When
      Sunburn
             Doesn't
                       Hurt
                                     A Sea Camp story

By Eloisa Roa
I Love the Ocean Movement member

ho says sunburn hurts? Or that it's unsightly? Violent opposition is what you're likely to get from participants of the I Love the Ocean Sea Camp on Olango Island if you ever so much as comment on their suffering from intense sunburn pain. Keep noticing and you're sure to hear, "Can't complain. This is the mark of Olango!" They don't mind if people stare at that super-burned look because more than being proof that they've been under the glaring sun for four full days, it bespeaks of the numerous experiences shared during the camp.

On March 23 to 26, 2000, the I Love the Ocean Movement, in cooperation with the University of Cebu, held a Sea Camp at Suba, Sabang, Olango Island, Lapu Lapu City in central Philippines. The Sea Camp was not just your plain-ol'-camp-with-bonfire-at-night thing, although we did light candles during reflection sessions in the evenings. The camp was a trainors' training course, which imparted to participants the values of preservation and concern for the marine environment. Whew! Deep aye? Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg. You should have been there. The sunburn didn't hurt.

The camp brought together young people of different backgrounds, melding the participants' own set of values with shared experiences and a new set of values - that of conserving and promoting the sustainability of coastal and marine resources. This fusion of unique personalities and backgrounds enriched the entire exercise, but it was the same uniqueness of individuals that made it seem intimidating at the onset. Some participants sported an authoritative look, they seemed rather daunting; others looked barbaric, giving one second thoughts about approaching them.

The trip to Olango Island felt drawn-out and dizzying - must be the combination of a boat ride and hungry stomachs. Little wonder that silence reigned through most of the trip, a silence broken only when the island came into view. With an amazing stretch of white sand beach and a waterway flanked by lush mangroves on both sides, Olango was a sight to behold. And the birds, the ones that make Olango famous, were there to welcome us, making us momentarily forget our rumbling tummies. Amidst a chorus of oohhs and aahhs, our group finally got acquainted. A lively chatter broke out, and that, I was to find out, was just a taste of the many spirited interactions we would have over the course of this three-day camp.

We certainly found many things to talk about. Olango was the best place in which to hold the Sea Camp. The place has all of the three major tropical coastal and marine habitats - mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. Here, we were exposed to the different marine habitats and made to better understand the roles that they play in the very fiber of our lives.

We learned that these habitats are intimately connected and functionally interactive, each one playing a critical role in improving and maintaining the quality of tropical marine environment. We also learned that this role is little understood by a great number of our people, even those living along our coasts and making their living from our seas, and that human activities have placed our marine environment and the lives of humans and animals in great peril.

Each day of the camp started with morning praise and ended with evening rituals. These activities helped each participant realize that there is a Creator who provides everything we need and that each creation exists for a purpose.

We earned a hefty dose of sun during morning praise; the rest of the sunburn was gained from outdoor team-building activities and games. We had the greatest fun doing these exercises, but the games were not mere play; they also served to give participants a better appreciation of the values of cooperation and interdependence and magnified the concept of interrelatedness between and among creatures and habitats.

Take the game called "Spider Web", for instance. Each member of a team, with help from his teammates, was required to pass through a "cell" in the web without any part of his body touching the sides of that cell. It was a game of strategizing, a little hair-pulling, scratches and crumpled clothing well worth the trouble.

There were regular discussions during the camp, quite like what we have in school, but in different setting: on the beach, "banigs" (mats) spread under a tree, and the balmy sea breeze. Now, what could be more cool?

Commodore Gaudencio Peña, president of the I Love the Ocean Cebu Association, was there to share his myriad experiences in "Oceaneering", Navigation and Survival Aids. His lessons came in handy throughout the camp, especially when we went into hands-on learning.

Necks would stiffen in the evenings as we tried to locate the Big Dipper. A few arguments here and there eventually led us in the right direction. Some even mistook a firefly for a star - that's navigating!

"Oceaneering," a module designed to teach participants weather forecasting and the concepts of tides, winds and other oceanographic processes, was applied during the most keenly awaited part of the camp - environment-friendly water sports! And off we paddled on our kayaks and swam in crystal clear waters. Even the birds joined the fun.

The Sea Camp brought about an obvious change for the better in the way participants view their environment. It helped us recognize the integral and interdependent relationships between humanity and the rest of creation. We now fully appreciate that, as humanity is dependent on the fruits of Nature, so is Nature's very survival greatly dependent on humanity.

***