Hello again!
After the first week and a half of culture shock, things calmed down a bit and I began work at SIBAT, the environmental NGO that Nathan and I will be volunteering with throughout the coming year. The nuts and bolts of the organization are described very well in Nathan's recent blog post, which you can read here. I suspect there is a lot of overlap in our reader base so I'll spare you the repetition.
I will add that from the outset I could tell that this was an organization I would be proud to be a part of. During our first few days of orientation it was very exciting to see the impact being made by this small group of excited, committed people on the lives of those living in poor farming communities throughout the Philippines. They achieve this primarily through the implementation of renewable energy systems, which can power water pumps, rice mills, lightbulbs, etc, and the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. Added bonus: they incentivize farmers to grow produce organically by buying it from them and selling it at a small store right outside our office, so I can buy my veggies (and wine!) at work and know that I'm supporting the efforts of SIBAT in the northern provinces. I've come to learn that I'm a tomato snob and through the SIBAT store I've finally found tomatoes that meet my elite standards of excellence :)
Kimbutan
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| Kimbutan is located north of Manila in the province of Nueva Vizcaya |
After a couple days of orientation, we were able to sit in on the yearly organization-wide planning meeting. Following about 20 minutes of solid Tagalog-only conversation, Mam. Vicky, the director of the organization, turned and said " So, Emily and Nathan, do you want to go with them?". Having no idea what she was referring to but not wanting to miss out on any of the action I quickly responded "Yes!" So three days later, we left for our first work travel adventure to the village of Kimbutan!
Kimbutan is a model community with regard to SIBAT's efforts. A micro-hydro energy station was established there over ten years ago, and through the efforts of a wonderfully organized People's Organization (PO) it has been running smoothly ever since. We've heard some horror stories about poorly run POs that result in disastrous results with the upkeep of such systems, so SIBAT takes great pride in the example set by Kimbutan.
To begin I'll tell you about one of my favorite parts of the whole adventure- the process of getting to this rural village! It began with a 10 hour drive from Manila to Bambang, with a quick pit stop after 2 hours to switch cars at Mangarita Organic Farm, the farm owned and run by SIBAT in Capas, Tarlac. We found a hotel at 1am in Bambang and the next day took a shared van to the small town of Belance in the mountains. This is where it really started feeling rural, and as our distance from Manila grew the scenery became increasingly beautiful . From Belance we hopped in the sidecar of a motorcycle, something I'd seen a lot on the roads in Manila but hadn't experienced yet first hand. Off-roading on a rocky, hilly trail did not give me the best first impression of this mode of transportation, and after we survived the half-hour rollercoaster ride I thought that that was probably the scariest thing I'd ever done. Until! I saw the reason we were switching from tricycle to foot for the remainder of the journey- the wooden-plank suspension bridge stretching in front of us. I have been known to occasionally cry if I'm caught in traffic on a bridge- I'm very mistrusting of civil engineers I guess. And this was a particularly horrifying bridge.
Needless to say, I survived the crossing (TWICE!), but I'm pretty sure it was a close call. Then began a 2 hour hike uphill to the village. We passed a few awesome views along the way:
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| A basketball court halfway along the trail, serving the 2 or so homes we passed along the way I guess! |
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| This is where "Mountain Fresh Scent" comes from |
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| Rice Terraces |
We stopped for coffee after about 3/4 of the journey at the home of our new friend, kuya Clifford. The other members of our team knew him from his former days as PO leader in Kimbutan. He shares his small home with his wife and about 40 animals from what I could tell (mostly chickens, cats and dogs). Outside his front door is one of the most beautiful views we'd seen so far, and while I know that by most measures he was living in poverty, at that moment he seemed like the luckiest man in the world. Not another house in site, surrounded by the gardens that sustain his family, lush rolling hills in the distance- there are many different kinds of wealth!
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| Clifford's house and view (Photo by Nathan) |
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| A cat and dog inside Clifford's house, warming up by the fire he made for our coffee! (Photo by Nathan) |
Soon we arrived in Kimbutan and began to address the work we'd been sent to do (and by we I mean the two engineers and one "para-engineer" we were travelling with). For the past 10 years, electricity flowed from the power station only between 6pm and 10am, and because the amount of electricity flowing to the community was directly related to the rate at which water passed through the system, all the appliances powered by the micro-hydro had to stay on all night, to prevent short-circuiting. (Or something like that!). SIBAT was sending a team to install an electronic load controller so that electricity would be available all day, and the voltage would remain the same regardless of how many appliances were running. Nathan and I, having no experience with electrical engineering or micro-hydro energy, watched the SIBAT engineers and community members work together to improve the system. At one point I asked if there was more that Nathan and I could do to help out, and one of the SIBAT engineers told me that if we helped too much we wouldn't be effectively passing the knowledge and skills on to the community members. Ahhh of course! This is the "empowerment" part of the SIBAT mission statement (Empowering poor communities through appropriate technologies), and one of the reasons we chose to volunteer with them in the first place.
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| From L to R: Gen Gen (SIBAT technician extraordinaire/ "para-engineer), Rodel (SIBAT engineer), Paterno Wakat (Chairman of the Kimbutan PO), the micro-hydro system operator & 2 other local men who came to help with the project |
With not many work-related responsibilities, Nathan and I were able to enjoy our surroundings while occasionally pitching in by stripping a wire or flipping a switch. Boredom was never an issue with waterfalls just outside the powerhouse, carabao pulling carts through pot-hole dotted clay-colored trails around the village, and a seemingly endless supply of adorable puppies and children. I think I'm even more drawn to animals and children in this setting because the fact that I don't speak a common language never comes up.
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| Jimericks, the Chairman's grandson, and his puppy Chippy. Kimbutan's finest. |
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| Standing immediately outside the powerhouse, overlooking the waterfall below |
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| Some children at the powerhouse posing for pictures |
I walked away from our first experience in travelling with SIBAT feeling energized for the work that lies ahead, and eager to be involved in a project in a more substantial way. And on that note, I will end this post with a hint about my next post: We ended the week in discussions about what our individual projects would be for the coming year. We're meeting to nail down the details on Monday, so hopefully I can share some details during the coming week about what my personal footprint in the Philippines will look like!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Love,
Emily
