SIPAGAN, KRISTOFFERSON F.

ACADEMIC REFLECTION PAPER : OUTBOUND TRIP

12 – STEM 22 OCTOBER 5, 2018

Before the tour begin, prepare the things that are needed for the trip. Indeed students know that the
entire transportation trip is free and it was shouldered by the administration. Weeks before they introduced
to the students with all the necessary information and details about this outbound trip. Suddenly the
supposed schedule was moved due to the suspension of classes and typhoon. This outbound trip shows as a
course-related activity that serves educational purposes and occurs outside of the classroom to experience
the real world. Last September 24, 2018, first it was challenging due to early call time of 5:00 am but in this
way they were trained to become sensitive and mature with our pace. Leaving around 5:45am as the bus
proceeds to the first destination, the guide discuss the precautionary measures such that always bring your
gadgets with you and strictly no inside vendors will be allowed on the bus. Also some rules that says no
standing while the bus is moving and be an eco-friendly advocate. Lastly the most important thing for the
tour is enjoyment, the vital key to every trip is to enjoy with learning something new and diverse in the field
they’ve known in a one dimensional perspective. Around 8:00 am they’ve arrived at the first destination,
Morong Church, Rizal.
In the city of Morong, Province of Rizal, it was explained to us that the said city was a 2 nd
class municipality, has only 58,185 total population based on 2017 statistics and it was founded in 1572.
One of the most attractive tourist destination is the magnificent “Morong Church” or the St. Jerome Parish
Church. As explained by the Lakbay guide they’ve mentioned that this church was constructed by force labor
not only by men, but also women and children. The resources were stones dug from a hill called Kay Ngaya;
lime from the stones of the mountain Kay Maputi; sand and gravel from Morong River; and timber were
contributed by the townspeople. In the late 15th century they’ve realize how strong the foundation of the
church is? But this gave way for them to discover something new, using egg whites and shells as a binder for
the construction. Then the excess egg yolks raise the idea of having leche flan, a sweet delicacy as well of
Morong, Rizal. As explained by the Lakbay guide the church takes around 3 years to fully finished the entire
church. According to the study of Guillermo, Liwayway (2006) entitled “Short History of the Parish and
Chruch of St. Jerome” further explained the structure of the church in which it was a cross shaped structure
that symbolizes the life of a Catholic. From the entry point of the church that symbolizes the birth and the
right side corresponds to the sunrise that means baptism the starting point of a Christian living. It was
explained further that the center portion of the church symbolizes half life that implies marriage and the left
side corresponds to the sunset which means death. The students ended up taking photos as a documentation
after that they proceed to their next destination, Cardona Livelihood, Rizal.
According to the Census of Population and Housing (2016), Cardona, Rizal is the 3 rd class
municipality and 2nd district of Rizal. They also mentioned that with the continuous expansion of Metro
Manila, the municipality is now part of Manila's conurbation which reaches Cardona in its easternmost part.
The water hyacinths, bamboo and coconut husk are usually viewed as waste materials but for the locals of
Cardona, Rizal they seek opportunities to this waste by turning them into something useful. During the
outbound trip, the students were exposed to the different processes of making crafts from bamboo, charcoal
and water hyacinth. The Local Government Unit (LGU) strengthens the livelihood programs in the said raw
materials. For water hyacinth, the students observed different processes from harvesting to making them
into something. Water hyacinths disrupts the livelihood structure of the fishermen of Cardona whereas
these plants prevents the control of oxygen making the fish in fatal condition and ruining the business of the
locality. According to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST, 2015), Cardona residents winning
the war against water hyacinth. During the outbound trip, students observed the different processes of
turning water hyacinths into something useful. First stage of the process is the harvesting water hyacinth
from the lake. Explained by the Lakbay guide, water hyacinths usually grows 25-30 inches. Then, depending
on the weather, they would dry the stems either under the sun for a week or using the water hyacinth dryer
for a certain amount of time. After the drying process the workers flatten the stems that these can be woven
into different products. The students also learned on how to weave water hyacinths. After that the students
proceed to the next material, the coconut husks.
The students were able to witness the how the e-charcoal was made. It was observed that process of
converting coconut husks to charcoal includes the removal of all moistures from the raw material. It
requires a special charcoal drum to carbonize and pulverize the coconut shells and produce high
quality charcoal. After that the charcoals were placed in a huge oven to dry for 4 hour or using the sun dried
process for 4 days. This shows how simple product were brought with hard work and dedication. The local
workers sell the e-charcoal for a very cheap price raging from 10-25 pesos. After the students known the
processes of making an e-charcoal from a coconut husks, they proceed to the material that the local workers
of Cardona are proud of, bamboo engineering.
The last product was engineered bamboo. The local workers demonstrate to the students on how an
ordinary bamboo can be turned into something useful. First the local workers need a specific type of
bamboo, “kawayang tinik”. According to the study of B. Sharma PHD et al. (2015) entitled “Bamboo
Engineering : State of the Art” heavily focused on bamboo engineering aims to reduce variability but to
increase sustainability and solve environmental problems. The class observed the process of engineering a
bamboo. According to W Liese (2004), Engineered bamboo is a low cost product manufactured
from bamboo. It is designed to be a replacement for wood or engineered wood because bamboo is
sustainable and environmental friendly. The latter has that shape due to the process of the bamboo being
flattened and stacking slabs of bamboo onto each other.
Guillermo, Liwayway (2006). Short History of the Parish and Church of Saint Jerome.