Mental Gymnastics

Returning to Sto. Domingo

I got a message from Jhun this morning. He’s asking if we’re pushing for Sto. Domingo as planned. I said yes and then asked if he’s already in Manila. He said he’s coming tomorrow to attend the funeral of Julia Campbell.

I was shocked! Just this Monday, while going through the MMS yahoogroup, I saw a post forwarded by a fellow mountaineer asking for the whereabouts of peace corp volunteer Julia Campbell. She’s been reported missing since April 8 in Banaue. Quite typical of foreigners I guess, she was out there travelling on her own.

Having gone through the online news about this incident, I wasn’t surprised to see the connection. She was probably among the many faces that Jhun showed while viewing photos of the HODR volunteers, and their Peace Corp friends during our volunteer weekend in Bicol a month ago. It’s sad news indeed and I’m just hoping that it won’t be that gloomy in the HODR house when we arrive there tomorrow.

I'll be with Angie again, and this time, I'm bringing a different set of volunteers, some Palaui pipol and friends. The group's already excited about this trip. I just don't think they fully know the type of environment there, with the foreigners and all. Jhun said that there'd probably just be 10 volunteers left by the time we get there. Despite the circumstances, I'm still hoping that it's gonna be another great and fun weekend for everyone.

posted by kquill @ 11:15 AM