It's 28th of December, 2014, on the last part of the hustle and bustle days of Christmas, both at home and work. I woke up strangely early, a couple of hours before sunrise to print a photograph. I was definite I would see the recipient of the print that morning. Our family was heading to Mabinay for the yearly outreach program. My father had chosen the place early that year. Morning came and off we went. I always choose to be the last in the convoy so when i arrived in the area, half a thousand people had already gathered in the parish church. I turned my head to these hundred families with their children and I immediately noticed this boy with curiosity of wanting to approach me. His parents on the background seemed surprised to see me, too. 'Twas like a reunion. I went near them. I was glad to see the boy's eyes, truly crystal of a youngster. We talked as if we were good old friends. But we were not. We met only once and that was two months ago. In the afternoon, after the event, I gave him the photograph. My family was equally surprised to know i have a kid friend there. So I narrated to them what really happened.

This is the story.

In one holiday of October, on that same year. I got up from bed with one thing in my mind: to go bird photography in the the twin lakes of Balinsasayaw, 15 km away, in the hinterland of Sibulan. But the heavy downpour the night before had turned a ready-for-pavement road into a deep zigzag canal. I was driving alone so it was just imperative that i abort the plan. Back on the highway, I decided to go to a highland resort in Mabinay. It's been 15 years since i first saw the place. That's 80 kms north, so i grabbed a packed lunch along the way.

I arrived in the place at noontime and took a quick meal. It was occasionally showering that time. Then i started to scout the area. There were man-made lakes and I could hear bird calls in the nearby high trees. As I went around, I noticed this small-sized lake with a wooden boardwalk on it. The sight was so surreal, I sighed, and wished someone would come fishing there for a picturesque shot. I could not see other people there, other than a mother and daughter fishing on the main lake and a staff doing the maintenance work. The next few hours, i continued roaming around and luckily got some lifer (new bird encountered and photographed) too.

Suddenly, I saw a dwarf kingfisher for the first time! Behold, I was looking at a real one, and not a page on a bird guide. But when i was about to outwit its elusiveness, something drew on my peripheral vision: a boy from afar running in the direction of the small lake. I've been into fishing in my childhood days so i could tell what's up for somebody with a bag and a rod. I froze before my heart jumped off. This is the moment i was wishing for two hours earlier! It was as if his little footsteps were stumping on my chest as my heart was beating so fast. I let go the rare kingfisher, for the colorful moment will come to pass. I trembled my way to him, but still trying to maintain composure. He climbed on the board, laid his sack bag and started preparing his hook on the line. I did the same to my backpack on the moistened grass, and got everything at my disposal.

He was busy, and i was shooting like every second of the moment, too. We didn't talk, both of us were strangers. He got an aim ( which I later learned, to bring food for the family). And I've got my own story to capture as well. As i was doing my job, I occasionally heard him coughing. It seemed that he was sick.

When i wrapped up the last shots, i broke our 80-minute silence. That time, I realized the boardwalk was badly broken -- only a child of his weight and his trick could climb. So I asked him if he could come closer (i had questions to ask) . When he approached me, I was thrown aback as I looked at his eyes-- they were entirely dark red. I could hardly see contrast between the iris and sclera. I learned that he met an accident the previous week and had been absent from school. He had been having high fever since then at dawn. "This boy is having an infection," I told myself.

Saddest of all, he said they didn't have money for a fare to go to a hospital. This little boy, JR, is telling me a story spontaneously out of his innocence. Every word coming out from his mouth was squeezing my heart without restraint. All these prompted me to meet and talk to his parents. Unfortunately his father, a sugarcane worker, was still in the farm. I thanked his mother for the time she gave me. We talked and I convinced her that JR should be brought to the hospital the soonest possible time. The family had a lot of concerns, mostly financial. I begged that everything will be dealt with one by one. The boy must be checked by a doctor first. "Manang, I'm a photographer and it pains me to see a boy losing his sight." Those were one of my begging words to the mother. It was a long talk, and despite losing daylight, i didn't leave until i got a little ray of hope in our conversation. It was already dark when i headed back home. Driving a long winding road under construction, I was confident JR would pass by it the next day as his own highway to recovery.

Every now and then i recollect the event. And how i was meant to be there. I am sharing this story because many times there are words left in a heart beyond a thousand words seen on a photograph. What happened was not just an experience, but, as a very good friend has told me, an encounter of photography.

C.A.S.