Day 10: Another Day in Paradise

Waking up on yet another day in paradise, we were greeted with a lovely breakfast prepared by our hosts and some of our fellow team members. After breakfast, our group headed out to plant trees for the "Treetment Movement," an initiative by the Boracay Yuppies in combination with a few other local service groups to beautify their island home. These trees, aside from their aesthetic appeal, have medicinal properties. Their leaves can be burned to ward off mosquitoes, they help with diabetes and also function other homeopathic remedies. With the combined effort of over 20 people, the 40 trees were planted with relative ease and we finished earlier than expected. Our jeepney was not scheduled to arrive yet to pick us up so we decided to walk back to Little Prairie Inn. It wasn't a long walk, and we enjoyed the lovely view and exercise on the way back. We took the scenic route back, walking along the beach front, and we were all still struck by the amazing view before us. Some of us still felt nostalgia for Cavite and the members of DTC, and so stopped to write a message for them in the sand. 

When we arrived back at "Little Prairie Inn," we had lunch and some free time until 2:00pm. Some of our group members went to help the Yuppies prepare the food for our feeding program later in the day. They peeled hard boiled eggs and made chicken and rice porridge. 

At 2:00pm, our group headed up to Lapus-Lapus, a mountain community that has been adopted by the Boracay Yuppies for a biannual feeding program. We were greeted by the smiling faces of about 50 kids and their families. Before passing out the food to the children, we played a few games with them. We played, musical chairs, paper dance, tomato dance, and a spoon balancing game. Due to a sizable difference in our height and weight compared to the kids, we had to be especially careful with games such as musical chairs. In the heat of the competition, one GIEU member accidentally sat on one of the boys who made it into the chair first!  

After the intensity of our opening games, the kids were definitely hungry. GIEU members took turns passing out the boiled eggs and rice porridge. Music played in the background while the kids ate and we're sure that more than a few kids and family members got a kick out of the dance moves of our GIEU chorus line. When all of the food was served, we said our final goodbyes, exchanging hugs, flowers, and good wishes for the future. We learned from our fellow Boracay Yuppies that Lapus-Lapus is part of their community service outreach program in which they adopt underserved communities in Boracay and provide them assistance in the forms of food and education to the best of their ability. We truly enjoyed our time with the Lapus-Lapus people and admire the work of the Yuppies!

Back at Little Prairie, it was afternoon free time. Several members of our team went to Spider resort where they went cliff-diving! Although all agreed the experience was exhilarating, a few members were stung by sea urchins. Luckily, one of the staff members was an expert in removing the spines and they were better in no time. The less adventurous members of the group elected for a more relaxing activity and indulged in manicures, pedicures, and full body massages. 

  

-Katie and Binhan :)