Venturing forth to a place that was either a paradise or a long lost jungle, eight medical students were sent to Barangay Lumbayao, Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte to carry out the cura personalis (personal care) of the Ateneo way. Equipped with no less than imaginations and no more than curious minds, they delved in with what they have currently, their mind and body, and some things they thought would be put to good use.
Before the break of dawn, the ride tick tucked and took three long hours from Zamboanga City to the destination, and it was enough to make some of our members feel dizzy from the swerves and curves of the National Highway. And that was how the day started. Even during the ride, some of us have thought that the place to stay would be sparingly small and fearfully open to untold dangers. Upon reaching the place, we saw a kubo or a small open rest house to which one of our members thought where we would stay. Imagine, it was no more than 4 square meters big, and eight of us are expected to fit into that place. The horror. Joking aside, the place where we would stay was a health center which was just a few months old. It was really nice. Yellow-painted walls. Green roof. A breathable comfort room, and a spare room thinking meant really for prenatal check-up and, coincidentally, it became the girl’s room. All throughout the day, the group just did general cleaning and rearranged the existing furniture suitable for the eight of us. Our imaginations, which were really products of overthinking and underestimations, just turned fine. At the end of the day, all of us were glad that we had the utilities to enjoy, continuous water, almost non-interrupted electricity, and all the appliances lent to us by our very supportive Barangay captain, Capt. Aida Vallejo.
What was realized here is that it never hurt to overthink, but it could if they became reality. Other than these of which made us bit our nails, the turn of events favored on our side.