Bindum, Bukidnon - August 2006

It’s a lot different.

The many times I have visited my JVP area, after my year of service, came as breeze. The first one was filled with much excitement; it was only a few months after I left. New JVPs were there but it still felt a lot like it was still my JVP year and I was in my JVP area. The few visits that followed were official ones for the central office. There was always somebody there whom I needed to meet and to discuss things with. Infrastructures developed/changed, but no major alterations. A year and a half ago I was with some other former Bindum JVPs for a recollection of some sort. But we still knew most of the kids in the Adagi Balay (scholars of the institution), only a few of our students decided to stop school or got married or had children. The staff we worked with was also there because they were either still working for ESSC or were there for the closing ceremonies of the school.

August 12, 2006 – even with tons of work already piled up, I decided to pack a few things, shop a little for pasalubong for the kids and ride a bus to Malaybalay. By 1PM I was on my way up to Bindum, both excited and for some reason, nervous.

DELAI, our ANGEL. Since it’s been long since I last visited, I felt nervous taking the mini bus/jeep to St.Peter and not knowing how much the fare was and if there truly was a good habal-habal driver who can take me up to Bindum. My trusted driver from my JVP years was based in Zamboanguita but PJ (former Bindum JVP herself who visited only last March) advised me to ride from St.Peter so I was all the more confused. Less than a kilometer away from Zamboanguita, one of the jeep’s tires blew. We had to wait for about 30 minutes for the changing of tires. Nearing Zamboanguita proper, I heard a familiar voice – young girl suddenly pops out of nowhere and shouts “Ninang Kang!” She was baptized during my JVP year and she asked me to be her godmother. She is now in 1st year HS in Zamboanguita. Delai asked if she could tag along and I gladly allowed her. Good thing she did, it was good to catch up and it truly turned out that there was no staff up there (Kuya Eric wasn’t kidding when he said no one would be up there). Moreover, none of the Adagi Balay kids were my former kids, a few faces were familiar but I can’t even remember their names.

I LOVE YOU PARTNER. I’m still here in Bindum, today is August 13. Not one of the staff has gone back up yet. When I decided to go up I was confident that it’s ok to visit without any staff being here, after all I didn’t know most of them anymore. And I knew most of the Inay’s and Amay’s in the area so I can easily go around and talk to people. But it’s only 1PM and I’ve already visited all the Inay’s I wanted to see, all the kids I wanted to talk to and even ate “kamote” already… I’ve been missing my JVP partner Elaine since yesterday. Much as I was delighted by Delai’s company and her stories, I also wanted to have someone to share my stories and feelings with. I needed someone who can truly relate. And because my going up wasn’t for a meeting and official visit, it didn’t feel complete without Leyn with me. Eating kamote just wasn’t as funny, the rain wasn’t as extraordinary, bonding with the kids wasn’t as necessary. But I had to go back into thinking that it’s ok, last night was for Delai and her one year worth of stories. But after lunch, she had to go back to Zamboanguita in time for school tomorrow, so I miss Leyn even more. Maybe because the kids are a bit shy, most are young ones so they don’t talk to new people like me as much as the scholars during our time did. I look outside from the new “dorm” for scholars, and I can still say that Bindum is so much still my home. I still feel very much feel at home here, but it isn’t so home without Leyn here. Maybe, perhaps, I guess, because it was the 2 of us here for 10 months who battled with our homesickness and tests at work; who struggled with loneliness, new food and new dialect; who fell a couple of times riding the habal-habal or fell on the way to Pulangi River; who drank Tanduay and Coke almost every night; who sang songs to drive our sorrows away; who washed our clothes in the company of mosquitoes; who endured the cold night and cold water for bath; who prayed together to make it each day – it was the two of us who painted a JVP year that made Bindum so much of a home and a paradise. I wish Leyn was here.

The Adagi Balay kids are singing, new songs mostly. I guess they are more updated now than 5 years ago. A number of my students aren’t here anymore because they are down in Zamboanguita for their high school education. A good number are back in school in APC(our school up in Bindum, now a recognized Indigenous People’s Elementary School), most in Dawegs D, E and G (that’s Grades 4,5 and 6). Some of my students have transferred homes while very few are sadly, married and have kid/s already. Actually, very few, most of those who are married are actually Leyn’s students since she taught Young Adults during our JVP year.

Things are really different. Atiyu Balay (home to 5 Batches of JVPs) is no more; it now serves as the livelihood center. And the used to be livelihood center is now the “dorm” for the ESSC scholars. Inay Grace now has her own sari-sari store. The balcony (where I used to scream away, in silence, my disappointments over my slow students) at the back of the school does not exist anymore. Two rooms were built at the back of the school, one serves as the library and the other as a classroom for kinder students. This is my JVP area in August 2006.