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.

A few of these women had to ride a habal-habal before finally taking a 9 hour bus trip that would take them all the way to Davao. For some it is an 8-hour trip, a 7 hour trip or 5. For some of them, they had to ride a banca, a tricycle, a jeep, transfer buses twice just to get to Davao. Others are lucky. Getting to Davao simply meant paying the 30-peso jeep fare and enduring rush hour once they hit the city center.

They all came together to converge at this year’s Women Market. They brought with them produce and products that were grown and processed by their own hands: organic vegetables, organic rice, herbal medicines, coco sugar, kakanin, fermented juices, vinegar and bagoong. There were those who brought what they gleaned and caught from the bounty of the sea in their communities: shells, crabs and dried fish.

Talking with the women this evening, however, I learned that they brought more than just their produce. They brought along with them their respective, personal stories of hardships, of triumphs, of challenges and victories.

There was Minda who came all the way from Prosperidad in Agusan to sell “barbecue sticks” made of bamboo at this morning’s Women’s Market. More than just having her “paninda” sold out, she came with another objective in mind and that is to see her mother once again, whom she haven’t seen for four (4) years since she got married. There was Nanay Dolores who had to go back immediately to Esperanza in Agusan del Sur after participating in the day’s exhibit where her story and pictures are featured for all to see. She had left behind an ailing “apo.” There is “rubber farm” as well, that she had toiled so hard for and tended herself, being threatened by a road expansion project. There was Nanay Conching who shared how her planted mongo and peanuts –that she was supposed to harvest in a few week’s time -- got totally wiped out during the recent cyclone that hit Davao Oriental. She shared how her husband had to decide whether he ties her to a malunggay tree or not, in order to save her from the rushing flood that came with the typhoon that hit them.

“Samu’t-saring kwento” is how we call it in Tagalog – these various stories – that the women share with each other as they all came together to brave a market so totally different from what they were used to in their respective localities.

The “difference” came glaringly clear the minute they set foot at the NCCC Mall this morning. There were some Nanay’s who came in their shorts and slippers. They were refused entry by the guards because the policy is for “sellers” to enter the premises wearing shoes and dressed in “decent” attire (translated to: no shorts, no sando’s, or sleeveless tops). The Nanay’s pointed out that that is how they are dressed when they come to the market. They dressed up with nothing but comfort in mind. There were those who got indignant, felt discriminated and felt they had to fight for their right for space and opportunity to sell their products. There were those who realized there is a different set of rules for this particular kind of “marketing” and went back to where they were billeted to change.

In other words, a lot of things got traded this morning. More than the produce, these women got to exchange stories, experiences and learning amongst themselves. On their first day alone, they were not only a bit “richer” from the earnings they got from the products they have sold. They also earned friendships, experiences that they could not have gone through had they just remained in their respective communities, and respect from other people because of the inspiration they bring.

They would be coming home with new stories to tell. 

There is Nanay Aida who froze in the middle of the street when she saw a big truck coming their way. There are no trucks in the island of Cabgan in Hinatuan where she hails from. There was also Nanay Onat who, despite being used to the coldness of the mountains in Ibuan where she had lived all her life, had to wake up in the middle of the night shivering from the coldness of the air-conditioning of her room. There was Nanay Zenaida who had trouble finding the driver who came to pick them up from the terminal simply because she did not understand what the word, “hazard” meant. The driver’s text was for her to look for a black, “naka-hazard” van :P For a lot of the Nanay’s though, they would be happy to share with the people back home how they have come to hold the hand of an actress they only got to see in their favorite telenovelas.

Another day awaits these women tomorrow. Tomorrow though, they would be more aware of the things they have to look out for in engaging this kind of “market.” They are better equipped, and “experience-richer” and hopefully, grown a lot more confident in themselves and in their dealings with other people and another “world” that is such a far cry from their own. Mabuhay! Ang mga kababaihan sa kanayunan (rural women) who work so hard (but never got recognized for it) so that we, low-land, city-dwellers get to have food on our tables. Happy women’s day to you! To all of us who also work so hard to make our world a better place to live, and raise our children, in.