Now, thanks to Havaianas, I had already been given the chance to go to Anawangin once before so I knew that there wasn't any electricity or plumbing or hotels. I was prepared. At least that was what I thought. Getting ready for the trip, Miggy and packed essentials.
Anawangin from our boat.
The rainy season has already begun in the Philippines. Sadly for us, it was raining when we left Manila.
Nagsasa after the rain.
To better explain the need for a medical mission, let me begin by describing Nagsasa Cove. It is a 30 minute boat ride from Pundaquit, way past Anawangin. There is no electricity. No way out of the island except through hired bancas, no water except the one that you bring from the main land, no hospital, no doctor, no medicine. There was a small village that was established there. Population was probably 50-100 people, although I didn't see them all. There were a lot of kids with kids. It was probably the first time, if not one of the first few times that doctors came to Nagsasa to do a medical mission and I was happy to be part of it. :)
Meet Angel, a 3 year old Nagsasa local who was so cute and friendly. He had cough, a trend in that island.
The team that went to Nagsasas. MMC Interns and us. I was the one taking the photo so I wasn't there.
After the med mission the Nagsasa locals were kind enough to feed us lunch. :) They served us a pot of rice and some corned beef. Now normally you would think corned beef was normal food we often take for granted. But for them, that was a treat and yet they served it to us. It was very humbling indeed. But, being the pescitarian that I am I had asked them to cook a can of tuna for me. (yes, I now eat canned tuna...as long as they are dolphin safe)
By 3 PM everyone had finished packing up the supplies and we were finally going to enjoy the island and what it had to offer. Since I had barely gotten any sleep the past few days, I decided to take a nap before going for a swim. So we set up our tent (yes, I slept in a tent and that was sooooo uncomfortable I would never recommend it. To anyone) and I slept for a few hours. By the time I woke up the light was fading so it was time I tried out the water. So the I went for a swim with the bu, Emboy and Goldie. I only swam for awhile since I wanted to be able to bathe while there was still light. :)
The guys getting ready to go for a swim.
Once we were done with our bath, dinner was already ready. The locals prepared sinigang for us. It was so sweet of them but since it was about to rain there were a lot of insects around that we couldn't eat with the light on making it extremely difficult to know if you were eating anything you weren't supposed to. As a result I really wasn't able to eat much. I'm not complaining though, because the generosity of the locals amazed me. They fed us what they caught that day, which I believe should have been for them and their families. I am once again, humbled by their kindness.
We hung out for awhile in the dark. I brought portable speakers so we had music. But by 10 PM, everybody had already gone to bed that it was embarrassing to be so noisy that we decided to call it a night. After that night, I am bruised. Seriously. I have bruises on my hips where my bones stick out and the bu actually came down with a fever. But, that's not the worst of it. Since it's already rainy season, it poured in the middle of the night. It rained so strong that the tent walls were shaking. It was pretty creepy. Thank God we set up our tent under a hut-like structure. The people we were with weren't as fortunate. They got soaked. The next morning we were up and about by 6 am. Everyone was packed and ready to go. But, Nagsasa wasn't ready to see us leave. A storm cloud was coming so we had to wait. About half an hour later, we were on the way back to main island. Thank God we got home safe.
The storm clouds that delayed our trip home.
Goodbye Nagsasa. Til we meet again. I will bring an air mattress or atleast something soft to sleep on.
That trip was soooo much adventure that I think I'm ok for the next 20 years. :) hahaha...But the trip itself was so much fun. And helping those people out was just the icing on the cake. :)
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