WHO PUT THE "N" IN NATURE? - A COLLABORATION OF FREE OUTDOORSMEN & ARTISTS

WHEN MINDS HARBORING GOOD intentions flock together, a small miracle would always erupt. Providence might have a hand with this but it is all part of his design (isn’t it so?) starting from the gamuts of weaving invisible threads that connect and re-cross each other at several points amongst stars and cosmic dust.

When good-intentioned minds do think of the same good things, a floodgate of good ideas comes forth in a beautiful rhythm that have its original beginnings composed by the Great Bandleader who makes his home upstairs where gates are reportedly made of the whitest of pearl. Yeah, that may be true, I reckon so, and I read it somewhere.

Fortunately in my circle, I have lots of friends who are into this kind of syndrome. Who knows, they may have been angels at one time or another sent on a mission to flush out opium farmers in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan with nose flutes and trombones?

Okay. Okay. I am serious now. No more jokes. Promise.

I do have friends who are planning to donate school supplies like notebooks, pencils, writing pads, etc. for underprivileged children who lived in the highlands of Cebu. Yeah, I am serious. Where to source these items is one of the most difficult sixty-four dollar query of that moment. Besides, this is a never-ending advocacy that should be supported by everyone, I including.

Why the highlands? Okay, these friends of mine are outdoorsmen and they are out there sweating on the mountains and witnessing, on close quarters, what really is poverty. These friends of mine are bred in sheltered or urbane homes and seeing children carrying schoolbags up and down a trail to school and home, rain or shine, dawn or dusk, barefooted or not, makes them wonder why these children have to suffer so much?

I could relate with my friends, not because I grew up like them, but because I am of both worlds. I grew up in a semi-poverty situation and I studied in a public school although I had not lived on a mountain. My grandfather was and he told me stories of his hardships and it is ingrained in me and why my heart sympathize with these children.

Now comes the good part. Jerome Tan and Dominikus Sepe met at the Red Hours Convenience Store in M. Velez Street, Guadalupe, Cebu City. Jerome Tan is with the Redtrekkers while Dominikus is trying out with Camp Red. Redtrekkers and Camp Red are close kindred and both groups feel comfortable at Red Hours. Over glasses of cold Red Horse Extra Strong Beer, both discovered something interesting and their ears turned red as their talk moved to something worthwhile.

It happens that both Doms and Jerome are fond of ‘80s music. No, they are not of the same age, in fact, they are a generation apart. Jerome find the best moments of his life in the ‘80s, just like me, while Dominikus is a musician, a front act, specializing in ‘80s music. Dominikus and Jerome are fans of Morissey. Now the thread is starting to weave its way. Don’t disrupt me, please!

Somewhere along the way comes Roger Siasar of Outdoorsmen’s Hub. Roger is the Man Friday of OH and he makes magic with sponsorships and such. He approaches Handuraw Events Cafe, with the help of Dominikus, for a one-night gig of a concert for a cause. The theme is the ‘80s music and both looked for several bands to propel this idea into reality.

By the quirks of a Filipino’s penchant to value the bayanihan spirit, especially of education advocacy, Dominikus was able to invite and commit, for a song, the bands SEPHYLA, DEANERY and MISSING FILEMON – all rocking names in the local music scene – to perform on stage on the evening of June 1, 2012. So, that’s it the poster got printed and the event was posted in all Facebook accounts where all my friends and associates are and WHO PUT THE “N” IN NATURE? was born.

This is a FREE event for the general public. A donation of, at least, a pencil and a notebook - an option - would give purpose to the existence of this event. I brought twelve sets of these plus a dozen boxes of crayon, writing pads and pencil sharpeners. The donation table grew to an overwhelming mound as well-meaning individuals trickle in.

The event went on smoothly and I was there to document, take videos and shoot pictures; as well as to inform my readers that Cebu has a friendly vibrance and a relaxed environment which nurtures good fellowship and camaraderie amongst off-stream outdoor groups and visitors like Mark Estrella – an accomplished mountaineer from Luzon.

Emcee for the event is JB “Badburner” Albano. JB did a good job and I could not find a better microphone jock except he at that time.

This event would not have been possible also without the participation and hard work of the following:

REDTREKKERS with Jerome Tan, Boy Toledo and Ernie Salomon

OUTDOORSMEN’S HUB with Rans Cabigas, Roger Siasar and JB Albano

HANDURAW PIZZA & EVENTS CAFE

MISSING FILEMON

DEANERY

SEPHYLA

BIG APE DESIGN STUDIO

NEODESIGNS

SILANGAN OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT

TRIBU DUMAGSA MOUNTAINEERS with Randell Savior, Marjorie Savior, Ella Savior,

Shildy Savior, Glenn Tampus and Aaron James Aragon

EWIT MOUNTAINEERS with Eric Rio and Pawpaw Surban

CAMP RED with Jing de Egurrola, Jhurds Neo, Laertes Ocampo and Dominikus Sepe

GREEN*POINT with Loose Page and Myke Padriga

OUTSIDERS (Life from the Outside)

WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE (Outdoor Outcomes and Other Adventures)

PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE BUSHCRAFT CAMP 2012

In behalf of all, I thank those who came to donate educational materials; to those who gave support; and to those who watched the show!

The following are the collage of images that document before, during and after the event:

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BEBUT'S TRAIL VIII: Map Reading Practicals

MAP READING IS a rather technical subject with understanding influenced greatly by the magnetic needle of a compass and by your interpretation of your surroundings into your map. I learned the basics of map reading while with the Boy Scout movement in the ‘70s under the tutelage of the best scoutmaster in the country - the late Sergio Damazo Jr.; and progress into a much better navigator while in Tanay, Rizal in the late ‘80s.

This year – 2012 – is my first time to teach map reading to a group of people and I thought it easy but it is not. It’s different when you are the recipient of knowledge instead of the one giving it. All my life had been used to receiving such valued instructions and I am very grateful for all my very patient teachers. I am not trained to be a teacher but, this time, I have to start acting like one --- even for free!

I did my first lecture about map reading on March 18, 2012 and nine individuals from the different outdoors groups came. I held my morning activity indoors at one of the abandoned buildings of the Department of Agriculture compound in M. Velez Street, Guadalupe, Cebu City. The afternoon segment was dedicated to the practicals at the hills above Guadalupe and Banawa. Critique and review came afterwards.

Aiming to improve my manner of instructions, I scheduled another session for April 29 at the same locations and I may have to accompany the participants, especially during the actual part, so all could fully absorb and understand the mechanics of reading a map in harmony with the compass. Three participants of the previous class availed of this free lecture while two first-timers join the rest.

 

I start the instructions at 7:30 AM inside the room where a bare wall with light blue paint became an improvised blackboard. Unhinged doors propped up with wood crates were used as benches, improving the classroom situation in a more relaxed manner. As usual, I have my set of maps that will be used as instructional aids, my chalks, my lecture handouts and photocopies of the city map under section 3721-I. 

 

The first order of lecture touched on the basic information found in the topographic map and the rudiments of using a compass. Succeeding instructions proceeded with how to use the grid lines; how to place and identify land shapes into the locations found on a map; how to orient the map with the compass; how to get a bearing and how to interpret these bearings into your grid coordinates.

The instructions move surprisingly very fast that, at 9:30 AM, it is over for the indoor lecture. I doubt it very much that I have mastered the art of teaching map reading to others but it is just simply that I have a present set of students who absorb all what I taught like water on sponge. I could not be more happy than to end this in lesser time than what I have expected.

So, we leave the DA Compound for the direction of Guadalupe church. We may have to eat a meal – a brunch – to better prepare us for the difficult part of the activity. By 10:30 AM, we start to head for The Portal, by way of Bebut’s Trail. Along the way, we may also have to tackle Heartbreak Ridge on a hot almost-noontime sun. Walking up a hill with a map and compass presents a good combination of brawn and brain exercise.

The sun – the tormentor at Heartbreak Ridge – gave us a wide berth and did not show face until we reach the treeline. In between, the boys tried their best sighting azimuths on reference points and drawing straight lines or the back azimuths on their test maps. One such bearing was taken at the very place where there is a tunnel vent. Participants are forbidden to use GPS.

Everybody are instructed to locate three positions using the resection or triangulation method; one location using a modified resection method; and another location using dead reckoning. The last task requires self to develop the skill to analyze and find your own position when you run out of reference points to sight upon. All were up to the challenge and manage to finish an imaginary short orienteering course in less time.

We leave The Portal at 12:30 noon bound for a small community where there is a native version of a gazebo with a good supply of water. One participant carried a camp stove, fuel and cook set. I remember us buying sachets of instant coffee from a store and so we boil water for that. After the coffee break, the participants took readings of our present location as a bonus. It seems to me that they are hard to stop when they start on to something.

We leave the place at 1:30 PM, the participants fully assured that they have complied with my map reading requirements. There is one more task to do and it will commence an hour from now. We walk down the road from Baksan to Sapangdaku crossing by a river spillway then on to Guadalupe. 

 

We transfer to the Red Hours Convenience Store in M. Velez Street, just across the old DA Compound, where I conduct critique and review of the participants’ test maps over glasses of ice-cold beer. Over these same glasses, I teach them how to plot and connect each position and how to read their grid coordinates. At the end of the day, my Grassroots Bushcraft Teaching Series about Map Reading navigate itself to good waters.

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