Ian Lozada: Images and Words

Just got back last night from taking pictures for a free medical clinic in Asiotes, a village high in the mountains above Cebu City here in the central Philippine islands. The village is inaccessible by roads, and it takes a 90 minute hike to get there-- the last 15 minutes is at a 45 degree angle, and on the way back down, it was a muddy, dangerous mess. My dad fell once, but luckily didn't slide.

The villagers were wonderful, opening their homes to the 15 people on the team. It was a little difficult for me, as the one person on the team that didn't speak Tagolog, since only 1/3 of the adults and none of the kids spoke English. That said, as soon as I started showing the photos (to be posted soon) to the kids and their parents, I had a smiling parade following me everywhere.

Asiotes has no running water or electricity, so we had to bring in our own supplies, including drinking water and toilet paper, in addition to the medicine. I did not envy the porters on the team.

The medical team served over 100 people from here and the surrounding villages-- Asiotes is only about 30 people, including children. The optometrist was especially busy, as they'd never had an eye doctor come up before.

We conducted the Easter Sunday service the next day-- it switched back and forth between English and Tagolog, so I could follow a quarter of it or so. My dad and the lead doctor both gave sermons.

We're off to another island in a few minutes, so I don't have time to upload pictures. I found I forgot the DV cable for my camcorder, so I'm now taking all my video on SD cards, using both the camcorder and my little Leica point and shoot. The Canon 5D was too bulky to bring to Asiotes, but it will go on today's trip.