The Island With No Land
Splash, slosh, gurgle.
These sounds waft up and into the ears of a young girl as she slowly awakens from a deep sleep.
A purple glow shines through the cracks of the one-room hut. Reyna sits up and looks around the room. Her father—nowhere to be seen—has already been gone for hours, pulling in his fishing nets that were left out overnight.
As the sunrise fades to orange and then to a muted blue, Reyna leaves the small hut for breakfast. The floorboards sway slightly under her feet, and as she looks down, she can see the clear blue water beneath her—for their home stands on tall stilts in the middle of the ocean.
Water is all around and stretches for miles. There isn’t a single plot of land in the whole of this unique Filipino village.
It is well nicknamed “The Island with No Land.”
Eating her breakfast of fish, Reyna thinks again of her father, who has not yet returned. In this water bound community, needless to say, there aren’t many job options. In fact, there are really only two possible occupations: the first is seaweed farming, and the second—naturally—is fishing.
This may not seem like an unusual profession, given the circumstances and surroundings. However, these men hold a secret—something you would not expect.
Not only do these men do something familiar to us all—net fishing—but they also engage in a practice called compressor diving.
Though illegal in some areas due to the dangers involved, here it is a regular part of life.
Taking a long rubber tube connected to a small compressor—often repurposed from old refrigerators or AC units—they dive up to 60 feet below the surface. The compressor pushes air through the tube and into their mouths, allowing them to breathe underwater.
A man will dive for up to two hours at a time to fish. During the short breaks between dives, these men often smoke meth. They believe it gives them supernatural abilities and helps remove their fear, allowing them to swim down calmly and confidently.
This profession is extremely dangerous—made even more so by the divers’ disregard for the tragedies that can befall them, particularly in the form of the bends.
All day long, these men dive down and resurface without strictly controlling their speed of ascent. They occasionally complain of severe pains and headaches after surfacing from their dives, but either lack the knowledge of proper equipment or safe ascent techniques.
Because of this, many men have tragically lost their lives in this profession.
However, the bends is not the only danger they face. These divers are also exposed to a variety of health hazards, including carbon monoxide poisoning, barotrauma, nitrogen narcosis, and hypothermia.
It’s a high price to pay to provide for their families.
The other available job on this island—seaweed farming—is undoubtedly a much safer profession.
As Reyna eats, she watches these very people at work—sorting different types of seaweed, laying some out on the wooden planks, or tying it up to dry in the sun.
In the past, seaweed farming was a reliable source of income, but prices have dropped, and farmers have been suffering because of it.
Reyna winces in pain. Looking down, she sees her hands covered in red, raw skin and pus. Dirty bandages hang loosely from her fingers, desperately in need of replacement.
The condition affecting her hands is known as scabies—a contagious skin infection caused by tiny mites called Sarcoptes scabiei that burrow into the skin.
Though surrounded by water, fresh water is hard to come by, and this infection is the result of poor hygiene. The people here rely entirely on rainwater for their needs, except for the rare occasions when they can afford to buy fresh water from the big island of Tawi-Tawi.
However, the water is very expensive, and they can't always afford it. So the little water they collect must be used for everything—bathing, cooking, and drinking.
The water below them is also very dirty, as the bathrooms on this floating, stilted island are simply holes in the floor leading directly to the water and fish below. With a population of around 400 people, this helps explain the lack of cleanliness and the outbreak of scabies in the village.
Though Reyna faces many challenges, she remains joyful, as do most everyone on “The Island with No Land.” A lighthearted, kind people simply taking one step at a time.
Reyna’s future is bright, for it is here that an organization named Sulads has seen a need and filled it. After finishing her breakfast, Reyna will walk along the narrow wooden planks set between sections of huts and go to school.
Education was something that had been lacking—until now. Children like Reyna could sometimes attend school on the mainland if their parents could afford to send them on boats back and forth every day. But most of the time, families could not afford this for their children. A lot of parents would even keep their children at home to help with farming.
But all this has changed now that a school has been built on stilts directly in the floating village. The teachers in this one-room school are dedicated in every way—not only to educating the children they have come to love so dearly, but also to helping with everyday life: meeting with families, bandaging wounds, and offering comfort.
These teachers have sacrificed everything in the service of God to work for Sulads in this way. Even considering all they have been through—and continue to face daily—they would do it again every time.
Lexi and I (Aaron) had the privilege of visiting “The Island with No Land.” It was an absolutely incredible and unique experience to witness all the amazing things that take place here—the dedication of the Sulads workers and the love they have for the people.
Sulads Philippines is an organization we have personally come to know and love, and we hope to share their story so others can learn about the incredible work they do and come to love it themselves.
