Banaue Rice Terraces

One of my favorite missions trips I've ever been on was to the province of Ifugao in the Philippines - my mom's native country! I was able to accompany my brother on a medical missions trip lead by Dr. Conrad Zapanta and his medical team. Dr. Zapanta is a Filipino-American retired specialist that has been leading medical teams to Ifugao for many years. This team is made up of medical doctors, surgeons, nurses, dentists, and other willing participants who have no medical background - like ME!

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My brother and I were able to make a double trip out of it and first visit our family in Mindanao (whom we hadn't seen in years).📷

For the last part of the trip, we then flew over to Manila and met up with the medical team there in the city. From there, it was a long 8-hour bus ride through the mountains to where the established medical mission site is located. 📷

Once we got there, it was hands on right from the start! The medical team was able to use my assistance in the audiology department where I helped test people's hearing capabilities. Then from the graphs I made, Dr. Preis (below) would determine if she needed to do ear surgery on the patients or to give them donated hearing aids! It was such an incredible feeling being able to help the medical team out in this way!

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Also, another reason why this trip was so incredible was being able to witness my brother in his dental element. At this point, he had just recently finished studying for his huge Dental Admittance Test (DAT) and was feeling completely burnt out from all his studies. Though he has wanted to become a dentist since his Junior year in high school, it was this trip that rejuvenated his spirits and which helped him to refocus on his calling to help those in need through dentistry. I'm also proud to say that he is now a first-year dental student at the University of New England!📷

Anyways, on one of our last days in Ifugao, we were able to take a quick excursion to see the picturesque Banaue rice terraces!

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This area is actually considered by the Filipinos as the 8th natural wonder of the world, and I must say, I can totally see why!!! Though the surrounding area is not in the best tourist destination shape, the view of the terraces is certainly worth the treck! In fact, the majority of the houses and shops looked like these:

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Apparently, due to the increased tourism over the years, many of the natives have turned to making their income mainly from selling souvenirs instead of farming. One form of income they generate comes from taking pictures with tourists in their native garb:

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So overall, though it doesn't have the best facilities to host tourists, the natural wonder was absolutely worth the treck. It truly was a mindblowing view and I highly recommend visiting if you're ever in the Philippines! However, there are tons of islands in the Philippines and unless you are already in the area or are going in a large group, finding transportation up to this part of the mountain may be challenging. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about transportation because that was already taken care of through the mission team's fees.