For today, we just had to do interviews and shoot clips of our colleagues in Cotabato City — it was the same thing we had done in our Davao City office. It was an overcast day and I had a great time taking B rolls of the environment, especially the mosque next to our office. =) I did not realize there was one, not until I went to the rooftop and saw the familiar structure. Thanks to the timer function, I was able to get several shots of myself with the mosque, while Rob was conducting the interview.
Again, like what I’ve been telling the group I was with, it was really nice to see our colleagues in person, and put faces on names we just see on emails. They were the most welcoming bunch, and I had the highest respect to all of them working in the field.
It was a Friday, and prayers were due by lunch time so it was difficult to look for places where we can eat. We just resorted to a pizza place and had to leave for a couple of minutes just to look for a souvenir shop to buy something for Mon. I found a still-open store, selling curious trinkets and displays. They also had shirts for sale and I bought two monochromatic “Cotabato City” shirts.
The whole afternoon, then, was spent travelling to Iligan City but the highlight of the seemingly long trip was the stopover in Matling Plantation in Lanao del Sur. Aside from the necessary toilet break, we had to try their wonderfully opened coconuts (the flesh was unbroken from the husk) and the famous durian! It was my first time to see the durian’s fleshy interior (the most I had was just durian candy) but I did not attempt eating one. I was too afraid to upset my stomach as we’d be travelling for about three hours more.
Again, I was sleeping most of the time, but before we knew it, we already arrived in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte!
1) Davao City, 2) Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, 3) New Bataan, Compostela Valley, 4) Trento, Agusan del Sur, 5) Cateel, Davao Oriental, 6) Baganga, Davao Oriental, 7) Cotabato City, 8) Datu Saudi Amapatuan, Maguindanao, 9) North Upi, Maguindanao, 10) Malabang, Lanao del Sur, and 11) Iligan City, Lanao del Norte
Disclaimer:
I am no longer part of CFSI and, of course, any thing I have written here does not reflect the organization’s views (i.e. all of these are my own opinion). However, I highly encourage you to take part in their activities and help them accomplish the work that they do. They really are the most wonderful and genuine people, I can vouch for that! Feel free to browse the “Mindanao Mission” series to look at some of the organization’s activities and some of the places they work in.
For more information, click the link below to help CFSI rebuild lives! 🙂
