Everyone has a beautiful story on how great and rejuvenating hiking, walking or trekking is to our life but I guess not everyone has the most heartwarming and humbling Hike stories to tell. So today, I am sharing our most fulfilling and the most wonderful hike of the year (2022)! I am the proudest at the same time the humblest every time we do this- Hiking over fields and hills, bringing our small presents to the locals.
Hi beautiful and active people of the Wednesday Walk Community! Happy brand-new year to all of you guys!
Last Christmas, my family once again had our “Project Caroling”- (“Daygon” in our dialect). This project is done annually every Christmas (December 25), where my whole family walk and hike to the corners of the countryside, going to houses, hiking to hills bringing the small presents that we prepared and giving them to all household that we passed.
In the Philippines, it is our tradition and culture to sing Christmas Carols to houses, in return, household owners will give gifts (usually in the form of money) to the carolers, thus our “Project Caroling” was born but the opposite of it.
As we wanted to have a difference and be Santa to other people, we sing Christmas Carols to the needy ones and hand them our presents after. Believe me, we have never seen such sweet and genuine smiles like theirs when they received our little surprise at their door.
Off to valleys and hills to deliver presents.
And so this year, we search for houses in the far countryside along hills and valleys to deliver their presents and to let them feel that Santa exists. So join me in this fulfilling and heartwarming hike of ours.
A couple of days before our scheduled “Daygon” (Caroling), my mother already packed the presents (commodities) we will be bringing with us. She packed rice, canned goods, and noodles for the locals. (Mother, enjoys the packing processes so much, she’s good at dividing everything!). This year we were able to prepare more or less 200 packages.
Ready to deliver our presents!
As much as we want to double the packs, we couldn’t. We always set a limit, hence we will be carrying everything of these during our hikes. I think I talked a lot already, hehe, so taraaa join us on our hike!
We started hiking, and going to houses, in this community called “Purok Kawayan”. The hike at this time is not tiring at all because houses were built side by side. The only walk we did, was going down a small hill from the streets to this group of houses.
As soon as we arrived in the community, we started singing Christmas Carols joyfully and gave our presents to them. One house after another, we finished the group of houses and saw how surprised and happy they were with our presents.
We walked into the narrow pathways, stepped on some of the firewood the locals gathered, and passed their simple gardens. We didn’t miss a single house. We caroled and handed presents to each house.
After delivering our presents, we then proceed to the next group of houses. Searching one community to another, we passed this open field with tall coconut trees.
Taking some stops and snaps.
After hiking through this beautiful part of the countryside, we spotted another group of houses. We then started to do the drill: sing–give gifts.
Hiking and searching for houses are tiring especially since we are carrying heavy loads with us. We were lucky enough that this Christmas, it was a little cloudy, so we were not exposed to the scorching heat of the sun while walking for miles. But you know what, everything of these doesn't matter at all once you see the smile of the locals and how surprised and grateful they were that we came. Their smiles are what give warmth to Christmas.
We finished two sets of communities in a couple of hours. Thankfully the houses were not that far from each other. And now we have to continue hiking and find another door to knock at. Insert the song, "Santa Claus is coming to town the countryside!"
Refreshing Paths
While in search of the next house, on our walk, we passed this little garden of a Bitter gourd vegetable. My brother joked that he will pick the Bitter Gourd in exchange for the present we will give to the locals. Unfortunately, we didn't know who the owner is as it was distant away from the house.
We also passed these trees that bear fruit same with the jackfruit and some mango trees. From where we were we didn't see any houses yet but we are sure that the path we were following will get us to the next house.
Along the way, we passed these bushy trees that has plenty of vines clinging to them. This view in here reminds me of my hike going to "Dose Kwartos Cave".
The ground is rocky which I believe gets slippery on rainy days. Sometimes I just wanted to walk slowly and enjoy the pathways because it's been a while since I had my hike. But we have to walk fast because my brothers were carrying the not so heavy presents. Hope we can find the next house!
Finally, we spotted a group of houses!
It's time to sing and hand them our presents!
I came across this firewood that is neatly arranged. The owner of these must be very organized and detailed. What do you think?
We are down to our last hike of "Purok Kawayan", we planned to transfer to another place after this one.
Looking for that last house.
At last, we found the last house, before moving to another place, the last home I never expected would touch our hearts. The house (almost dilapidated) is owned by an old woman. My heart aches for what we saw. If God will bless me extra, I'll definitely comeback and help this old grandma.
That moment when she received our small gift with teary-eyed. There was a moment of silence among us, I know, everyone was touched and maybe about to cry too.
Scenarios like this are what drive us to not get tired of hiking for miles. We know, somewhere out there, someone is wishing and praying that Santa will come and visit their house too.
Moving to the next place. Our second Destination.
The next place we are about to deliver our gifts to is the community located in the upper part of our Barangay. It's hilly yet once you get to the top, it's a plain and empty field with coconuts trees.
We discovered a technique on how to save our strength by carrying our presents. Someone must be left in a specific area watching the bags and sacks of our presents. We will just come back to the place once we need a refill.
It was past 12 o'clock yet the sun was still hiding,giving us a favor for our long, tiring yet fulfilling hike.
The first house we brought our presents to had a full banana tree display on their front door. This is a Filipino tradition every new year which means blessings and abundance are coming to this family.
We continued our hike searching for houses. As the year passes, we become more eager and dedicated to doing this Project. It is just so heartwarming seeing the genuine smiles of the locals. The funny things is, sometimes after we sang the Christmas Carols they hand us money because that is what traditional Caroling is. And everytime we give our gifts to them, we always see that Christmas cheer in their eyes which never failed to tickle our hearts. Indeed it's true that an ounce of goodness everyday, can soothe the heart in many ways(Charmaine J. Forde).
My family is not rich, but we could feel and see how the Almighty Father bless us with His favor, love, and grace throughout the year. And so in return, we want to pay it forward. Our hike to the countryside bringing our small presents is our way of sharing love and appreciation for the season.
Cheers to more Hike and walks!
Thank you for reading guys! Hope you are all safe and healthy always! Have a great day!