After traveling to what seems like an eternity to me, I caught myself thinking (in between power naps and a tiresome bobbing head movement) about the quality of school classrooms constructed in Patel, Davao del Norte that Tuesday morning of 15 May. A one-lane path we were traversing that morning was long, winding, muddy, uneven, and had falling rocks on both embankments – proof that a landslide recently occurred. “Who in their right mind, would want to take on a construction job at Patel Elementary School?” was my initial thought. “Did they manage to finish the task?” was a question that I would soon find out.
At the side of the road, a sign read that we were about to enter a Conflict Affected Area. Still we moved forward. Finally, after nearly two hours, we reached our destination. Upon arrival, we were warmly greeted by Datu Laris, the Tribal Elder in that community.I looked around and observed that I was among the poorest of the poor communities. A sari-sari store selling sundries and snacks was situated across the school grounds. It appeared to be the only store in the whole village. Nipa houses surrounding Patel Elementary School seemed to have no access to electricity, all except one house at the end of the lane that had a generator to power the owner’s karaoke machine. There were no carinderias (canteens) by the road side either. There was however, a basketball half-court that probably serves a myriad functions – a multi-purpose area for informal gatherings and perhaps a solar dryer for the villager’s crops.
