Not Quite Fair Trade

Enterprising kids! Saving up for travel funds. Snorkeling fees in Oslob and Underground River entrance fees.  They're selling some meringue candies and junk food :P  They buy it from a sari-sari store for one peso and sell it with 50 cents margin.  Good thing there are other kids buying them just the same. Had to teach them about setting a fair price.

Ormoc

It’s my last day in Ormoc.  And I’m looking at this glorious sunset before me and I think to myself, what a nice way to cap the entire week.  I’m facing the bay and I could see a passenger ship slowly inching its way towards this city’s port. 

The entire week, I feel pretty much like that ship -- just passing by.  All week I’ve visited 3 cities and 5 municipalities in all.  In each, I visited an average of 2 sitios and barangays.  There were good interactions with the community -- with the women and today, with the elderly.  And the latter was such a humbling experience.

This trip had made me feel privileged in every way.  First off, there's the opportunity of being a part of the Review Team.  Secondly, the communities and persons I've interacted with had been so welcoming and warm.  Without hesitation they've shared with me their hopes, apprehension and dreams. 

Being a part of the Review Team was a wealth of learning.  I had to resort to advance reading on M&E-AL (Accountability and Learning) in the humanitarian context.  At first I felt inept.  I am, after all, with experts who had years of experience in this, coming from the Aceh, Sri Lanka and Haiti experience.  But very kind people they were.  Not for once did they make me feel “inferior.”  They pointed out to me, that it is precisely my MEAL in development background that I’m bringing in, into the review.  They made me feel I’m a valuable addition to the team.  And I’m made to realize that there is no better motivation to do well in your work than that.  Without 'self-doubt’ overshadowing my thoughts, I was more focused in my work.  That and the fact that of course, coming from the perspective of gratitude, all the more I was driven to contribute ‘genuinely’ in every way I can. 

To have been welcomed openly by the community and persons I’ve come in contact with was a humbling experience.  At some level I knew I shouldn’t have been surprised by that.  Chalk it down to being Filipino – where everything is always bordering on the ‘personal.’  Of course I ought to expect nothing less.  Being with the team, however, who hails from all parts of the world, I am made to appreciate this fact all the more.  They shared they don’t get this anywhere and even would jokingly ask me if we, Filipinos, are indeed the nicest people on the earth.  How would one reply to that? 

I can’t help but feel privileged to have the women and the elderly talk to me about needs, apprehensions for the immediate future and their hopes for the years to come.  I've also talked with several key local government officials but it’s my conversations with the people in the community that greatly affected me.

Picture this, I would enter their homes, ravaged by the storm.  I could tell they were very self-conscious about it but they welcome me anyway.  Not only once did I get to hear about personal problems, totally not connected about the review I'm making but I listened intently as well.  I got to hear family histories that would eventually lead up to how Haiyan/Yolanda only compounded everything.  It's heartbreaking to realize that these families are very poor to begin with.  One of the women I talked with said, "Kung pwede lang makig-away kay Yolanda, makig-away gyud ko! Pila ka tuig namo gitindog among balay, unya walaon lang sa kadali!" (If only I could fight with Yolanda/Haiyan, I would! It took us years to build our home, only to have it gone in an instant!) 

I could certainly relate.  For Filipinos, family is the greatest treasure, thus the home is also regarded with great value.  So no matter how humble the circumstance, every Filipino longs to have a decent house for the family.  Take the case of OFWs for instance.  Though not true to all, it's significant to note that once family situation becomes better, among the first few things invested on, is the family home.  It has become a common reaction to readily assume that a nice looking house that stood out against its neighbors with much humbler abodes is owned by an OFW. 

Certainly, the communities that we've visited have lost so much.  Most of them (if not all) are looking at the future with so much uncertainty.  What's consoling though is noting that despite all that, they remained hopeful.  They still joke and laugh about their situation.  When one of the community organizers joked with the elderly about them having to forget about livelihoods considering their advanced age, and to forget about the coconuts (most of them in Leyte are coconut farm tenants), they laughed but quickly pointed out that they still need the coconuts (or the income they derived from it) to buy rice.  To me, that moment was poignant.  What that statement underlined is the elderly's concern as to where to source out their food, now that their primary source of income is gone.  

What served as an eye-opener to me in this week's trip is that the elderly often gets lumped in the "most vulnerable" category, one of the very first thing we looked for during rapid assessments.  And the danger in that is that their needs would also be "lumped" alongside the needs of the "others" when a more in-depth look into their needs should be undertaken.  I'm not saying the organizations working on the ground make this mistake.  If anything, I salute every organization that devote time, resources, heart, passion and soul trying to address life-saving concerns in an emergency situation. Without a doubt, intentions in this kind of "work" is always noble (not including the politicians who are doing it for media mileage and for their own self-interests).  What I'm merely saying is, there is a need to ensure that ample time and closer scrutiny is given in assessing the elderly's needs.  Of the 14 international organizations working on the ground now for Haiyan that we've reviewed, there is only one that specifically target the elderly and I truly admire them for it. They are now one of my "favorite" humanitarian organizations (including the one in which I belong to). 

True, an elderly's needs is very different.  In my case, it was such a learning experience.  For a moment, while making the rounds and conversing with them, I found myself at a loss.  Everything I knew about livelihoods recovery (which is not also a lot) took a back seat when I was confronted with the issues and needs of the elderly.  Of course you can’t just launch on a discussion on livelihoods with them.  To begin with, you can hardly expect them to just carry on and plant a coconut once you have given them seeds; or to stand up and start fishing once you supply them with boats and nets (Disclaimer: livelihoods recovery – specially in the context of Leyte where land is “lorded” over by “big” and influential families – is not as simple as providing seeds, boats and nets). 

I can’t describe the feeling I felt when I saw them getting off from habal-habal, some walking unsteadily on their own; or being assisted by a son or daughter just to get to the meeting.  The NGO informed us that they had requested only 10 to come for the FGD but apparently word got around and even those who are from a farther sitio, came in order to participate.  And I was like, we were not there to give anything; not even to promise anything; but to ask them questions.  I acknowledged that for most of them, it must have been difficult to come but they did.  I was torn between being moved with pity and being grateful for their eagerness to lend their time.  Some of them are only 63 years old and yet they look way, way older.  I couldn't help but compare them with my 80-year old Aunt who can still conduct her business on her own.  

At that particular moment, I was once again overwhelmed with the feeling that I’m pretty much like a ship, just passing by, getting a glimpse of their situation, hearing their stories, taking a bit of their lives by taking a bit of their time. 

Stories.  Indeed, I stumbled upon a lot of stories this week and this entry would become a very long narrative if I begin to expound on all of them.  But putting it simply, this week is definitely a gift.  I learned a lot, met beautiful souls from different situations and walk of life.  For a week I was privileged to have trodden a path very much laden with giving… of one’s time, one’s self, one’s life...  And I felt grateful for having the sensitivity to recognize all of that as well.  Coming from the perspective of 'having received,'  I was driven to also give equally, authentically and sincerely.  Thank you God for one of the best week of my life.