Smile for Malapascua Island

by Seli Mutiarini (Indonesia)

I didn't expect to find Philippines

Malapascua Island is my main destination when I first went to the Philippines. It was 5:30 pm when I was still on the way across the sea to the Island by a boat with 20 tourists in it. It was a very long journey, after flying from Indonesia to Cebu Airport, i had to travel by bus for 4 hours to the port daanbantayan, after that, i had to cross the sea to Malapascua Island for 40 minutes. I ignored the engine noise from the boat while I enjoyed the view of the sunset in the middle of the ocean. Gradually the sun completely set when I arrived at Malapascua Island. A group of local children ran to welcome our arrival, offering help to lift the luggage we had brought, Asking where we would stay and then they would ask for wages. "it costs 20 pesos," one of them said. I looked at my best friend to make sure whether she wanted to use their services or not, my friend shook her head. I looked at the little boy and smiled kindly. "My suitcase is too heavy for you to carry," I said while i was thanking him too. We walked down the small road to the hotel where we will stay for 3 days. With helps from GPS and a flash light from our cellphone because it was night and not much lighting there. This place is very traditional — I thought. Many homeless dogs roam the island and they all look starving. The restaurants can only be counted on the fingers. We passed the night market when we headed to the hotel, many local sell seafood barbeques with a cheap prices. One thing that caught my attention when I arrived on this island is so many children between aged 7-15 years old working offered to lift goods, drive a boat, offer boat services to visitors. Teenagers become waiters at the restaurant and some become officers at the hotel. And what's even sadder is that many women there are involved in prostitution — one of the local friend told me. Yes, they don't go to school. There is no school in this island, there is no clinic if one of the residents here falls sick, there is no ATM machine, there is no adequate citizen service. All citizen services are outside this island and it takes more than two hours to get to the city. Another thing that caught my attention when I arrived at the hotel that the water was salty. I understand because Mapalascua is a small island and located in the middle of the ocean. For 3 days in a row I showered using that salty and smelly water. Then what about local residents who bathe, eat, drink using that water every day? Unless they're buying water for drinking, it will be a relief. I don't complain for myself even though my face aches when I take a bath, everything is replaced by the beauty of this island, the locals were very friendly, the delicious food, the sea was clear, I can even see starfish, fish, shells, sea urchins, and sea snakes in the shallow seas. I and my friend went to a barbecue restaurant for dinner, at that time the restaurant was located in front of the beach. Many dogs roam around the restaurant staring at the visitors who were eating their food. One of the dogs approached my table. I smiled at the dog and shared my food with him. The dog looked at me again as if asking for more food. Incidentally my stomach was full and I gave all the pork barbecue to him. My heart smiled seeing him eagerly eating his food. When I and my friend left to return to the hotel, another dog came to us and barked at us in the dark streets. And that made me shrink, I was scared. The dog kept barking until another dog attacked him and drove it away from me. I saw that it was the dog I had given the pork barbeque at the restaurant earlier — He helped me. My heart smiled again.