palawano as well as Tagalog Vocabulary (**Note: Tagalog is the national language of the Philippines. However, EVERY island has their own dialect.

 In the Philippines there are no fewer than 200 different dialects. Palawano is the dialect for the native people of Palawan. Again with the originality, I know!) Shielah taught the younger kids, while Roy taught the older. 

LeAnne had mentioned to Roy and Shielah a while back, that she wants to go to school to become a teacher. So, Roy put her to the test and he had her help teach the older kids. He thought it would be fun for them to learn some English words and phrases. LeAnne helped to teach as best she could. The kids REALLY enjoyed her helping to teach their class.

As lunch time approached, the clouds started to come in thick around the mountains. At first we couldn't see anything behind our village. Then eventually the sides started to fog up. Then finally the clouds started to make their way towards Brooke's Point, closing us in completely. With these clouds brought rain...lots and lots of rain.

We thought it best to make ourselves useful in the Kitchen Hut (as usual). Shielah finally decided to trust us with the Bolo (rather large knife) to chop the coconut shells. LeAnne and I had a lot fun taking all our "frustrations" out on the coconut shells. Don't worry, we didn't lose any limbs...or take off anyone elses. We did quite well actually and kept the stove going the entire time it took to cook lunch.

I even tried my hand at opening a Buko. After a couple hits here and a couple hits there I was sitting back and enjoying some nice Buko juice in No Time! .....Ok, fine, after about 10 minutes of hacking at the thing, I made no progress. Roy finally decided to give it to one of the students and within seconds they had it open AND shaved....show off...lol. No, I was very grateful. I would have never been able to open it.

During the afternoon, a village member came with yet another gift...this one not so appealing to me. They brought us a Live Chicken to serve for potluck the next day. Now, since most of the missionaries are vegetarian you may question, "Why would they want us to serve that for potluck?" And the answer is, the missionaries are really the only ones to provide food for potluck. We just make lots of it and share with the people of the village. One of the ladies was celebrating a birthday, so they gave us the chicken so that we would cook it and serve it for potluck the next day. The guys, of course, wasted no time. LeAnne and I watched in horror as they beheaded and plucked the poor chicken. For me, it was just a very graphic reminder of why I am a Vegetarian. :)

That night we had another Vespers service and then headed for Night #2 on the hut floor. It continued to rain the whole night through, which of course made it a bit colder than the night before. It was another LONG night.... But the reminder that "This would be our last night" helped to get us through. ;)

The next day was Sabbath and we woke up to a very wet, very muddy, still very-much-raining last day. We ate our breakfast and then went over to church. It was a very simple service. Tanya did a presentation for the Children and Roy did a sermon for the adults, while the ladies helped by singing special music (I was no help as I was still super congested and sick). Andrey did a nice presentation at the end about Giving our Thanks to God. Then we gathered everyone for Potluck. 

It was still raining, so I figured we would just chill until it stopped. But Roy was afraid that, due to all the rain, the river would be over-flowing and we wouldn't be able to get the truck through. So shortly after Potluck we packed up all our supplies and started the hike out of the mountains. Now, hiking down the side of a mountain is difficult enough as it is, now we add the rain and mud...and you get a regular little slip N' slide. Tanya, LeAnne and I hiked together and we all did very well and didn't fall at all....ok, I fell once....but I was the only casualty (of course!) ;)

When we all made it to the the bottom we were soaked to the bone and our shoes were caked with mud. But we had made it! We loaded into the truck and though the river was high, the truck was able to make it through. "PRAISE GOD!"

Though it was a bit out of the ordinary, mountain life was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed it. Sure there were difficult parts and things we weren't comfortable with, but the experience is something that can never be taken from us and we would do it again in a heartbeat. 

"He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way."

~ Psalms 25:9