From mountains and rivers to city life, three volunteer teachers carry the lessons of service long after their Gurong Pahinungód stint.
Eyo Olaya, Marvin Fresno, and Jann Alexis Lappas spent nearly a year walking forests of towering bamboos, crossing small rivers, and traversing a hanging bridge riddled with holes to bring education to the remote community of Buringal, Mountain Province.
What they had only heard in stories became their daily reality as University of the Philippines Gurong Pahinungód volunteers from mid-2024 to mid-2025.
When their service ended, they went back to their cities and began working outside teaching. Memories of Buringal are bittersweet. Serving the barangay allowed them to grow, and have hope and purpose. Olaya returned to Midsayap, Fresno went back to Quezon City, and Lappas resumed life in Baguio, carrying lessons that continue to shape their work and perspectives. But the smiles of their former students faded into the background, drowned by the noise of places they called home. There was now a quiet struggle to readapt and find their place once again.
Be like water
Olaya, a 2024 BS Agribusiness Economics graduate of UP Mindanao, always believed that volunteering requires learning to be like water. “Because water takes the form of its container. It has flow — sometimes strong, sometimes weak. And then when it needs to stop, when it hits an obstacle, water stops, too. But when it can flow, it flows freely. That is almost how I see volunteerism.”
In an interview during Olaya’s stay in Buringal, he shared a story about a student who visited their boarding house at night and even on weekends. The student helped his parents cultivate their land and plant crops. With his co-volunteers, Olaya opened their boarding house as an extension of the classroom so the student could catch up on missed lessons and review topics he struggled with.
This Buringal memory, close to his heart, proves what it meant to give more of himself as a volunteer.
Beyond counting
Fresno, 52, a BS Computer Science graduate from UP Diliman, began his journey with a dream. The challenges of teaching were not only physical but also mental and intellectual. How would he apply the experience he gained from higher education to teaching? Unlike Olaya and Lappas, Fresno chose to step back from work after volunteering and take a break to travel. But he still wrestled with doubts.
“I said to myself, maybe I can be more useful if I go back to my old job. But I also wanted to teach, so I had some second thoughts,” he said. “After my stint, I saw some job openings. I applied, but I thought, I don’t want to teach high school anymore. I want to focus more on college.”
Leaving what they were used to and embracing something new can be unsettling. Beyond counting the years was a deeper reflection on whether the Pahinungód experience has changed the choices they once prioritized. What matters more than age is the courage to risk change every single day.
Lasting return
For Olaya, Fresno, and Lappas, the experience shaped their sense of home, belonging, and the meaning of service. It meant leaving comfort zones and walking unfamiliar paths. Memories of choices and decisions, of guiding and supporting students, may not define them entirely, but the experience surely left an enduring imprint.
Lappas, who graduated from UP Baguio in 2024 with a degree in BA Social Science, majoring in anthropology with a minor in psychology, had his perspective on service and the depth of his commitment to Pahinungód tested in Buringal.
“Being a Gurong Pahinungód changed the way I understand service and even the way I understand myself. Pahinungód taught me not to fear change, especially when it comes to my own perspectives, values, and beliefs. I learned that our worldview is never the only ‘right’ one, and that stepping outside our echo chambers is necessary for genuine service.”
“‘Always, for the country’ has always been my mantra as a UP student. But Pahinungód gave that mantra deeper meaning. I realized that to truly serve, I must look closer, listen more carefully, and understand the people I wanted to help,” Lappas explained. “Service should never be about imposing what I think is best. It must be rooted in what the community knows, feels, and needs.”
Serving a community with a different culture and language is challenging. How these volunteers were developed by the program is measured not only by how students learned from them but also by how they carry lessons from their experiences back to their own communities. It proved that experience taught teachers more, and that the legacy of service continues long after leaving the classrooms they volunteered to teach.
For these Gurong Pahinungód, the end of their stint was not a return to how they once lived. It is life enriched by Pahinungód, shaped by lessons learned in remote classrooms, mountainous trails, and the hearts of students they touched. The experience remains with them, reminding them that true service goes beyond the program, given wherever their journeys lead.
Cover photo by Tricia Mabale, UPS-MCO
