A Trip That Made My Farmer-heart Super Happy

Last Sunday, we went to see a farm in the locality of Sodgod that is named Rise and Rebuild International. According to their Social Media Page, Rise and Rebuild International Foundation - Cebu Site aims to help the malnourished children in the island of Cebu. The produce in their farm in Barangay Ampongol, Sogod, Cebu is intended to feed these children for them to have proper nourishment. I do not know the exact measurement of their vast land area, but I did see with my own two eyes how big the area is and how beautiful the green plants to look at. I will let you have a sneak peak of their place through the photos that I was able to capture last Sunday. Fasten your seatbelt and we will go on a muddy walk across the garden paradise. Let’s go!

The climbing vegetables and the fruit plants. As you can see, they built T-frames that will house the aforementioned type of plants. This was actually a good move by the farm directors because these T-frames are durable compared to the ones that they once used which made out of bamboos. They have many vegetables and fruit bearing plants planted there; some are still on its first few weeks after being transferred to the plant beds while some are already bearing fruits like this eggplants below. They have big purple ones, small green ones and big green ones, too bad I was not able to take a picture of each of them, I only took a picture of one of the eggplant variety.

They also have pechays and cabbages that were looking so good and green. The farm manager told us that in harvesting cabbages, you have to hold the middle part, the bulky part and if it is sturdy enough then it is ready for harvest. The inner part are the only ones that are harvested since it is the part that is edible, she said they give the outer layers to the native pigs that they are also raising since it is a bitter when used as an ingredient for dishes.

Aside from cabbages and eggplants they also have corns which were heavily laden with corn flowers during the time of our visit. These corns were very tall already and they were planted separately at different parts of the farm to better utilized the unused areas of the farm. The farm manager did some explanation as to which part is the male part of the corn and which part is the female part. I did not actually know that so when she told us, it was another good-to-know information for me.

It was so much fun walking in the muddy fields. I actually took a picture of how heavy my borrowed slipper has gotten. Since going to the farm was not part of the plan, I was actually wearing shoes, so when we got there, I borrowed a pair of slippers for one of the farm directors. And look what happened to it. Hahahahaha.

They also had a mushroom farm, but it was already old and used up at the time of our visit. If you haven’t seen a mushroom farm in fruiting bags, you probably pictured out what I meant with a mushroom farm. It was hanged and the fruiting bags were layered one to another. The mushrooms would grow out of those fruiting bags. Too bad I was not able to see good and healthy mushrooms at that time. Mushrooms I think grow more in the dark so they covered the mushroom area with a large piece of plastic.

Aside from plants they also have live stocks that were fed with veggies and not commercial pellets. They have a bunch of wild boars that roam around a fenced area of the farm. When we got there, we saw how muddy their dwelling place is due to the rain. There were even small piglets that were partially soaked due to the rain. I looked at them and I kind of thought maybe the piglets are cold and sleepy. My mother heart always feels sad whenever I see small creatures who are cold and sad. I guess that is a default feeling when you are already a mom.

They did have wild boars which is a good source of protein-rich pork meat and they also have chicken that lays eggs. Yep, they have layers as they call it. The farm director said that their chickens can lay up to two trays of eggs per day. And I was amazed just by thinking about how many eggs can these layers lay.

Also, they have turkeys in the farm. As usual they were noisy. Have you heard how turkeys make their sounds when there are people around? The kids in my place loves to imitate a noisy turkey. Ahahahaha.I love doing that when I was a kid too. The turkey were located just beside the wild boars, too bad I did not take a picture of them but they look like the ones in the picture below. There were many of them by the way.

Aside from boars, chickens and peacocks, they also have rabbits! Yup, you are reading it right, they have rabbits for meat consumption. I was not that familiar with the different rabbit specie that was there, but my friend who were with me at that time, said that there was different rabbit specie there and that they are good types of rabbits according to him.

Man, that was so much fun! I feel like I was walking in a scene in my dreams. I haven’t mentioned it but one of my ultimate dream is to buy a small lot one day and farm and farm to my hearts content. Walking in that spacious fields with lots of plants to see is paradise to me!

By the way, did you guys know that the intent of RISE AND REBUILD INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION is to feed the less fortunate with healthy foods. The founder of this foundation served a voluntary service years ago, and during that time, he saw the increasing number of kids who were poorly nourished due to poverty. So since he was wealthy enough he created foundations here in the Philippines (and yes that was RRIF). They said there were other foundations in the country, one in Lucban Quezon, one in Tarlac and this one here in Sogod, Cebu, making it three in total.

Can you imagine how wonderful the vision is of this foundation, which is to use our wealth to feed the hungry and contribute goodness to the world. I can’t help but be grateful to the Goodson’s for there philanthropic and life-changing acts. They said that since the time they started their feeding program and now, they have seen that some kids are improving in their health. Soon they will not just feed the kids from Catmon, they said they will tap the LGU’s of Danao and other neighboring cities. I am so happy when I heard that.

After writing about this experience, I thought of a question that goes; “If you will be given a good amount of wealth, what will you do with it?” I would love to her you share your thoughts with me in the comments below. Will you be like the Goodson's?

All photos are mine except those that were tagged as taken from Unsplash. 
Credits to owners of those photos!