A sbort post

So I've officially planned the last 6 weeks of my time here. It's going to be busy. It's so strange to realize that this time is coming to an end. Two days ago I received my first goodbye gift. Last night we had a celebration for all the students who had a birthday in August. We ate pancit, a Filipino noodle dish. I started taking notes so I can make it at home.

Right now I am working on several workshops for the female college scholars. The topics are: Community Violence, Nutrition, Self-esteem and the Colonial Mentality, Healthy Dating Relationships, Women's Reproductive Health and Family Planning, and Academic stress. It's two workshops per saturday for the next 3 weeks. Then we will have two more workshops on women's rights and human rights facilitated by a woman from a local feminist human rights/advocacy group. For some of the workshops we will be creating some theatre presentations to present information in different communities. I'm trying to create workshops where half the time is information sharing and the other half is some sort of active response, like creating a skit, or some other form of media, developing a petition or letter writing campaign etc.
I'm really excited to begin and to hear the students perspectives. I am having a student advisor for each workshop to gain their feedback and input prior to the workshop. Yesterday, I had meetings for the first two workshops. It was really helpful and great to hear their insight on these issues.

The workshops start on Sept. 1.

That's all for now.

Human Rights?

So remember me telling you about those 9 squatters who were killed by the police/military? Well, a few days ago some family members of the victims got together and ambushed the police, they killed one and injured 5. After the ambush, the mayor of Rizal, called for more military checkpoints and he is gaurded. The Butbut tribe has declared that they intend to kill him next.
I can't really imagine a place where civilians engage in armed conflict with the police. It's even harder to imagine a place where the mayor can call on the military to kill people who are squatting on land that he wants. He treats the military like a private army.
I went to a local human rights/women's rights organization last week to get info on the situation. It's called GABRIELA. They conduct fact-finding investigations and document human rights abuses. Last year their leader was shot by the military in front of the school here in Bulanao. The woman I spoke to has had several death threats.

I can hardly process all of this. I've been reading articles about the long-term effects of chronic political violence on children's development and self-esteem, this is my thesis topic. But it's hard to find something that is actually comparable to the situation here. There is armed conflict between civilians (tribal conflicts), between civilians and the military/police and between the military and communist guerrilla forces (New People's Army). There is also escalting armed conflict in the south between the military and muslim groups.

So I'm trying to figure this out. In the meantime, there are more military checkpoints and questioning.

Sagada

So I've spent the last few days high in the mountains in a little semi-touristy village called Sagada. In Sagada they have the tradition of burying their dead in caves, stacked up in boxes along the cave walls. Unfortunately, due to the rainy season the caves were inaccessible. So I just saw the hanging coffins that are attached to cliffs in the area. I did some hiking, found wild strawberries! and the highlight - I found a place to eat fresh yogurt with guava jam on top. I miss my dairy. Also, I haven't seen a foreigner in 3 months, so it was nice to meet some native English speakers as I toured around the town. I met a woman from Surrey, UK near where my sister lives!

Initially I went to Sagada for some work-related business. Once I got there I just couldn't leave, it was so peaceful. So my companion went on to the other villages and I stayed there. When we arrived we went to meet the students in the village that are sponsored. So we sat down for coffee, as is the custom. Then a neighbour arrived, Manang D.C. and she invited us to have coffee with her as well. So we went to her house, perched on a cliff overlooking the town, her yard was a paradise - a huge array of potted flowers and rock formations/benches/chairs. So we had coffee with her, it was dark by this time so she invited us to stay for dinner. And then she invited me to stay with her and so I did. And it was just what I needed. I stayed with her and her niece for 3 days. Manang D.C. was incredible. On the morning I left she rose at 4am, to collect some vegetables (wild fern, lemongrass, syote, ponkan) for me from her garden. She packed a huge baon (tagalog - means gift/food for the journey) for me. It was the most incredible and timely experience of hospitality I have ever had.

It was so wonderful to have a break from work. And it was great to play with some kids. Healthy playful kids, with no ribs showing. Manang D.C. raises dogs, she has 5 puppies currently, making her yard a beehive of activity as the neighbours and school kids drop by all the time to play.

I returned on Sunday. Yesterday I went back to work. As some of you know there is an ongoing tribal conflict here between Tulgao-Nambaran and Lubo - it's about 3 weeks now. A man was beaten by two men from another tribe. This is what started it. Now there are negotiations going on for a settlement. They are getting dragged out as the victim is delaying deciding whether to accept a settlement or call for further retaliation. There has been a second retaliatory attempted murder. As you may guess this is effecting my work. My co-worker, who has been on maternity leave returned yesterday. We cannot go to Nambaran, as she is a Lubo. This community is getting further and further behind on the Heifer project goals, at our last meeting none of them had worked on any of the tasks, partly due to disinterest and partly due to a recent water shortage. I recently discovered that they were incredibly active prior to receiving the animal disbursement. I wonder if perhaps the animal disbursement should have been delayed.

In case you're thinking I'm in danger due to this tribal conflict, it's unlikely anything will happen to me as it is blood ties that determine if a person is to be targeted.

My work is piling up like crazy. I am working on my thesis, due August 30. I am creating a mentoring program for girls and doing test runs of some of the modules. At the end of the month I am co-facilitating a traveling sanitation workshop where I go to different communities to teach them how to dig proper latrines and establish composting. I am also supervising the establishment of a garden at the dorm and a landscaping project.

That's about it, I turn 25 on Sept 2! I'm looking forward to it.

Living Room Shenanigans

For all those who cannot join in regular LR fun, we had a crafty night a couple weeks ago, starring my new typewriter.







I also enjoyed worshiping with an unusually present living room (all were there who feasibly could have been so).

We well-wished and prayed for those who could not make it, including Rachel, Miriam, Daniel, and team Sam, Katherine and Action.

Peace,

T