Serum means dusk

Writer-friend says my photography is improving. He says I should stick with the SLR camera because it is a more difficult medium and it is becoming a lost art. Wanted to tell him that the only reason I want to buy a digital camera is because I can’t afford film. But you can’t argue with an artist about costs. Hehehe. My officemate tells me that cost is relative. If you like what you’re doing, you’d be willing to spend more for top quality. True. Of course, that’s easy to say if you have the money. Sigh. Glad that my trip to Sitio Serum improved my perspective on cost and on art. Finally, this blog is beginning to look like a Photoblog.


My church group celebrated our 10th anniversary by donating bags of food and second-hand clothes to Sitio Serum, Guimaras last Sunday. It's a 15-minute boat ride from the city and a 30-minute drive from the wharf. Sitio Serum is a community of Aetas (dark-skinned aborigines) who have been displaced and relocated there. They live by selling whatever they plant, and making charcoal which is not much.

Our friend J and his fellow bikers joined us. While we were breezing through Guimaras on jeepney’s horsepower, they rode the mountains with their bikes and a lot of leg-power.




Her name is Joy and she's 1/2 of a twin. Her sister looks on behind her. I bought the little girls dolls but regretted it when I saw that some of them had no flip-flops. Should have bought flip-flops and toothbrushes.




Meet Maria. She's the most friendly among the kids and has good confidence. While everybody there had very dark skin, Maria stands out because of her light brown skin. I sometimes wonder if skin color does affect people's attitude towards life.



Meet lightning-speed Lester. He runs in circles like Speedy Gonzales and makes everyone laugh without even trying to.




My dentist-friend and my teacher-friend inside the day-care center. This sari-sari (assorted) store was built by the aetas to teach the children trade and money. The things they "sell" here are just empty wrappers and boxes that don't contain anything. They just wanted it to look more like a store. After we fed them, they collected our wrappers so they can use it again.




One of my biker-friends, who refuses to show his face to the camera. I like this shot though.




This is one of the boats that take passengers and cargo across the river to the island of Guimaras. It can carry up to 30 people.




So we were quite loaded with 18 bikes, 18 bikers, about 29 bags of goods containing rice, clothes, food and 12 of us from the community.




The crazy women who wanted to ride on the jeepney roof because there was no room for people due to the bags of food. Who said only men get to ride the jeepney rooftops?
I got sunburn from too much sun and dancing with the aetas. I was blushing red when I got home. Now the sunburn has turned to brown and dries-up my face. Not very pretty at all. But who cares.