a fast tell tale of my experience with CATW-AP and Sagada Camp…
i’ve realized that being a graduate of 7th YMC, there are pressures
to spread the word and lessons of the camp. for me, spreading these
words is a great challenge. however, di ko talaga magawa dahil marami
kaming ginagawa sa school (promise). beating deadlines, quizzes,
exams, and pressure sa aming mga productions were one of the many
consideration. yet, hindi naman na delete sa mind ko yung mga
natutunan ko sa 7th YMC. after i received an invitation from ate yen
and ate jean na sasali ako sa TOT for the 8th YMC, i was really
thankful kasi it’s one way of seeing old friends grow more. TOT was
really a great opportunity to experience in flesh what is really
happening in the society, especially, with the victims of this
business. as far as i remember, sa TOT palang, feel na feel ng bawat
participants ang pressure to facilitate a camp. thus, we graduated
with lessons learned from the lectures to the actual simulation of
the process. for the third time, nadagdagan na naman yung pagka-
thankful ko sa CATW-AP kasi na-invite na naman ako to be one of the
student faci para sa Sagada Camp. it was a surprise but i was little
bit pressure kasi sila ate jean na yan. pero i was confident then at
one point because of the warm smile ate jean, ate yen, ate viola, ate
shalom, kuya gerald, and kuya joshua. the exodus (talagang exodus ang
ginamit na term, hehehe) was never easy. i didn’t really expected
that it would be 12-13 hours of staying in two different bus
papuntang Sagada. grabe, ganun talaga kalayo and it was a little bit
cold. in the bus papuntang baguio, nakikiramdam na kami ni chard/rica
sa mga participants. as i remember, nakiramdam kami una kay ron at
jay from UP. friendly naman ang approach nila. si ron silent mode sa
bus as far as i remember. si jay naman talkative and i think that
time friendly talaga. yung mga ANGELS ng camp(jerrence, emman,
melford, and joejit), for me, they had their own worlds. maybe,
because they came from one school. si marvin din naman mas talakative
pa pala kay jay. grabeh, we chatted in our seats about the
experiences we had in auditions(si marvin sa GMA at ako sa ABS-CBN).
so far so good naman ang conversation, and it made us (jonnel,
chard/rica, and me) assured that the 7 of them were nice. around 3:00
in the afternoon of October 19, nakatapak na talaga kami sa SAGADA.
kasabay nang hapon na yun ay ang acquaintance namin sa mga
participants ng northern luzon. for me, makikita na talaga na they
were raise in a patriarchal way. kitang-kita namin ni chard/rica and
jonnel, pati rin si jong, na mukhang mahihirapan kami. meron sila
talagang posture na parang hindi ma-momove nang kung ano. to know
them better, that night we went muna sa room ng mga participants ng
NCR and Angeles, and we had our first getting-to-know moment.
together with jonnel, we concluded that we won’t have problem in
dealing with them. moreover, the student faci’s did not make any
judgments with the participants, especially with the northern luzon
participants. for me, i treated them, sincerely, as new friends never
minding their background. first day of camp and the participants of
BONIFACIO were like stones. ang hirap nilang hilain isa-isa and it
was really a challenged for Ate Viola, Ate Shalom, and Kuya Joshua,
with chard/rica na hilain sila ng isa-isa. it was tough pero
pagdating ng Solidarity Night, they were participating naman and we
saw that they were starting to make friends with each other and
someh0w we were a little assured pa na everything will be fine. day 2
sa Sagada Camp, the discussions were more deep and the challenged for
the organizers were arising na. still, we were still positive in
spreading the experiences and the insights of the student facis to
the topics being discussed. medyo-medyo na ang timpla o ang result ng
2nd day. naging threat ito pagka-3rd day ng camp for the organizers
and student facilitators ang result. sabi talaga namin na i-todo na
natin ang personal experiences at sharing namin. it was pioneered by
chard/rica, next ako, and third si jonnel about the experience of the
homosexuals. sa gender sensitivity na issue sila natagalan pero sa
prostitution ay nahila namin sila. they’ve sincerely learned and
realized the important role of women especially they are bounded with
their culture, society, and how they were raised up. the north meets
the south ang naging outcome ng camp. sharing the experiences
straight from the horses’ mouth made them realized gays and lesbians
role in the society. they’ve said their sorry to rica, jonnel, and to
me. but for me, they should not be sorry kasi naman even though
naging ganun ang kanilang reaction towards us or me i never felt na
nabastos nila ako. nakakasabay naman din ako sa kanila because i knew
na ganun talaga sila pinalaki at minold ng society. day 3 was really
a success for the organizers and facis but most especially to the
participants. isang bagsak ng AHOO! AHOO! AHOO! day 3 ended na magaan
ang feeling ng lahat ng tao sa St. Joseph Inn. alam namin na it would
be hard leaving all of them kasi in a short time naging close na sila
sa amin. the HYPOTHERMIA experience in Sumaguing cave was also one of
the reasons why i will not forget the 8th YMC. it was my first time
to have cave adventure. and promise talaga nakakatakot at muntik na
akong malunod kasi nag-jump din ako dun sa parang may body of water
at mahirap pumasok sa mga makikipot na daanan. makikita nyo naman yun
sa friendster at multiply ko. i-popost ko lahat ang mga pictures or
sa mga pictures na nakita nyo na. finally,true ngang ang mga ANGEL’s
ng camp ay super duper kulit. na miss na namin yung pangungulit nila.
yung mga taga-UP miss na rin namin kasi they are really good chatters
(Kim, Ron, and Jay). kina Lawin, Jay-R at sa iba pa, sayang kasi
hindi ko kayo nakilala masyado but i know na you’ve changed not
automatically but slowly and learning each day makes you grow more as
a sensitive person. it’s really hard to say bye-bye sa inyo but i
believe, someday, we will meet and cross each other’s star in the
sky. eto pala email ad ko sa friendster: jarel_enriquez@yahoo.com at
username ko and email add sa multiply, respectively; jarelenriquez2
or jinxdawko@yahoo.com.
sa susunod muli ng pagbabahagi ko….. AJA!
Jarel C. Enriquez
7th YMC Graduate
8th YMC Student Faci
