MALAPASCUA, PHILIPPINES

From Myanmar, with a stopover in Thailand, back to the Philippines to visit NGO’s I was unable to visit the first time around. I had heard about an NGO up north of Cebu. But before I could go up, I would stay put in Cebu city to work for a couple of weeks. The decision to stay in Cebu became slowly a little more regretful. The city was quite polluted, there wasn’t much to see in the city itself and I had failed to really connect with anyone. The days slowly became lonelier and lonelier.

I had found a vegetarian restaurant about a 10 min walk from the hostel, where I had started going to almost everyday and there was always a small group of homeless elderly people sitting along the footpath underneath a self-made shelter. They would wave and call something out in Tagalog every time I passed by, but their serious looks had made me feel a bit weary un reluctant to respond. After a few times of ignoring them, I started waving and smiling back feeling like I had a little less to loose. They waved and called out as usual, but now with smiles like they were my best friends. In hindsight, with those people I might have had the realest connection out of all people I had met in Cebu for those weeks.

I had received word of an NGO called People and the Sea in Malapascua, a small island north of Cebu, and I started making my way up. After my arrival, I was guided to my room that was underneath a bigger house that turned out to be inhabited by the people who run People and the Sea. They were more than welcoming and you can read more about my experiences here https://www.facebook.com/groups/fair.photo.

Exploring the island I walked into this pambot, or pump boat. It is the go-to boat for nearly everything in the Philippines and you can find these nearly everywhere.