Haaay.. i'm back!! Sa wakas!! Tapos na NSTP ko! E kasi naman noh, everyday NSTP ko, including weekends. Kaya talagang busy at pagod. From 8am-5pm yun. Pagdating ko sa bahay, para na akong lantang gulay. Three hours ang byahe pauwi, kapag minalas pa ako, makakarating ako sa bahay ng 9pm na. Nga pala, sa MANILA ZOO yung venue namin. At eto yung pinasa kong written report sa prof ko.
FIELD EXPERIENCE
I was assigned to the second batch of volunteers, which started on the fourth of May, until the eighteenth. The first batch is composed of 29 volunteers, while our batch only have 11 members, including two Fine Arts students.
The different works given to us are: roving (going around the zoo, preventing offenders from teasing and giving snacks to our friendly animals), feeding (well..feeding, just like it is), sweeping (probably the hardest because we have to sweep the floor, with rhythm, while the wind is continuously trying to irritate us by making the leaves fall off the trees), watering the plants (which is really enjoyable, until the hose ran out of water), cleaning of the lagoon (a little hard because the lagoon just doesn’t run out of tiny leaves dropping from the trees, thanks to the wind), and other miscellaneous stuff.
We were expected to be at the zoo by eight in the morning. But since I felt all excited during the first week, I usually am the early bird of the group, arriving a little after seven. We have our lunch break by eleven-thirty. Either we go to Harison plaza, Go-2-zoo, or the carinderia near the entrance of the zoo. We go back at one in the afternoon, and our day ends at five. Same thing goes the next day.
We have our Daily Time Record (DTR) signed by our trainer, Mr. Manuel Dapadap, or Sir Manny, as we call him. Aside from that, we also have a daily logbook where we sign when we arrive and just before we bid farewell. We were also required to wear our ID labeled volunteer! so that other personnel will be able to know us, and so that the nice lady at the boating ticket booth will let us use the boat for free.
Since there were only eleven of us, we don’t have rotation of duties. Those who are able and willing may grab the broomstick, and have a battle with the wind, or they may grab the hose and have a battle with the water. Either way, natural forces just won’t make their job any easier.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED
The Manila Zoo personnel really are a nice bunch of people. Sir Manny, for one, is the best trainer, and I’m not saying this just because he’s the only trainer I’ve ever had, but because he really is very, very cool. He can relate with us, he can talk to us about anything, he can sympathize with us, he can do all those things that bonded children and parents do. So, I can’t say I have anything against them, because I don’t. The guys at the photo souvenir section also are really nice. They let us put the snakes on our shoulders, and we often use our free time to bond with them (the snakes). There is, I guess, only one person that I do not like. It is no big deal, it’s just that she made me frown. Twice. *hmph*
I bonded with my fellow volunteers, even with the two students from FA. There’re only eleven of us, so we came to know each other well, and we’re usually together when we’re not doing anything. So, again, I don’t have problem with them.
Our job/work is not hard, but it’s not easy either. Just like what I mentioned above, only the natural forces makes our lives harder. The visitors don’t feel bad when we tell them not to do this or do that, or not to sit on the swing so that kids-who-don’t-have-the-guts-to-tell-adults-that- they’re-depriving-them-of-their-enjoyment can now sit on the swing. I was also able to feed the elephant up close and personal. I love our job.
I guess the only problem I encountered while taking up NSTP in Manila Zoo is my travel time and distance. I live the farthest from the zoo among the eleven of us (I live in Angono, Rizal). At morning, I have to leave two hours before our working time. When luck strikes me, I will not encounter any traffic. The hardest is going back home. Standing inside the LRT and the MRT is just crazy. Buying tickets is crazier. And the line in the jeepney terminal in Crossing is the craziest. Sometimes, I’ll arrive home at already nine in the evening, tired and hungry. My friends said I have no right to whine about it because I chose Manila Zoo over Marikina. I guess they’re right. I don’t have any regret choosing Manila Zoo. So, I just tell myself…”Girl, this is how life’s gonna be when you start working. Better get used to it.” And mind you, it is effective.
VALUES
In this NSTP, I learned to wake up when my alarm clock goes “wang-wang” in the morning. I can’t really say I learned punctuality, because sometimes, I’m soooo early, and sometimes, I’m late, so I think it’s something at least close to that. Patience, of course. There’s also friendliness and cooperation with the Manila Zoo personnel. I also became closer to the animals. I can sympathize with them. And then there’s this time when we assisted with the animal show and free food-giving for the children in Manila. I enjoyed their company. I don’t know if it’s a value, but for my own dictionary, I call it “flexibility with company.” It’s like you act according to your surroundings. Adaptation. When you’re with kids, then be one with them. It’s something like that. I can’t explain it well, I’ve always been a horrible explainer. Hehe.
RECOMMENDATION
Of course I will 100% recommend Manila Zoo as an NSTP venue! I told you I don’t have any regrets choosing it over the forty-minutes ride Marikina. Volunteers will meet with different kinds of people. There’s so much exposure to the outside world. Every experience counts. All the hard work pays. All the happy moments blasts!
As of my beloved college, Asian Institute of Tourism (AIT), I guess it should always conduct its NSTP course on interactive places, just like the zoo. Field work is field work. Forget about papers. There is more experience in the field (literally), than with all the paper projects that other colleges do. NSTP in AIT is effective. I’m happy with it. I’m happy with Manila Zoo.
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Pinakagusto kong part e yung patambay-tambay namin sa mga Zoovenir photo. Andun kasi si Alvin, Mike, Jonelle at saka si Eugene. Yun yung papat na ahas na laging nakasalakbit sa balikat namin. Lagi kaming andon. Hehehe. Balak pa nga naming bumalik don eh, dumalaw lang. Siguro naman libre pa din entrance fee namin. Hehehe..Ayun, yan lang naman. Sa susunod, baka dumami na ulit post ko. Ü