Mt Everest At Their Feet: How Three Filipino Women Discovered Themselves

By Donna Demetillo

They braved the elements and risked their lives to become the first Filipino women to conquer the summit of the 8,848 metres - Mt. Everest. Carina Dayondon, Janet Belarmino-Sardena, and Noelle Wenceslao also became the first ASEAN women to reach the peak and the first women to climb from the tougher south side of the mountain in Tibet.

But for the Philippines Coast Guard officers, their unforgettable climb last year was not just an adventure. It was a quest to figure out what they wanted out of life.

Dayondon, who hails from Bukidnon, a province in the Northern Mindanao region, is the fourth of 14 children. Shortly after earning a degree in Business Administration from the Xavier University in Cagayan De Oro, came the invitation to join the Everest team. "At the time my family was facing severe financial difficulties," she recalled. Her father wanted her to work, but she simply could not let the golden opportunity to climb the Everest pass. "I wanted to help my siblings. I prayed for a solution, all the while I was in Manila for the training. Then, during the second year, I won PhP 500,000 (US$1=Php 44.3) in the Paradise Adventure Race sponsored by the Department of Tourism. (The race is held to promote The Philippines as an adventure tourism destination.) That's when I gave my ATM card to my father and told him to use the money to send my brothers and sisters to school," she said.

Wenceslao, too, went through a grave personal crisis and financial troubles. Even as she prepared for ascent - undertaking arduous preparatory training climbs to Mt. Mckinley and Mt. Cho-Oyo - she had to deal with the pain of losing her mother.

"My mother was driving to the airport to pick me up [Wenceslao was on her way back from Alaska, after climbing Mt. Mckinley.] I had spoken to her on the phone," she said. But soon after, she had a massive stroke and passed away. I had just enough time for the funeral before I had to leave for training on Mt. Cho-Oyo in Tibet."

It was heartbreaking for Wenceslao to leave her father alone. So, she put all the money she had saved up since childhood into buying him an air ticket to Nepal so that he would be there with her when she came back triumphant. But even while she was climbing, all she could think of was her mother. "I felt that my mother had never left me and that she was with me while I was going up the Everest," she said.

Meanwhile, Belarmino-Sardena was faced with an entirely different dilemma. Just as she was readying to leave for training, she discovered that she was two months pregnant. So, she ended up missing the two crucial training climbs. The nine months that followed were a period of intense reflection for her. She was at a crossroads, wondering whether to leave her husband and newborn child to climb the Everest or just give up on her dream. In the end, she decided to go ahead for she knew that if she turned her back on this, she would regret it for the rest of her life. "It was not an everyday opportunity. Few people are chosen," said a proud Janet. Five months before she began her ascent Janet gave birth to a baby boy whom she named, quite aptly, Himalaya.

Despite the crises, tragedies and separations, the trio finally embarked upon the mission early last year. Enduring extreme physical pressures and foregoing all comforts, they marched towards the final frontier of summiteers. While climbing up, as women they had to suffer the discomforts of dealing with menstrual periods; and throughout the three-month-long ascent they only got to bathe thrice. "As you go up, you are stripped off comforts. We had nothing but a small tent for a toilet," recalled Belarmino-Sardena. They had to melt ice on an Liquid Petroleum Gas cylinder 'gasul' for around 30 minutes to get water to drink, wash their faces and brush their teeth. Also, as they hit extremely high altitudes they experienced a complete loss of appetite. "We had to force ourselves to eat so that we had enough strength to keep climbing," Dayondon said.

But even though the entire team went through tough times, Belarmino-Sardena fared the worst. Despite being an enthusiastic sportsperson and holding a degree in Sports Science from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, the actual climb posed problems for her as a result of childbirth. "Belarmino-Sardena was the slowest. Being a recent mother, her body was still undergoing changes. Studies have shown that the pelvic change in a woman's body can create problems," recalls Leo Oracion, an expedition leader and also the first Filipino to successfully climb Everest in 2006.

"It was a relief to reach the summit. On the way up, the mountain looked so small and the clouds so low. But once we were there, I had no time to soak in the feeling. I was just so tired," Belarmino-Sardena reflects. While she spent 30 minutes on the summit taking photographs, Dayondon and Wenceslao were there for just 15 minutes. Dayondon put a Buddhist prayer flag on the summit and offered a prayer.
If going up was a problem, descent posed an even greater challenge. It took an effort to resist the pull of gravity. The team ascended from the tough Northeast side in Tibet and descended from the Southeast ridge in Nepal.

Recalled Oracion, "When we reached the base camp in Nepal, Belarmino-Sardena was the toast of the Kathmandu press. Everyone was waiting to see the woman who had given birth just five months before the climb."

But Belarmino-Sardena declared, "We all had to make our share of sacrifices. Putting the expedition together and climbing was not an easy task. If not for the unity and teamwork, we would not have made it."

Such is their draw that even a year after their climb, the gutsy trio tours the country delivering inspirational talks in schools, particularly for girl students. "We have shown the world that Filipinos are exceptional, that we can struggle and overcome any situation to achieve our dreams. I climbed not as Carina but as a Filipino woman," states Dayondon.

Says Belarmino-Sardena emphatically, "We are not a country of only domestic helpers and construction workers. We are world-class people and world-class summiteers."

(Courtesy: Women's Feature Service)

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com

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