1527
1527
After a day of hard work, Jovannie was feeling dry in her throat. At the same time, her back was in pain.
Seeing her in this state, Luke offered her a massage and asked her to drink up.
In his heart, he wanted so much to bring her back the next day and let her have a good rest, but seeing the sparkles in her eyes when she was helping out, he knew she liked volunteering.
During the night, he could help himself from caressing her head over and over while hugging her in his arms.
She was really an angel, and every part of her was pure and kind.
Because she liked this world, she treated it with kindness. Even if darkness existed in some parts of it, she would still choose to believe its warmth and bright side.
And he was willing to love this world for her and alongside her.
The next day, Jovannie noticed him taking the initiative to help her in educating the villagers. His handsome appearance gave him an edge. Most villages were willing to engage with him and listen to his explanations of medical knowledge. As long as they were not asking very personal questions, he would answer them, and he did not seem distant or haughty.
Listening to how well and easily he was chatting with the villagers, she was surprised with how quickly he was able to fully master the basic medical knowledge after being given lectures by her and reading some information the day before. Right then, he was solving the villagers' doubts with patience. Just how impressive were his memorization and comprehension skills?
In fact, what surprised her most was that his haughtiness was nowhere to be seen. He used to keep a distance from everyone except her, but now he was getting along with the villagers just fine.
No matter it was the past Luke or the current Luke, she liked all of them.
After two days of volunteering in this village, it was time to depart for the next one.
Before leaving, the officer requested them to take a picture together. With that, Luke and Jovannie entered the frame with everyone else.
In truth, it was rare for Luke to have his picture taken. He had only taken photos with his family since he was young. This was the first photo of him taken in public with people of different social statuses, but he was not hating it.
Facing the camera, Jovannie let out a huge smile, while Luke smiled with his eyes.
This photo remained on the bulletin board in the village. Many years later, Luke and Jovannie returned to visit the village. Thanks to him, there was a drastic change in the village. The infrastructure in the village had improved, and the villagers were living a much better life, but the photo was still there.
When she saw him in the photo, she could not stop her tears from welling up. All these years, he stuck by her side and was willing to change for her and open himself up to the people and the world.
On the third day, they left the first village and went to the next one. However, the second village had something different.
Although the teacher in charge had briefed everyone about the second village, he made sure to remind them to not be afraid or disgusted by the villagers and treat them equally. However, they had to take extra measures when coming in contact with the patients' injuries by wearing gloves to prevent direct contact with the wounds.
When she learned about the second village, she was overcome with gloominess.
Most villagers had contracted AIDS from selling their blood to a blood bank. There used to be hundreds of families in the village, but some moved away and some passed on.
Now, their numbers had diminished even further.
Owing to it had been made known to the other villages nearby, no one dared go near to this village, let alone let their daughters marry someone from there. Marriage was almost impossible for the villagers, leaving only a few villagers left.
In fact, the villagers were entitled to a government subsidy, which included medical treatment for AIDS. The more unfortunate families were also eligible for the urban subsistence allowance program. Despite that they were receiving help, the fact remained that poverty and emptiness existed.
Especially during times when someone was sick or injured, it was hard to ask for medical assistance, as most doctors were not willing to offer their expertise.
From her short course, Jovannie learned that AIDS could not be spread through air particles. In fact, the virus would not be able to survive when coming in contact with air after a few seconds. The only way to get AIDS was by coming in contact with infected blood or bodily fluid during blood transfusion, sex, and pregnancy. Therefore, they had to pay extra attention not to expose themselves to the villagers' wounds.
But even so, the atmosphere on the bus was still depressing.
As most of them had never had direct contact with a village with AIDS, they were not fully prepared even if they knew and learned about AIDS.
Knowing that they were headed to this village, Luke frowned as he did not want Jovannie to go.
Before he could say anything, she spoke, "Luke, you can wait for me at the foot of the mountain or the town area. Since you're not a part of the medical team, you can choose not to follow us." In fact, she was not fearful of continuing her mission at this village, as she was a firm believer in science. To her, as long as she took the necessities to protect herself, she would be fine, but she was worried that Luke would want to make a pass.
Although in the past three years, he had never expressed it to her in words, she knew he was a clean freak, and their journey into the mountains must have been hard and uncomfortable for him.
With that, the furrows in his brows deepened as he replied, "Don't worry about me. But are you sure you want to go?"
After all, Jovannie's safety was his highest priority.
Hearing his question, she said in a soft voice, "Luke, we will be fine. Don't worry. And it's not like they are different from us. There are just normal humans like us. How would the others think if I were the only one who refused to go? If everyone followed in my lead, there will be lesser people to help them."
Rubbing her fingers with his, he finally agreed, "I'll go with you."
Only when they arrived with the rest of the medical team that they knew that the villagers were in dire help.
As soon as they step foot into the village, many children were already waiting for them at the entrance.
Instead of approaching them, the children cast curious stares at them, watching them silently.
Looking at the day of the week, Jovannie knew that it was a school day, and these children were supposed to be on their way to school this time. However, she found out that most of the primary schools nearby had refused to accept these children. Although education was compulsory for children their age, the other parents were against their enrollment, fearing for the children's playful nature to get the best of them. If accidents were to occur, their children would end up like the children from this village.
There was once a kind-hearted person who wanted to build a primary school for these children, but no teacher dared to teach in this village. The only teacher in the village was Mr. Gutierrez, and he was fifty this year. The subjects he taught were mathematics and Amtinese.
But in the past few days, his rheumatism came back, and he was bedridden. No one could give lessons to these children, so they were having the time of their lives outside the classroom.
The medical team heard from the escort that even if Mr. Gutierrez was not sick, it was hard to give proper education to these children. The children were of different ages, and they should have been in middle school by now, but their education had been limited to primary levels.
When Jovannie saw the children looking at them with wide eyes but feared to go near the medical team, she felt a dull pain in her heart.
From their eyes, she could see that they had already set up a wall between them, and they were far mature from peers their age, and also a hint of inferiority.
She knew that these children must have been warned not to get near to other people who were not from the village.