The world is full of angles with no wings, doing good deeds to fellowmen and listening to those with no one to tell their stories to. Many times, they go unnoticed. But during the season of Christmas, the presence of angels around us is more noticeable, perhaps because even “retired” angels move to make their parts of the world a better place.
A group of about 300 volunteers steered by a core group of 12 are some of these angels. Forty one of them recently trekked to bring cheer and community service to Sitio Saybuan, an isolated community in Itogon, Benguet. The trek marked their 16th year of volunteer work which has extended help in various ways through 63 outreach projects – from backpacks with school supplies, construction materials for a classroom, library, toilets, to medical missions, and lately, talks on climate change.
They call themselves TREK, for Trails to Empower Kids, an apt name for a group of climbers who first listened to the call of compassion during hiking trips around Mt. Ugo, one of the highest mountains in Benguet. Sitio Saybuan was the first community the organization served in 2007, after some 15 trekkers agreed to be more than passing hikers there.
“In 2007, we were avid mountain climbers and we spent most of our weekends on the trails. Our ascents to the summits made us see not just the beauty of life among mountain dwellers but also the difficulties. An idea of doing an outreach program benefitting children who live in the mountains came up during our climb in Mt. Apo. A few months after, during our Mt. Ugo climb, we found the community where we could conduct our first outreach. A month later, we were on the trail,” Kelly Austria, a public relations professional and mountain climber, said. She lists her name as the co-founder of TREK.
“So, we started the organization to give back to the communities to whom we owe the fulfillment of our weekend hobby. Right now, we just want to continue helping because there is still a need for it,” Kelly said.
Through 16 years, TREK did not lack volunteers and donors to conduct a mission. Kelly said the interest – and donations – of friends and even friends of friends overflowed. The number of volunteers, most of them mountain climbers, increased.
Their most recent mission was held Dec. 8-9, where 41 volunteers joined the group to bring food, solar lamps, and school supplies to the children. Some volunteers brought Christmas presents for the children there.
Kelly said: “In all our missions, we provide bags filled with school necessities to all the students, including hygiene kits and sometimes mess kits, art supplies and storybooks. But we have realized, as we continue our missions, that there are more pressing needs like potable water systems, makeshift classrooms and the most common need: comfort rooms. So, with the help of community leaders, we build these. Right now, we just finished the construction of a classroom in Occidental Mindoro and we have ongoing classroom repairs in Romblon.”
The mission in Romblon benefitted the students of the Layag Cultural Minority School of Sitio Layag, Barangay Taclobo, in San Fernando, Romblon. The school is located on the island of Sibuyan, a popular destination among mountaineers because of Mount Guiting-Guiting. The volunteers struggled through the steep and slippery trails for more than four hours, Kelly related in her blog.
The volunteers, who come from a diverse background, are united by their love for the outdoors and their compassion to bring joy and help to a community which is not conveniently accessible.
Lawrence Dy, a well-known camper and mountain climber, recalled his first time on a Trek mission in 2008:
“My first trek was in Kalinga. We rode a military truck. Going through rocks, the truck’s clutch couldn’t take any more of the beating. We all had to transfer to a dump truck which the municipal government provided. Eventually the dump truck lost its clutch and couldn’t move forward anymore. So, everybody had to hike the remainder of the trail, carrying our backpacks fully loaded with food and things for the community. I will never forget that trail; it was harsh – dry mud that was knee deep, rocky terrain, slippery. Then it started drizzling and everybody stopped to put on rain gear. Back to trekking again but soon we had to stop again as it was getting dark. We had to get our headlamps from our back packs. Finally, we reached what looked like a garage for the loggers’ truck as the deep parallel tire marks could only be made by heavily-loaded trucks. Each one looked for a space to rest. We took out our cook sets and started cooking our dinner. It was really very late and everyone was tired and muddy. It took us almost eight hours of trekking the rugged terrain to reach that garage. Next morning, we packed up and proceeded with our journey. That was my first time with TREK outreach. What an experience! It was pure adventure.”
The recent adventure these angels got into was spiced with joy and topped with the feeling of contentment that they had truly brought the spirit of Christmas to Sitio Saybuan, an isolated mountain community. This time, the trek did not take long – only about an hour or more. But getting there demanded a lot of guts to walk across two hanging bridges with signs of much wear and tear that only a maximum of three people were allowed to walk across it at a time, Lawrence said.
It was crossing the bridge that made adventurers out of the ordinary hikers. Lawrence said one of them practically crawled to cross the bridge because he refused to stand up and hold the handrails and view the river and rocks while crossing – and screaming whenever the bridge swayed!
Adventure lurks in every outreach activity. In Calintaan, Mindoro, Lawrence related there were two river crossings with “plenty of boulders under the water.” Lawrence said the second river crossing was the “scariest because the current was quite strong.”
“Pwede ka tangayin ng agos. Kaya nung pabalik na kami, naglagay ng long tali mga locals on both ends para hawakan namin as we crossed the river. The flowing water was pushing against our legs every step of the way. (You can be carried by the current. On our way back, the locals placed a long rope across the river so that we could hold on to that to keep our balance while crossing the river),” Lawrence related.
Why do these angels keep on going back? The smiles on the faces of the children, the glow in the eyes of the adults, the feeling that they had brought them something they can use for a long time, like a classroom, a library, a toilet – that’s why those angels without wings will keep putting on their hiking boots.