Boarding Gate 101

The Aeta kids that we passed by on our way to Mt. Pinatubo seemed to be in cloud nine as they enjoyed the Cloud 9 candies that we gave to them. The Aetas are one of the indigenous peoples that live in the mountains of the central Luzon, Philippines. They were severely affected by the eruption of the volcano in 1991.

An Aeta kid sitting on top of a rock in a lahar field, near Mount Pinatubo

We encountered these Aeta kids while we were on our way to the Mount Pinatubo crater lake. The Aetas are a group of Australo-Melanesian indigenous peoples that live in the mountainous areas of Luzon, and they are considered one of the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines.  The Aetas were severely affected by the eruption of Pinatubo; pyroclastic materials and lahar destroyed their villages, forcing them to live in resettlement areas.