I Spent A Day With Kids Who Walk 5 Hours To School

I'm about to spend a day in the life of these elementary kids who

hike 5 hours a day over these mountains

just to get to school. Look straight down.

It goes down like 50 ft.

They have to avoid lethal cobras

and poisonous insects that could be hiding under their feet.

That is their journey includes a 90°

vertical climb and when it's pouring rain,

one slip could mean death.

Today, I'm joining these kids on their hike to school to see just how challenging it is.

This is just actually crazy guys and they have no idea that our YouTube

community raised money for a gift that's about to change their lives

>> Kyrie here is getting ready.

This is his bedroom.

He's got his clothes on and he's packing his bag tight.

That's a cool backpack. You like cars? Yes.

It's a lot of books, man.

Your bag looks like it's a little bit heavy. Yes, it's heavy.

Is it difficult to carry the bag when you walk? Nope. Ready to go? Ready to go.

So, Kyrie is about to go to school and he's going to walk

all the way up the mountain.

I'm scared because that, you know, it's a dangerous to climb that.

Sometimes, if the rain is so heavy,

we are not going to school.

All of a sudden as we're sitting here, a massive rainstorm has come.

We're just kind of stuck inside the house right

After a few minutes, the rain finally lets up and we start the journey

before Kyrie is late for school.

On the way, we stopped to pick up his best friend, Januel,

and then the real hike begins.

All right, we've just started the hike here.

We have Kyrie and Januel

and this is the longest way to school.

They start walking on

the street here before cutting in

this mountain and taking a shortcut

all the way up to school.

That's a very high.

How high is it?

Uh I don't know.

And even if it's raining, you're still walking? Nope.

If it's raining, slippery. Slippery. Slippery.

We've picked up another school kid, Jean. Hi, Jean. How are you? I'm fine.

What grade are you in? Grade nine. Grade nine.

And you're taking this walk all the time? Every day? Every day. Wow.

We're walking here where

we're happy because we're seeing

funny stories and what we do every day.

Is this your friend here? Yes. How are you?

Nice to meet you.

You're walking to school?

I'm going to join you guys today.

Is that what we're climbing? Really? Yes. Holy Seriously? Yes.

We're going over that? Yes.

It's literally like 90° steep.

Some of the high school kids have joined for the walk.

The hike is now getting steeper.

See how we're walking like this up the mountain?

I noticed some kids are using tricycle.

How come you don't use a tricycle?

Because we not can afford it.

So, this is the way up.

We are now detouring

from the road and we're starting to walk up the mountain.

The real trek begins

I notice there's a really nice view here when you walk up.

>> We stop here when we feel

tired and we watch the view.

Oh, it's honestly a amazing view.

It's just open ocean.

We've only walked about

20 m up the hill and I'm already dripping in sweat.

It's super super humid outside.

All right, we got all the kids here

ranging from elementary to high school.

We're just staring at the mammoth

mountain right in front of us.

It is literally like a 90° Holy crap. So intimidating.

I'm taking a lot of breaks, but these kids do not take breaks when they walk.

Are we there yet?

It's a long hike, man.

Kid just said he walks 5 hours every day just to get to school.

All these kids are your friends? Yes. At school?

As we keep going deeper and deeper into the jungle,

it gets more and more beautiful.

It's just like complete

untouched pristine nature here in the Philippines.

What kind of animals do you have here? They have cobras.

Wow, that is so cool.

That is Aren't you scared that if you're walking it's going to hit you

in you in the face? No. Never happened before?

What if he bites you? That's good.

There's really ants everywhere.

You don't have ant bites on your feet? No. Never? You're strong, man.

For just a little kid, you have a lot of strength.

It's incredible how these kids have such a way with nature.

They're just calling for the birds.

I am surrounded in a jungle.

There's huge bamboo trees, massive

coconut trees even taller.

The rain has been coming and going.

Like I'm on a full-on

nature walk right now.

And these kids out here going to school every day.

All you guys watching this, especially if you're in the US,

you most likely took a school bus to school.

And now just imagine if you had to do this walk,

which tests every single part of your physical capabilities

to walk, balance, and basically not die. Look at this.

Look how slippery this is.

Oh my god, so slippery.

Do you see how a school Yeah, we do.

Do you want a school bus?

Want a school bus but we not we

we not have some

money to buy it.

Thanks to you guys in this community, we raised $7,500.

>> I'm going to surprise

all the kids in the school with

a vehicle transportation to take them to and from school so they don't have

to do this hike anymore.

I've never done anything like this before.

Philanthropy has been something I want to do more and more of.

So I've opened up a non-profit

and I'm going to do more of these

things to help communities that I'm visiting.

So we really appreciate your

and stay tuned for more.

I'm huffing and puffing and these kids are just going, no stopping.

It gets a little bit slippery cuz it's been off and on raining.

So the whole terrain is like muddy.

It's not slippery because the rain is flowing down.

I noticed these guys took off their shoes here. They're completely barefoot.

They put their shoes around their arm because they say that they get a

better grip on the earth's soil without shoes.

>> Does your feet have pain? No. No pain? No.

It's painful if it is

this cuz it's sharp.

So where where do you try to put your foot?

Like what's the not painful? There.

There's no chance I could do this barefoot.

I'm already feeling tired but we aren't even halfway there yet and everyone warned

us about this next part of the hike.

We have now reached

this 90° cliff which they call Bang Bang and we are going to use

our hands and knees and toes and every limb to climb.

How old were you when you started Grade two. Grade two?

And now you're grade five.

So three years ago.

What's the most difficult thing about the walk?

One wrong step and you fall.

Have you ever made a wrong step? Yes. I not fall.

I I hold a branch.

You hold a branch. A branch.

How many times did that happen for you? Two.

And did you get injured?

Did you get hurt? No. Oh, hello. How are you?

It's just like a villager

like just passing me with bags over him?

Like doing this trek every single day. It's actually insane.

>> I'm opting to keep my shoes on because I don't think I can hang with these boys.

It's really key that you hold on to these tree branches cuz they're really strong.

Otherwise, you slip and go straight back and crack your head open and die.

It's like a serious risk.

It's super slippery on my feet.

You really got to hold a tree branch and hope that you don't fall backwards. Oh, my god.

Man, this is crazy that you do this every day.

Hugging trees are your best friend because they keep you sturdy.

This is just actually crazy, guys.

That these kids do this.

I feel so bad for them.

Like this is their only option.

They can't afford money for

a tricycle or a tuk-tuk or a school bus.

There actually aren't any school buses. >> High five.

We just successfully hiked Bung Bong.

Man, it's so steep. All right. Kids are strong.

This trek is insane,

going all the way up the mountain.

Thankfully, I have my backpack with a bunch of gear, like my new ASUS

computer, which is a sponsor of this video.

When you're traveling like me and filming on GoPro,

the hardest part isn't just capturing the moment.

It's actually turning it into a story when you're on the move.

That's why I've been using the ASUS ProArt GoPro Edition.

And what's cool is that it's part of the ASUS ProArt

lineup, which is built for creatives who want to tell better stories.

What I love about this is that I can literally shoot something on my

GoPro and start editing it right away.

And the difference from editing on your phone is huge.

No more waiting or transferring

files across five devices.

It just syncs everything automatically

and keeps me in the flow.

I can work with multiple clips, layer things properly,

add real transitions, and actually bring the story to life the way that I envision.

It also uses AI to organize my footage with ASUS StoryCube.

This saves me so much time when I'm dealing with hours of clips.

I also spend less time stressing about files and more time focusing

on the story, which is really what matters.

Look, anyone can capture moments,

but being able to turn it into something meaningful

is what takes it to the next level.

If you want to grab yours, you can scan this QR code or click

the link in the description down below, and let's continue this hike up the mountain.

Are we near or far? Far. We're still far. Are you okay? Are you tired? No. All good? Yes.

We've overcome the cliff and now we're in this incredible

oasis of coconut trees.

Are you okay up there?

He just grabbed one down and it almost hit Kyrie's head, but he's okay.

A little mid-hike snack. That looks amazing.

Can I try it? This this. This Mhm.

These are my favorite coconut.

The ones in the Philippines are just better.

Oh, that's so good.

This is unbelievably tasty. It's sweet hydration.

This house caught on fire here.

And it's just left. They are closer. We're getting close. Yes.

We are almost there, they're saying.

On the home stretch here.

This is the point of the walk now where you keep going and you're

wondering if it's ever going to end soon.

We're been for a long time, and we're still not there yet.

Every time we turn a corner, there's another

long ways to go. Come on. Almost. Almost there? Yes.

Okay, let's keep going.

It's been about 2 hours, and we are finally approaching the school.

I'm dripping in sweat.

The kids are just

And uh yeah, they're probably late for class.

>> We have finally arrived to the school.

It was a long walk, guys. Okay.

It's incredible how they literally do this walk every single morning and afternoon.

It's not all the kids that have had to walk this far.

A lot of the kids

live nearby the school,

or they have enough money to afford transportation. >> room. That's your room? Yes. That's my room. Okay.

Let's go to your room.

Let's go check it out.

How many of these kids here had to walk to school? Almost everyone.

But not that long. >> that long.

So They take the room.

Got Can you tell me a little bit about the students here?

>> Pupils, sir, or the learners, sir, in Oroquieta Elementary School,

they're very good pupils.

When you see what have they assignment, they're good.

And also the parents,

they're very support for the

pupils about their studying.

Even it's a bad weather,

they're interesting to go to school.

It's It's not easy to them.

But the weather is good, they're very

early going to school.

>> And if the weather is bad

and they show up late, do you start school

on time, or do you wait for them to come?

We start our classes,

but we give them a review.

It's really cool they play baseball here because this is a sport I played

as a kid growing up.

A European playing baseball, this is the first ever. Oh, damn, bro.

>> That was really good, man.

That was like a home run.

How long has this school been here?

>> It was started 1948.

That's many, many years old now.

And when you went here in 1982,

did you also walk up the mountain? Not every day. Not every day.

How many kids are in school now that go to the elementary school? 108 pupils.

Before there was more kids or >> Yes, yes.

There were more kids before.

How many of those kids

have to walk up the mountain?

Only pupils who are near the

mountain are Only a few now.

The problem is if you prohibit them, but they have to take the long

drive, so then it becomes expensive.

That is our problem. Mhm.

The school is so remote

that it becomes hard for people to get here. Yes.

And that's why more kids are going to different schools.

What can solve the problem for more kids to come here?

Is it simply transportation?

Is that the main thing? Yes.

If we have a transportation,

so we can get back our enrollment.

So, what happens in a rainy season

when the kids who are walking up and they can't make it to a class?

They came late in our coming to school

because they have to wait for

the rain to stop or >> they'll absent. That's really difficult. Yes.

And in the last 77

years, there was never a school bus?

Yes sir, Never a school bus. >> at all.

And the problem is just the budget.

Yes, of course, the budget.

You can see the conditions of the school are not great.

The roof's falling apart.

They need a paint job on the buildings.

Look at the windows here.

It's just super sad that the school has been running for 77

years, but it's still in really poor shape.

Carrie, how's your day today? Fine. Did you enjoy? Yes.

Did you learn something in school? Yes.

What did you Multiplication? Yes.

What's your favorite thing about school? Classes.

Which classes do you like? I like English.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Be a army.

You want to be in the army? Yes.

>> And why do you want to be in the army?

To protect my country.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to bring you A BIG SURPRISE.

>> AND YOU'RE GOING TO BE VERY HAPPY.

SO, be here tomorrow morning, and I'm excited

to to see you guys then.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

>> AFTER THE SCHOOL DAY ENDS, IT'S TIME TO HIKE back down the mountain,

and it's a lot more dangerous to return home.

We're going down the steep part of the mountain now, and the rocks are

really slippery cuz of the rain.

So, I'm actually going to

really focus here cuz I'm actually a little bit scared.

Not to mention, there are poisonous cobras

out here, and the kids all say they've encountered them.

Like, that's all I'm thinking about right now is not stepping on a freaking

hell, this is so hard.

I like to think I'm decently fit,

but this hike is like really tough. Just ruthless.

We're walking over a pile of coconuts right now. Wow. Is it dangerous? Yes. Really?

Yes, release water that

hit your eyes, you get no eyes.

It's so crazy how they have to battle the elements here.

They say if the

if you get some of this

water juice in your eye, then you can go blind.

After 2 long hours, we finally made it back to the village

and I say goodbye to Kyrie so I can secretly shop for a school bus.

And we managed to find this white one

for $10,000 and we are going to buy it right now and bring the

van to the school and surprise everybody.

It's going to be an amazing moment.

This is actually like pretty nice.

Like it's it's comfortable.

Yeah, it's a used van but like it's really good.

And you got AC vents in here.

Like it's a sad to say but a lot of the kids have never

felt AC in their entire life.

They don't have it at home, they don't have it at school.

They have it here in the car.

All right, we'll take it.

We filmed a lot of videos together but never did something like

>> I think it's time to

shift the content to do more good. Completely agree.

Thank you guys so much.

This this means a lot.

I'm excited to see their reactions when we roll this up to school.

I'm extremely grateful to foster a community that has come together to sponsor a

bus for these students.

It feels incredible knowing that we're actually making a real difference in their lives.

Right now, I'm feeling nervous and excited to pull up to the school and surprise them.

I don't know, my heart's beating really fast.

They're all They're here.

Guys, we we got you this car.

It's going to be your school bus.

This is your car for the school

so you don't have TO WALK ANYMORE. ARE YOU HAPPY? YES.

I hope it's going to mean a lot for the Of course. What happened?

Kyrie, talk to me. What's going on?

Guys, just let me have a moment with How you feeling?

They all pitched in money so we can afford to buy you a car

so you don't have to

do the walk anymore.

They're now tagging the car to claim it as Oros

official elementary school bus. NICE. YEAH.

>> EVERYBODY IN IN MY COMMUNITY,

they all put money together to do a fundraiser

to help buy the car. Of course. Of course. Thank you, guys.

Kyrie, we're so happy to help you, man.

No more walking up the hill, okay?

I have nothing to say, man. This is incredible.

Thank you, guys, so much for helping raise money.

We're definitely going to do this more often in the future. Love you, guys.

With a school bus, these kids won't have to make that long, dangerous trip anymore.

We also sponsored a driver and gasoline

so they can get to school safely and on time every day.

This story is especially

meaningful to me because the Philippines

is near and dear to my heart after living here for 3 years and

marrying into the culture.

My wife, Diana, is my rock and has been super supportive since day one.

She also pitched into the fundraiser with her company called Remote Genies, which is

a marketplace to hire pre-vetted

Filipino freelancers and they also sponsor students to go to school around the Philippines.

It makes me so happy to see how passionate

these kids are about learning

>> because I truly believe that education

isn't just a path out of poverty.

It's the engine that helps an entire country