21/08/2022
Happy Kadayawan! This season marks our city's appreciation and promotion of the culture and tradition of Davao's indigenous tribes. Here's an inspiring story of one of the schools in SDO Davao City.
Katigkanayan: the beginning of something
A special program for the IP Learners of Quezon Elementary School
By Jesusa G. Alcaria, MT 1, Jonelyn T. Raspal, T1 and Dyan Feb D. Dayap, T1
Everything always starts with a dream - an aspiration that something will come true. However, a dream will always remain a dream until you move and make it happen. This is exactly true with the seemingly fading culture of the indigenous people among the younger generation.
“It is very heart breaking to see that our cultures and traditions are slowly fading nowadays. Children in this generation are not proud of their tribe. They do not even know how to speak their own dialect and are even ashamed of the term “Bagobo”. They do not realize how significant they are in the community and what opportunities await them in the future,” Indigenous Person Mandatory Representative (IPMR) Docris O. Daug said.
Embracing one’s roots
The Indigenous People (IPs) play an important role in the community. They have different cultures, traditions and beliefs from the rest of the world and they deserve to be recognized and respected. For this reason, a barangay resolution from Daliaon Plantation has been put in place to show support to the IPs of the community through teaching the Bagobo-Tagabawa dialect.
It started with a simple observation about the IPs in the community. Given the fact that the barangay has an IPMR means that a big part of the population encompasses IPs and most of them belong to the Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe. Clearly, the tribe is there but the culture, values and beliefs seem to be gradually diminishing. In fact, the teaching should start with the grassroots- the young generation – the learners.
In 2019, Quezon Elementary School in cooperation with the Daliaon Barangay Council, came up with the program “Pagtinuro Ka, Kinagayen Ka Bagobo Tagabawa” (Teaching Bagobo-Tagabawa Dialect). The objective of this program is for the learners to embrace their roots by developing the learners’ literacy towards their own dialect, practicing their traditions, and making their own ethnic costumes.
At the start of their class 100% of the learners from grades 3 to 6 cannot understand and utter any Bagobo word. The program started with 40 learners and in a matter of one month the number of learners steadily increased to 70 continuous classes. The remedial classes were done every Tuesday and Thursday.
The negative impact brought by the Covid-19 virus did not just affect the regular classes but the IP classes as well.
Nonetheless, this did not stop the pursuit of education even to the IP learners. When the regular classes were taught into different modalities, something can also be done for them. That is when Armando N. Blando, School Head of Quezon Elementary School tapped the IP leaders and their elders to come up with a good alternative form of education. Thus, the idea of an IP module was born. From a simple draft of different Bagobo-Tagabawa words, it evolved to a hard copy filled with hope and faith that these learners will slowly embrace their IP roots.
Another plan came into a reality when the third part of the project started even with the restraint of the pandemic. As soon as the government announced the approval of limited face to face classes, Blando invited the group of IPs who were well-trained in beads-designing. IP Learners diligently participated the activity on Fridays up to the second week of May 2022. In truth, this beads-designing project would not be successful without the financial support of the Gulayan sa Paaralan and the Gulayan sa Tahanan project of the school.
With such program, the learners were able to appreciate, practice, and live in the traditional IP way.
“We are hopeful that these programs initiated by the school would be instilled in their hearts and will last forever,” Blando proudly beams.
GULAYAN SA TAHANAN, GULAYAN NG KINABUKASAN
For the past years, Quezon ES has always been known for its vigorous Gulayan sa Paaralan. This time, it has extended to the community to reach out to the families affected by the pandemic – from Gulayan sa Paaralan to Gulayan sa Tahanan.
It started in every purok of Brgy. Daliaon Plantation, the first recipients were mostly the IP of Purok 1. Seedlings of different vegetables and crops were given to each family from the stakeholders such as the Department of Agriculture (DA) and City Agriculturist Office (CAO). The Revitalized Pulis sa Barangay (RPsB) of Cluster 3 Toril also took part on this project and donated sprinklers and gardening tools.
“Sa kadaghan namo na projects, this is the first time that we were tapped to help the IP community. It’s a very unique project and nalipay mi na nakatabang mi ug apil,” PLT Jefferson G. Escasinas of the RPsB said.
After almost a month, the families had tasted the fruit of their labor. The income from the gulayan sa tahanan were turned into gardening tools, additional seedlings, and food on their plates.
“Karon akoang kauban akong anak sa pagtanom ani ug nalipay ko kay human ug answer namo sa module, diretso mi sa among area para ,magtanom sa likod mura na sad mi ug nag bonding,” Gaga, one of the beneficiaries, happily said.
Thankful is an understatement to describe the parents of these learners. Smiles were plastered all over their faces.
Since the first wave of the Gulayan sa Tahanan was a success, it’s time to move to another destination. The next target was the IP youth of Purok 10, the farthest and the end of Brgy. Daliaon Plantation. Who would have thought that the school could reach this remote area and be welcomed by youths filled with ambitions?
The youth of this purok were children of Quezon Elementary School’s alumni. Gerylle, who was once an LSB LSA teacher of Quezon ES. They also belong to the small community of an IP area who needs attention.
When asked about the things they lacked and they really want to have, most of them answered materials for the Bagobo-Tagabawa clothing. “Gusto unta mi nga naa sad mi mga IP na masuot para sa among sarili kay dili gyud namo kaya nga mupalit niini. Bagobo mi pero wala mi sanina sa Bagobo,” Gerylle said with a faint smile.
The school does not have all the means to provide for the materials these youths need. However, the school, together with the stakeholders from DA and CAO, provided seedlings that can be planted in their area. Seminars and trainings were also conducted for them to learn about farming and Agriculture. Their first project was planting of tomatoes and the income were used to purchase IP costume supplies – from beads to Oxford fabric.
TURNING DREAMS INTO REALITY
Finally, the school and IP leaders’ efforts had paid off witnessing the endevors and the innocent smiles of the youth at the tribal hall in beads-designing activity.
“Kami nalipay nga ang kaniadtong panganduy, nahimong katumanan. Ang pagtagad sa among tribo usa ka kalampusan nga dili namo malimtan,” Gerylle said.
Presently, putting the beads on the IP clothes is on the process. Everyone is expecting its output after a month or two. Definitely, there is no impossible thing to attain in this world for as long as people work together with love, compassion and dedication.
