Being a Man, as St. Joseph Exemplifies

This morning, I attended the Misa de Galleo in Ateneo Grade School chapel since the Grade One community is one of the sponsors.  I’m on my third day this year and hoping to make it till the 9^th.

The priest’s take on today’s gospel was insightful. When normally, it would either be Mama Mary or Baby Jesus who would be highlighted, he focused instead on St. Joseph.  He started by sharing how last night, he had an interview with a young couple set to take the sacrament of the Holy Matrimony.  He pointed out how the excitement and anticipation that both feel for the occasion was very apparent.  He noted that this could very well be how St Joseph felt at the prospect of marrying Mary, only to find out that Mary is already pregnant.

The priest painted a “good” person in Joseph in the latter's opting to just “quietly” divorce Mary.  What the priest did not point out, but what I was made to think of, was that in those times, women like Mary would be executed -- stoned to death.  

On Life Saving and Livelihoods

Note: I accidentally deleted this very same entry earlier.  Posted this last week.  In the process, I also deleted the comments given :( My apologies, but thank you for your kind words :)

It’s Sunday afternoon but I am in the office, sitting in a huddle as we discussed the reports coming from the ground.  Rapid assessment teams had been fielded the day after Typhoon Bopha had wreaked havoc on the various towns in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental – New Bataan, Compostela, Laak, Baganga, Boston and Cateel the most affected. 

We sat there as reports are being relayed to us.  Most of what was said, we’ve already read on the online reports and seen on television.  However, when the discussion moved on to the affected livelihoods, my interest got peaked and I’m pretty sure, for a lot of us in the room as well.

Visiting Laak

HRC and Oxfam distribute hygiene and water kits to residents of Brgy. Kidawa in Laak

    A resident of Brgy. Kidawa in Laak, Compostela Valley, 51-year old Susan Unuangay looks pensively at the land before her – the muddy, now-unproductive rice fields and the barren mountains beyond. She shared, “Karon pa mi kita na ana diay ang porma anang mga bukida. Sa una, ga-green-green ra na siya, puno ug punuan. Mao bugnaw kini among lugar. Karon, musakit imong ulo, sa kasuga sa adlaw.” (It is only now that we know that the mountains are shaped that way. Before, we see nothing but green because of the trees. We also used to enjoy cooler days now, our heads would ache because of the glaring heat of the sun.)

I could hear from the bedroom Rod calling out distinctly from the kitchen: "Nanay, kunin mo si Forest dito!" And Forest answering in her singsong but equally determined voice, "Hindi!!" Again Rod: "Nanay, kunin mo na talaga si Forest. Kunin mo na talaga!!!" And Forest countering, "Hindi! Hindiii!" Haha! What bliss. Turned out Forest is playong with water and doesn't want to be interrupted tongue emoticon 

Tatay, you're missing a lot! Even your panga and sashimi there in GenSan could not top being with these makukulit na kiddos. Ingat sa byahe.

What's in a brand?

I just found out that the brand of coffee that my mother enjoys (and so we have a common supply at home) is from a company that has been repeatedly accused of unjust labor practices.  Of which, the most alarming is their turning a blind eye on illegal and forced child labor rampant in their cocoa farms.  It had been reported that as many as 100,000 child laborers are working in hazardous conditions on these farms.  There were even reported cases wherein children between 9 and 12 years old are tricked or sold into slavery to these farms for just $30 each. (http://www.laborrights.org/creating-a-sweatfree-world/ethical-consumerism/news/)

To Pass on the Torch

I’m currently developing a concept note for a poverty alleviation project.  Inevitably, I had to surf the net for the country’s latest poverty statistics.  It wasn’t just the tables and figures that I came to.  I stumbled upon reports as well, bearing photographs on its covers showing exactly what poverty means in this country. 

The tables and figures are impersonal, merely black and white representation of the cold facts.  By looking at them, they appear to just be a jumble of numbers, albeit incomprehensible to some.  In contrast, the pictures would immediately leap at you.  You see dilapidated nipa huts with wide-eyed children peering out of windows.  You see pictures of bare-*$$3d, barefooted children, with protruding bellies that seemed an ironic representation of the hunger that beset them every day. 

Samu't-saring Produkto at Kwento sa Women's Market

Imagine this picture in your head: women, from different parts of Mindanao – some from some obscure sitio in the mountains of Lanuza, Surigao del Sur; Some from the hinterlands of Agusan del Sur, of Bukidnon, of Misamis Oriental; Some, from a coastal community in Davao Oriental; And some, from a small island facing the Pacific, in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur.

Ibuan Visit

I looked in consternation at Nanay Gloria who seemed to be “gliding” up ahead. In contrast, I trudged along, feeling my lower limbs getting heavier and stiffer by the minute. I tried to ignore the discomfort I was feeling as I tried my best to catch up. But, how can one catch up with a 54-year-old woman – with seeming wings on her feet - who have walked the same path day in and day out for as long as she can remember? :P

Of Rain and Hearts

The rain is beating hard on the windshield and I noted with irony how Parokya ni Edgar's take on Apo's "Pumapatak na Naman ang Ulan" is blaring loudly from the car's stereo. Forest is snuggling on my lap. Rod is leaning against my left shoulder. Janin and Mama are seated right at the back. As Tatay and I sang along to the music, I acknowledged the feeling of contentment that washed over me...

I felt grateful for everything: for the comfortable ride that's protecting us from the rain and making our going home not at all that difficult. I know a lot others are less lucky than us and had to endure getting soaked while trudging through flooded streets. We passed by a taxi driver getting out of his unit to check on it. Tatay and I both remarked how difficult it must be for all taxi drivers who had to endure the scorching heat of the sun the entire day only to get wet at night.

Most of all, however, I was very grateful for my family and the fact that we are all together. I was even grateful for the music and how it helps foster that atmosphere of togetherness. We were listening to the entire “Kami NAPO Muna Album.” I could go on and on as to how great it is but that’s a different blog altogether, not to mention, that a lot of raving reviews have been written about it since its release.

Today is Valentine’s Day. For all the hype about it, I can’t help but be among those who marks the date as a “special occasion.” But, if only for the fact that it provides one the venue and the excuse to once again fuss about one’s loved ones.

I’ve been very busy for like forever. I don’t see myself slowing down for another decade or so (God-willing). That is why I look forward to “special dates” to allow myself some breathing space and spend some “extra” special time with family.

These days, the demands of work and other preoccupations could easily take a toll on one’s relationships. Often, we lose sight of the things that really matter like health and family. So, yeah, others may call it corny to celebrate Heart’s Day but if it gives me an excuse to make extra effort to show my love and appreciation for my family and the people that I care about, then I’d take being corny and cheesy any time. After all, what other people thinks doesn’t really matter. Family and relationships are what matters most. That, and their knowing full well how much they are valued and appreciated by me.

Happy Heart’s Day family and loved ones. You certainly mean the whole world to me though I maybe too busy to tell and show you that everyday.

To my family and friends, thank you for the conversations, for the love and the time and the memories. Let’s set aside some time from our busy lives to re-connect once again :) But the good thing about good friends and one’s family is that you don’t need to see each other often just to know that you can always count on them and that the love is there.

To Tatay, thank you for the flowers this morning and the movie date last Sunday. Thank you for taking the time, everyday, just to tell me how you find me in your eyes. Thank you for letting me be who I am and for letting me pursue all the things that matter to me. There may be times that I feel that being married is “crimping” my style, not giving me enough time to accomplish all my work concerns. The truth is, you are my wings. You take care of some of my responsibilities just so you could allow me to pursue what I’m passionate about. You are the greatest running buddy there is, both in the tracks and in life. Thank you for supporting me in more ways than one. I love you.

To Mama, there are no words enough to capture the gratitude I feel for your simply being who you are in my life, in our lives. I love you more than I can show you how...

Weaving Dreams (Why I Love my Job)

True, there might be days (like today) when I'd feel as if there is nothing but endless work deliverables. If truth be told however, I certainly wouldn't want to be doing anything else. Development work can indeed be very taxing not just to the body, and not just emotionally but your soul gets bruise every now and then as well. This morning though, something happened that again reiterated to me why I chose to be involved in what I do and why I wouldn't want to be anywhere but where I am now.

We are on a monitoring visit, visiting one of our Partner NGO's area of intervention. It wasn't the first time for me. I've visited this particular site several times in the past. What makes it special this time, however, is the fact that I am with two photo journalists who are also from Davao. We have an upcoming event come March and part of which is featuring the lives of some women farmers and women fishers. This morning, we are there to interview one of those women.

Without necessarily pre-empting the whole thing, Manang Dolores' story is really compelling. Hers is that of a single mother, giving all she's got in order to ensure the well being of her children. Living in the rural areas, the opportunities are not exactly abounding. She had to make do with subsistence farming in order to make ends meet. The good thing about her -- and the number of women like her in their area who involved themselves in rubber farming -- is the fact that they did not just stop and contend themselves with what life dishes out at them. Instead, they started creating opportunities for themselves and for their families.

During my first visit in the area I was already amazed at the kind of spirit that these women have displayed. But my admiration for them grew even more when I got to know them more intimately.

Rubber is a long gestating crop. With proper handling and following the right protocols, one can only start earning an income from it after five years. That's long alright, especially when viewed against the daily subsistence needs of the children and families of these women. Feeding their children is a daily concern. Sending them to school is a daily concern as well. Attending to the well being of their families is something that these women contend with everyday. It is not something they could postpone for five years -- the same amount of time they would spend waiting for their rubber trees to start becoming productive and bringing in income for the family.

And yet, despite this, these women persevere. After attending to daily household chores, they would walk 2 to 3 kilometers in order to visit their farms and tend to their growing rubber trees. One of the women even shared to me how precious their rubber trees are to them. She pointed out that at times, she had to leave her little children behind just to tend to her rubber trees. That made me wonder. How come these women put so much value on their rubber trees so much so that while they obviously have certain misgivings about leaving their children behind, they would do so, just so they could religiously tend to their rubber farms. Then I suddenly remembered attending several FGD sessions with these rubber farmers (both women and men) a few months back. I remembered how a good number of them have shared that for them, the rubber trees are their "ticket to the future." A good number of the participants had then shared that they look at rubber as something that would ensure the future of their children and even that of their grandchildren. To these women (and men), the rubber trees hold far more significance than its promise of income in the next five years.

I can't help but admire as well our partner NGO for having successfully instilled such value into the people in the community. I've seen several projects and programs in the past and instilling this kind of ownership in the partner communities is something that I very rarely see. More often than not, the energies of the people are only fuelled by their sense of obligation or some kind of gratis to the organizations funding their projects. Once the organizers leave, the projects also die down and the energies of the people are no longer sustained. But this, this is different. The people are totally sold out to the intervention and are giving more and more of themselves into the activities of the project.

I thought to myself that the reason for this is simply because to these farmers, the rubber trees represent their dreams of the future. It was impressed upon them that if they will not do their share, give their best, there is no way that these dreams will ever materialize. These realizations made me appreciate more our Partner NGO's efforts. It made me realize as well how development work, when use properly, can really motivate people to work hard for their dreams. If one manages to do that, to convince even one person to do just that, then I think he had already accomplished more than enough.

It had been said before and several times already in the past but I will nonetheless pen it down again: that development work is really not just about handing out formulas or "solutions-in-a-box" to people to help them achieve success and improve their quality of life. This experience taught me that teaching them how to dream, and to impress upon them that they also needed to invest in that dream by giving all they've got in order to achieve it, is actually doing them more good and would eventually lead to creating a greater impact in their lives. I salute the kind of development workers who are mindful of this and who dedicates time and effort into the whole "enterprise." To me, they are dreamweavers, planting dreams into the heart of people and teaching them to once again hope in the future...