Meeting the Mangyan Community |

After ethical committee approvals, travel approval, and many conversations…I found myself finally there in Southern Mindoro. Awakened by roosters and a new-age sound of Budots blaring from the market below me. It was 5 am, and the sun had just barely begun to rise. Today, I would finally meet the teachers. After jetting back and forth from Bucalalao to Panaytayan to Mansalay, we finally found the community on top of the market in Mansalay.

36 hours to Mindoro |

Scenes from sunrise on our way to Batangas Port

I landed in the Manila airport around 19h on a Sunday night. I had taken a pre-flight to Paris the night before and from there, it was a 18 hour travel time between Paris and the Philippines with a tiny layover in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The entire trip felt like a haze, waking up and falling into naps as I was still fighting off a cold from the week before. Finally, I landed and after a lengthy immigration line and some confusion as to how to meet with Lugao and his family, I finally landed in their Airbnb…