Pagtinabangay Foundation Training House & Ecology Farm
Location
C
ambantug is about 15 kilometers from the city proper. It is nestled on a sloping portion of a mountainous terrain around 700 feet above sea level, and a national road passes through on the way to Lake Danao. Cambantug is already part of Barangay Lake Danao. Because of its elevation, temperatures can go as low as 18 degrees Celsius at night, from 24-26 degrees at day time. It has a “wet look� most of the time because of the rains that visit the place often. On any day, the place is enveloped in a fog when visibility is only up to 10 meters. The PFI Training House and Ecology Farm is located more than 200
meters before the sitio proper right after Sityo Quarry of Brgy. Milagro. The farm is on top of a hill. Although there are fruit trees around, vegetation is still lush and virginal. It overlooks a portion of the Tongonan geothermal site. From the farm, one can see steam rising from the geothermal facility in the midst of a protected forest. This training house was built in 2006 with funds from the German nonprofit foundation W.P. Schmitz Stiftung. Its intent is to provide a venue for trainings on sustainable agriculture and demonstration farm for natural farming. But it has been used by other groups who like the site for its cool climate and homey ambience.
Facilities
O
ur training house was designed in consideration of its natural environment: the terrain, climate, wind direction and its surrounding vegetation. We are proud to say that no tree was felled when it was built. The foot path followed the gaps between trees so as not to harm any of these. The flowers growing in abundance here are largely wild and gathered from nearby forests. All the flora is endemic to the site.
The structure itself consists of four levels, three of which follow the contour of the land, while the fourth one is a mezzanine which has three rooms and a bathroom. The living room is a spacious area that is almost bereft of furniture. The benches and chairs were built by our able carpenter, while the finishing and painting was done by the staff of PFI. What visitors love most is its homey ambience and cool climate that is most conducive to sleeping and relaxation. It is certainly appealing to meditative souls and individuals who love silences broken only by bird sounds. If you are a keen bird watcher, it will be easy to identify what birds these sounds come from.
Trainings
W
e can host trainings, small conferences of about 15 to 30 persons. The living room serves as our training hall at the same time and at night, visitors like to sleep here. We have enough foam mats, mat covers and thick blankets to make your sleep comfortable and cozy. The beds are upstairs in the rooms but by choice, visitors find the spacious living room a nicer place to lay their mats on.
Farmers, youths and assorted groups have already used our homespun facilities because here you can cook your own food in the kitchen, store your food in the fridge and broil your fish and meat in the dirty kitchen outside, using charcoal or wood. For your workshops, you can sit outside in the pool side or at the hut overlooking the pool, with a commanding view of the forests just a few hundred meters away.
Camp outs
I
n 2008 and 2010, youth groups sponsored by business corporations, concerned individuals and LGUs, came to the Ecology Farm to undergo a week of discussions on Christian values, team building, group interactions, camp outs as well as nature trips. We invited youth counsellors and resource persons to facilitate the team building exercises. Initially, the participants were shy and did not interact with each other. Slowly they opened up and started talking to each other, feeling each other out. In a few days, they were laughing and romping about,
enjoying the ambience at the farm. At the end of these summer work camps, the youths who came went home satisfied and eager to come back. We would like to continue doing the same for the development of our younger set.
Side trips
T
hese trips are no longer part of the training house offerings, but these are available to all those raring to enjoy the bounties of nature within the vicinity of the training house. The pictures shown here are those of young people, aged 16 to 22. At this age level, one tends to be adventurous and eager to face the challenges of climbing mountains and trekking on slippery terrains,
knowing the reward that awaits them at the end of a difficult path is a beautiful waterfalls. Several youth groups that spent days in the ecology farm have gone on to enjoy the trek to the waterfalls, about 45 minutes away from the farm, and came home tired but refreshed.
Pagtinabangay Foundation Inc. Training House & Ecology Farm Sityo Cambantug, Brgy. Lake Danao Ormoc City, Leyte Philippines Tel. +63 053-5613363 CP: 09193942019