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Published: January 9th 2014
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Despite the above title and factual evidence pointing to this being the second day of the mission, I am convinced it was actually day 100. Really, that first day could have easily been 99 in disguise, judging by how much was crammed into it and how much perseverance it took me to get through.
On day two I woke up in the tent in the AM, hoping the rain would have passed. It hadn’t. It was still pouring and the mud had risen even higher overnight. This would actually be last day in the mountains, but I didn’t know that, so I was wondering how the hell I was going to make it through the next few days. I’ll be honest, I slept in, but I couldn’t for too long because the doctors and dentists had arrived. An outsider could easily distinguish them from our group by how clean their clothes were and how soaked they weren’t. Our job was to prepare supplies for them and direct the families to the relevant areas.
Despite the awful conditions, this part was pretty easy on me. The doctors and dentists, and other members of UP Org, took the front seat in organizing things and I happily took a back seat. It was well-needed. And oh yeah, I had a carton of lollipops. Of all the ways I failed to adequately prepare for this mission, this is one thing I did thoroughly well – buy a carton of lollipops before heading into the mountains. At first they were being devoured by me and Titsy but on the second day we gave them to the group, seeing the clear demand for pick-me-ups.
We served lunch and not long afterwards, the medical people were on their way out. We walked through the area doing home visits, delivering food to various families while the others talked to them in Tagalog about their plight during Yolanda. Many had lost their homes completely and were living in makeshift ones. I asked one of the men in one how it was built, and he said he built it himself. I was impressed – the hut was decent despite being crammed, and was built out of all local materials including what seemed to be banana tree trunks. There’s no way I would have had the nous to pull that off, so credit to him and other people in the area for their survival skills. Typically, they were all still smiling and laughing.Truly inspiring.
After this it was time to leave. My relief was visible. Again, I got a lot out of helping but these were trying conditions and I felt a sense of achievement that I’d gotten through it. One problem though – because of the extent of the mud, we had to walk back to the military base. I was told it would be a two hour hike. Ok, I thought, at least it’s just physical work. We unpacked the tents, or more accurately, I watched these outdoorsy people do their stuff while I just made sure my backpack was packed and waterproofed.
The hike was muddy and I slipped once or twice – it wasn’t exactly easy conditions. I volunteered to help carry the tent part of the way and it was very heavy, at least for me. I found it painful and it dug into my shoulder but it was kind of a relief to do a simple manual task and get my mind off the conditions. What wasn’t a relief was when it got to nightfall, and we were to wait for the truck. I’m terrible at waiting and have no patience, while Filipino people are awesome at it. So they’re laughing their heads off as per usual, and I was sitting down sulking just wanting to get the hell out of there. I could feel the mosquitos biting me despite the metric ton of insect repellant I put on, and my butt was itchy as hell. Of course I waited it out and eventually the truck came to pick us up. Except it got stuck in the mud. Really. Eventually after about 15 minutes reinforcements arrived from further up the road, and they got it out of there and moving. That truly was a great feeling. I couldn’t wait just to get back to base. Except we didn’t go to base, we drove right past it. What the hell, I thought? I looked back at it fading in the distance and it was like watching a dream die before my eyes. We were actually it turns out going to Captain Mamaludin’s house, who I now knew as Gary. Little did I realize there was a shower there, and the others took pity on this poor white indoorsy guy and let me be one of the first to have a go. There was no running water, just a tank of cold water and a scooper, but let me tell you that was the best shower I’ve ever had in my life. There’s no way I can describe the feeling of being soaked, sticky and dirty for two days straight and then having that clean water wash it all away. I imagine if you didn’t shower for say two months in the first world, and never used an umbrella when it rained, then finally had got in a bath, that may describe my feeling of cleanliness.
We had dinner and the other guys of course kicked on with the Emperador rum. I usually don’t mind a drink but no way was I touching that stuff tonight. I wanted to get to base and sleep in a proper bed, with a proper roof and proper floor. So after dinner when they asked if anyone wanted to head back early, I was one of three who took up the offer. Easiest decision of my life. I went back to base, checked my phone for the first time in what felt like forever (I can now see in hindsight I have a phone addiction as turning the phone on again was like a junkie getting a hit), and crashed out asleep.
Day 2. Clean, dry and back to base. Success.
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