Analgesics, Acrylic and Alibijaban

From my last visit in Alibijaban island last January 2, and having mentioned that I have been busy doing cause projects, my local contact in Alibijaban island has mentioned that they are having problems sourcing medicines from their Rural health center.  So, before I left, I told them I’ll see what I can do.

Just like the rest of my cause projects, travel friends have committed to helping out. We were able to gather funds to buy their 1 year supply of OTC meds. Then, apart from handing out medicines, being an island, I thought of having an activity that will give a bit of awareness to kids about climate change and its effects: How the sea level is rising due to global warming, and looked at the recent calamities as examples of the untoward effects of global warming. We have enumerated and demonstrated ways of slowing down and not contributing to the acceleration of this phenomenon.

As an activity, we asked them to gather island scraps that we can turn into sellable souvenir items to stimulate recycling and entrepreneurship among kids.

Given the limited time and manpower we have in preparation for our activity, and although there were a few older kids who picked up the concept, and chose to use artificial materials such as plastics, etc., majority of them used and painted shells. I have been telling them that the shells are naturally beautiful, and that they are part of what makes the island pristine and beautiful, but I could not quite demonstrate this to them. Again, just like how islanders don’t see how great their islands are since they rarely get out of their environment, they grew up with plenty of these materials that they thought are nothing more than abundance.

It was great nonetheless how the kids enjoyed paintings. So far, this is the second event I am making use of art with kids, and I am so glad to see how kids enjoy it. Henceforward, as I travel, with or without a cause event, i will be bringing my small bag with paints, brushes, pallete, etc; Whenever I see a group of kids, in the street, along the beach, etc i’ll let them play around with these paints .

Groups who are interested in doing an outreach activity in the island, please focus on the kids/neigborhood in the far side (Pulo 2) of the island. I was told these people rarely get attention from anyone because of their distance; However, with the limited manpower that we have, inasmuch as we’d want, we don’t have enough resource to do so. If you have any question, don’t hesitate to buzz me.


see here for a cool sidetrip of your travel to Alibijaban: Talao Talao Rock Formation in San Narciso