Atop Mount Macobol is Sitio Taupan at Barangay Salaysay, Marilog District where indigenous tribes of Bagobo and Dyangan dwell. Sitio Taupan, meaning waterfalls or highland waters, has 24 households with a population of 138 people, 44% of which are children under 10 years old. Because of its very remote location (two-hour drive from Davao City and another four-hour walk up in the mountains), basic services such as education and health are inaccessible. Responding to the needs of these tribes is the Kaugmaran Pagpagahum Foundation headed by Sister Josephine Bacaltos. The Foundation uses a small chapel as a temporary learning center where children, hungry for knowledge, traverse creeks and rivers to feed their mental and psychosocial development needs. In October last year, the children’s plight was brought to the attention of PP Lorna Llamas of the Rotary Club of Waling-Waling Davao by Sister Jo who requested learning materials for 60 schoolchildren ages 5 to12. RCWWD immediately met with their Committees to organize a fund drive and, upon learning of the situation, honorary club member Past President Bob England of the Rotary Club of Poway, D5340, USA, also endorsed a donation of $1000 from Ms Valerie Quayle for the proposal on “School Assistance for the Indigenous People”. With 4WD vehicles, RCWWD members and families took off to the rough mountains, headed by President Fe Boiser, MD; Dir. Estela Vilela, Chairman of Community Service, her doctor-husband Dave and their children; President-Elect/Secretary Malou Jacinto and daughter Jenna; PP Lorna Llamas and nephew Eric Demafeliz. It was an overwhelming attendance, with 70 people of the tribes, young and old alike, having walked about an hour from Sitio Taupan. Boxes of learning materials were endorsed by the Rotarians to the elders and the Foundation representative. Toys and clothes from the Rotary Club of Poway were also distributed by the Rotarians’ children, bringing on big smiles and cheerful faces. Oral polio vaccine, Vitamin A and anti-helmentics were administered to the small children. Milk was prepared onsite and distributed to the hungry children and the elderly. It was a short two hours, but it provided a great opportunity for Rotarians to help eradicate the dreaded disease through immunization. Brief as it was, the time spent with the ethnic tribes of Bogobo and Dyangan opened a relationship with our brothers and sisters in the hinterlands. The Rotary Club of Waling-Waling Davao members and their families left with a heavy heart, but with a commitment* to return. _________________________

* that commitment was fulfilled at Christmas time - gmckay