Philippines Tour 2025 – Apo Island

The journey to Apo this year was easeful in comparison to lasy year, due to clear skies and a calmer ocean. The team had waterproofed as much as possible in preparation for a good soaking and although we did still get a few waves in the face, the boat journey went smoothly and our belongings and kit stayed mostly dry.

Our first task on arrival was to track down all of the equipment that we left with the schools last year. There were hula hoops, poi, diabolos, juggling balls and spinning plates so we spent our first evening mending equipment and getting it ready for our upcoming school visits.

A tiny island with fewer than 1,000 residents, Apo has two schools: an elementary and a high school. On our first day we taught the elementary students. Since last year the community has gained a newly built basketball court, with a roof. These courts are common across the Philippines as shaded community spaces, and since Apo previously only had an exposed activity area, this was an exciting upgrade from last year. When we arrived, it was being used by the local fishmen to repair their nets which were sprawled across the floor. They very kindly packed up for the evening and let us use the space.

We started the session with games and songs in the very first group circle of the tour, which was exciting for us as well as the students. Gina played her harmonica and as the children followed before coming together to sing and warm up before activites. Workshops included hula hoop, poi, juggling, and spinning plates. Because we were working after school, daylight faded fast, and we ended up performing our show in near darkness with torch light which was challenging, chaotic, and surprisingly fun for a first run. We were assured proper lighting is on its way for next year!

Apo runs entirely on solar power and some generators and the mains electricity is only available from 6–10 p.m each day, so after the show we returned to our accommodation to charge everything and grab some dinner. The bathrooms also introduced us to the island’s more intimate wildlife: millipedes, cockroaches, giant spiders, and the occasional woodlouse. Fortunately, most of the team is far braver than I am.

The sea life around Apo Island more than makes up for the bugs. It is renowned for its diving and snorkelling, with plenty of sea turtles, colourful fish, incredible blue starfish, and clownfish. Some of the team went diving for the first time ever and some more experienced divers got to go deeper and explore the reefs. The local guides were so helpful and encouraging, and we all felt very grateful for the experience.

Day 2 we were teaching the high school students, and as expected, most of the elementary kids turned up too, so we had a huge group for workshops, but everyone enjoyed themselves and learned some new skills. This is our third year coming here, so it’s always really heartwarming to see progress with the students.

Then we did our Fire Show! Which was naturally much better suited to the dark. Bazzinga & I made a fire club passing act which we performed for the first time, Gorka put his handmade fire diabolo to the test, and Jules spun contact staff to a Moana theme tune. Ryn and Ethan had solo acts as well as the finale act in which they do acrobatics with double staffs in hand. We feel lucky to have such a strong performance team this year and everyone did great! The audience loved it and cheered us on throughout, and it was also the first time we got to see each other’s acts, as we didn’t have time to do a full run at Bootcamp.

We had lots of positive feedback from the children and the adults on the Island about how much the children look forward to PWB’s visit each year and we are so pleased that we could return and re-ignite that magic in their community. Our only regret was that we couldn’t stay longer on Apo Island, but everyone knows we will be back next year, and we’ve re-ignited their curiosity and inspired them to practice in the meantime.

We are now based in Bayawan city on Negros Island for a couple of weeks and visiting different schools every day, so keep an eye out for more updates.

Thanks for reading and for your continued support of our mission.

From Poppy & the PWB team x

P.S. Check out this video from our first visit to Apo in 2023!