Visiting the Dumagat Community in Nakar, Quezon

Dumagat kids with a bottle of Coke. ;)

What I thought as a brief visit to the tribal community turned out to be a whole day adventure filled with learnings and discoveries. This Tuesday, we headed to the Dumagats' dwellings in Brgy. Maligaya, Nakar, Quezon.

I consider this as my first cross cultural missions exposure trip with a team (thank you, GCF-South Metro!). When I was in college, I've got three trips which were postponed due to various reasons. These past years, one of my mentors used to invite me to join them in helping the Bugkalot Tribe and I wasn't able to come as well. This one was a Divine set up.

It took almost 4 hours from Little Baguio Infanta, Quezon (the place where the team stayed) to reach the place. Upon arriving at Gen. Nakar Public Market, we rode the habal-habal for 1-2 hours, then went straight to the place for 15-30 minutes on foot.

A typical Dumagat dwelling.

Upon arriving, I was amazed with their dwelling (plus the nature backdrop!) so I took a photo of the scene right away. I never expected the kapitan's reaction with what I did. I just learned that moment that you need to observe the surroundings first before doing anything foreign to them.

The feeling that I was on a different world totally sank in when the tribe members started arriving. Ka Pepito, the tribe captain, introduced us to his people. Being drunk with lambanog, he repeatedly mentioned that we should have given him a note before visiting his place. Still guilty with what I did, I repeatedly responded with nods and smiles. When we left his dwelling to see the rest of his members, I asked him if it was then OK to take photos and promised to give him a copy if we were able to come back. "'Yan ang gusto ko!" was his response.

We ate on banana leaves with them, talked with the kids and spent the remaining minutes talking with them. Our team leader mentioned the plan to come back and conduct a medical mission this August.

Here are the photos of the trip:

One of the bridges you'll pass through as you head to the Dumagats' location.

Came across Brian as we approached the bridge.

An ordinary food for the tribe members. Some say that they exchange these for cans of sardines.

Kuya Jun approaches the tribal leader and his family.

Eating on banana leaves with the tribe.

Kapitan Pepito and his youngest daughter.

New Testament written in Dumagat dialect.

"Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's heart" — Bob Pierce (World Vision founder)