Silip - Basura 2011

It was a lazy morning. Traveled a long stretch of 'not cemented' road. With luscious greens at both sides. Fog all over. Not too far from civilization but not so industrialized either. It was a place blessed with nature.

Sil-Ipon, Libona, Bukidnon... hello!

I have always been an advocate and a social volunteer.  I've participated in different kinds of advocacies before and is still active until now; from social involvement, environmental awareness, house builds, activities for a cause, to outreach programs. Each time is a new learning experience for me and each time is wonderful opportunity to help and serve our fellows.

When we were invited to this new cause in Sil-ipon, I did not hesitate to confirm my presence. Apart from the reason of going to a strange place (as part of the adventure), what is important is that we get to be in the launching of this great project. Along with Join Together Society, Xavier University College of Agriculture, Touch Foundation Inc., LGU of Sil-ipon, I went there with the Cagayan de Oro Bloggers.

The assembly time and place was at XU, 5pm. I, together with a fellow blogger, went there way ahead of the others. At a rainy 4am, we were already waiting for the others to arrive. Hour passed and people were coming. At 6am, we left the place.

Arrived at the community at almost 9 am. Hello rainy and foggy Sil-ipon! Yes, we were literally freezing.

After a while, a short program and an orientation took place. As usual, we were warmly welcomed by the local officials there, especially the mayor who gave time to open the program.  Not only we were given the details of the activity, we were also entertained by the local talents there. Filipino talents are indeed everywhere!

After we were given our assigned areas and groups, we gladly took sacks and prepared ourselves for a whole morning of garbage collection. Why? That is the main cause of the activity. Silip-Basura 2011: An annual community to support the eradication of plastic and other non-biodegradable materials from environment. Though it was raining and the garbages around were filled with mud, we still did our work, collecting wrappers, plastics, and other non-biodegradable materials we could find.

Halfway, we stopped by a house and took plants and seedlings there. We were asked to get those to be planted at the 'mountain'. We were guided on where to plant and we were provided with materials so we found the planting easier. We even had fun in planting these trees and had a very good view of nature. One planted tree by one person makes a difference.

After planting, we continued our work, collecting garbages once more. We went uphill. It was a long, muddy trek. Our guide told us we already walked 6 kilometers. Woah! We stopped by the DENR post which was way up there (sorry, can't really describe the place but it was so wonderful) to rest. It was already noon time!

We went back to the barangay's covered court (that's another 6 kilometers) to have lunch and to prepare for the activities in the afternoon.

After a morning's work

Since we were done with the collection of garbage and tree planting in the morning, the afternoon was intended for us to socialize with the local community. This is what I liked about this activity. We were not only able to act on an environmental issue, we were also able to immerse ourselves with the community. By way of games, volunteers and the locals bonded and felt a sense  of belongingness and friendship. It was so good to have fun with strangers once in a while. Strangers who made an impact in our lives, one way or another.

That was it!! It was a simple outreach activity but a meaningful one! After the turn over of books and the evaluation, we left the place tired but fulfilled!!

Cheers to the success of the launching of Silip-Basura 2011! I am hoping to go back next year. Hopefully then, we can already see the fruits of our labor. We look forward to a greener and cleaner Sil-Ipon and we hope to spread this cause to other communities as well.

-The Kagay-anon!-

More blogs about this activity:

http://www.magmanscloset.com/sil-ipon-libona-bukidnon

http://spotlifegalore.com/pizzamountainsbloggersandfun.html#more-2866

Participating groups:

Join Together Society

Touch Foundation Inc.

Xavier University College of Agriculture

CdoBloggers