TreeVolution: Greening MindaNOW or better known as the 26kmHiking-To-Death-We-Had-No-Idea-We-Were-About-To-Go-Through

Before going through this unedited, explicit, annoying article/rant, you must
first understand that there is no limitation to what I am about to say. There are no
boundaries for me when it comes to voicing out. So if by any chance, the world gets
offended, I apologize in advance. It is not my intention to bash everything and
everyone (even though it is, but lets not go deeper into that).
They were unorganized. The system was confusing. Even the name seemed
confusing when it should be This-Is-Not-Actually-Tree-Planting-LOL. See, there is a
difference between tree planting and hiking. Sadly, most people seem to not know
that simple fact because we were told that we were going tree planting however, we
did more hiking instead. The thing about the TreeVolution was that we had
absolutely no idea where it was actually was we were going. We were told that there
will be hiking, yes. But nobody told us we would be hiking 26 kilometers of dirt and
mud.
To the people who were and still are in awe of the TreeVolution and how it
saved the dying Earth a little bit more, I salute you. But sir, you dont know the
whole truth. This is the truth. ICSDs Grade 10-John of the S.Y 2014-2015 luckily and
unluckily experienced the TreeVolution in all of its madness and glory.
On September 26, 2014, we started off on our crazy and unexpected
adventure.
We all know that it is very ungodly for a human being to wake up at 4 am in
the morning, but thats exactly what we did. And Ill let you in a fun fact: I am not a
morning person and neither are most of my classmates. After waking up groggy and
disoriented, I headed off for school where we were tasked to gather before going to
the starting point of our adventure. After that, we walked from school to SPED at
about 4:50 am and that was the moment I thanked God for crazy friends. Without
them, I would still be walking dead on my feet. It was about 5 am when the buses
started moving. Everything was going according to plan except for the fact that we
left one of us behind.
The bus ride was quite peaceful and the best part about it was when we got
to see the sun rise from the hills where we were passing by. 'Breathtaking' would be
an understatement. That scene is one of those scenes that would make you grateful
for your life.
One of the many purposes why the TreeVolution was made possible was
because of the Guinness World Record. We were aiming to have the Guinness World
Record for the most trees planted in an hour simultaneously and beat India, who

had the World Record then. The TreeVolution took place at Marilog district, Davao
City.
When we reached our destination, the air was buzzing with excitement. There
were different students coming from different schools all over the place. Some
schools were PNJKE, UIC, UM and HCCD. We were then herded like sheep and
gathered around the registration area where we got our wrist bands that verified
that we were part of the much awaited TreeVolution.
After that, we waited.
And waited.
And waited a bit more.
I then noticed that there were Davao City Central 911 Emergency Medical
Services Unit everywhere. There were also soldiers but I didnt pay much attention
to them at that time. Again, I thanked God for crazy friends. They kept me
entertained with their silly antics. When we did officially start, I remembered
laughing and smiling. Everyone buzzed with so much excitement, it was contagious.
We were ready. We were about to save the world even just a little bit. We were
happy.
But then we saw the road, and then we were told where we were actually
going and how far it was to get there. And thats when I started to disorient and
combust.
Magsaysay. Its a word that holds many painful and at the same time, happy
memories for all fourth year students. With Magsaysay comes the word Marilog, and
with Marilog, we all remember hiking. The reason why Im bringing up hiking so
much is because even though there are 1,025,109.8 words in the English language,
somehow I cannot string them up together to express my exact feelings towards the
TreeVolution.
We hiked 26 kilometers in the span of 3 hours. And that was only going
towards our destination. We never even got the chance to walk together as a class.
Everyone got separated along the way. Dead beat and tired, most of us got jealous
every time cars passed us by packed with students. We had to walk and some
people were given the chance to just ride. Oh, the unfairness of it all. Let that sink
in.
I finally realized the significance of the Emergency Unit placed there when
two of the mobiles passed us while carrying some students who fainted. What the
public doesnt know that we do is that there were many casualties that happened in
the TreeVolution. There was even a lady who broke her leg after the motorcycle she
was riding tripped over some rocks.

So, you could imagine how upset I got when it was featured on the news but
the casualties werent shown. It was after all of those that I realized how dangerous
the TreeVolution for all of us was. Everything was sugar coated by the media. It
made people think it was a success without informing them about what the students
really felt.
And what did we feel exactly? Well, we felt like a dozen horses trampled all
over our bodies. We were all that tired, drained and drowsy.
Since we were all graduating students, we were told to plant 20 trees
because if we couldnt, we will not be able to graduate. Their words, not mine. So
imagine how driven we were to actually plant 20 trees even after hiking for about 3
hours under the heat of the scorching sun. When we finally, after so many rests stop
and complains, got together again, we were all brain dead. But thank goodness for
free mineral water bottles and bland sandwiches, they made us all feel alive again!
We had to cross a small river to get to where we were supposed to
plant the trees. Everything was in shambles because some people didnt even want
to share the land that they were planting on. That made a lot of us upset. Before we
started, a lot of people had to make sure that we were going to start together so
that people from the Guinness World Record would time us perfectly. We only had
about an hour to plant the trees. Our class however, only had about 30 to 35
minutes to plant 20 trees because we were slowed down by all of the hiking.
Honestly, despite all of those, I had fun planting those trees. I imagined them
growing taller and I actually got a lit bit jealous because they could and I sadly
cant. The timer told us to stop the moment I planted my 8th tree. I only got the
chance to plant 8 trees even though I tried my hardest to plant more, but if you only
used a kitchen knife to dig a hole in a ground, youd actually find that planting more
trees is quite impossible. Who knew, right?
After a little bit of rest, we made our way back. The adventure was not quite
over then. The real struggle we had to face was going back without exhausting and
draining ourselves out even more. Thats why we tried everything from asking help
from personnel, to asking help from parked police mobiles, random cars and
motorcycles. But evidently, no one helped us. So, we decided to just walk again.
As Central 911 Emergency mobiles passed us by, students were walking back
like zombies hungry for brains- but in our case, hungry for rest. Since it was almost
noon, we sought for food. After about an hour or so, my companions and I decided
to rest for a bit. So we sat on a hill and ate. While we were eating, the same police
mobile we asked for help passed us by. And the most irritating and mind-boggling
thing was that there were students inside of them. I remember their words exactly
as they said they couldnt help us because they were on duty and they had a job to
do.

So mister policeman, was allowing A-class students a ride back a part of your
job too? Remind me to sign up for the Blue Eagles team the next we have another
TreeVolution so I can get the chance to sit my butt on a car while others hiked.

God was upon us when we got the chance to ride a motorcycle when we were
almost halfway where we were supposed to go. I sat in front of the driver. You
cannot imagine how jittery I was the entire time. I felt like I might fall to my death if
I stopped clinging to the motorcycle. But sitting in front also gave me the perfect
opportunity to internalize everything that was happening. Everyone looked so tired.
Everyone looked like they might die if they stepped another foot. Everyone was not
ready
to
experience
that.
It was no surprise that when I asked my classmates if they had fun, they all
screamed, no. Even when I told them that they did something good for the
environment, they still thought it wasnt fun at all. I mean, if you call hiking for 3 or
more hours when you had no idea that you would fun, then I dont know whats
wrong with you.
Still, I thank the person who tried to cheer us up even though we all felt
gloomy. I give thanks to our adviser for cheering us on when the fourth year
students all felt like falling apart. He was shining brighter than the sun. Thank God
for Captain Orange.
At the end of the day, I still think that we got chance to do something bigger
for all of humanity. The TreeVolution was an extraordinary feat to save nature and it
was made possible by ordinary and strong people. We were able to plant about 3
million trees, more so than India. I salute the students who made it out aware of the
fact that they saved the dying Earth.
Trees are crucial in this world. Chocolate even comes from trees so we should
try our mighty best to save them. Trees are those certain puzzle pieces that if gone,
the bigger picture would obliterate and cease to exist.
We did something good. We did something worth it. We did something unique
because truthfully, not many people would get the chance to experience that kind
of brain dead and euphoria at the same time. And think about it, its always the
unexpected moments that we remember the most. So heres to Marilog, may we
never forget.
BeaColminas