This post is in strong support to Stacey Avenue’s 1st Anniversary Special:

Isang Araw Lang, Takbo Para sa Libreng Kolehiyo

I feel honored to be taking part in Stacey’s anniversary in pursuit to giving importance to education. I personally believe that involving oneself in this worthwhile endeavor is a big boost to the education sector.

This undertaking brought back so many fun-filled memories…

It was in 2001 of July when I was hired to work for a developmental organization. It is a school-based Non-Government Organization (NGO) funded by The Ford Foundation where its main office lies in New York. I felt proud to have been chosen amongst a handful of applicants. And yes, you can say, luck was on my side.

A Dream Community for the Lumads
I had no idea what the project was all about until I had my first job orientation. It’s a community-based project which aims at “effecting Change of Attitude Among Indigenous Peoples Towards Basic Education”. The project had wider mileage because we covered the entire South Central Mindanao (Region XII) through the partnership with two other colleges in Cotabato Province and Sultan Kudarat.

The project itself gave me the opportunity to serve more remote and mountainous areas where Lumads composed of Manobos, Bagobos, Tirurays, Aetas, T’bolis and B’laans inhabit. There were also sub-tribes of Muslims mostly found in the lowlands along the seashores and rivers.

A strong determination for development among the Indigenous Peoples is their only weapon to win the battle against poverty and to bring prosperity within reach for every family through the acquisition of EDUCATION. Training and education for them are both important in at least two ways.

First, these support economic growth over the long term; and second, these help break the transmission of poverty from one generation to another.

This IP project had to combat the widespread perception that the economically disadvantaged parents are not capable of providing the high quality of care, attention and learning experiences appropriate for their young children.

A Real Challenge
The socio-economic situation in the Philippines has remained a major concern particularly with the families living below the poverty threshold. Despite the effort of the government in implementing programs and projects that address the basic needs of these families, the decline in the poverty incidence is far from registering a significant downtrend. The indigenous peoples in particular who mostly inhabit the mountains and hinterlands are very much affected as they have been experiencing extreme poverty. Because of the economic and financial constraints, these people have been limited to the access of what other Filipinos enjoy like decent homes, clothing, nutritious foods and quality education most importantly.

The Early Childhood Development Program may not necessarily be the first priority by the indigenous communities because IP families have more pressing needs for their day-to-day survival and the community development program must take account on all of them.

The aforementioned facts have been the formidable and yet arduous tasks for the project implementors. As implementors, we firmly believed that effecting change in the attitude of these parents towards the development of their children specifically in basic education is very much attainable. Parenting Education and Training of Day Care Workers were only the two important components of the project. This is on the premise that these marginalized people are capable of developing and improving their lives given the opportunity and taught the technical know-how to achieve them.

IP Families in Focus
The exposure of the team to the tribal communities particularly with parents and children has enabled me to determine the felt needs of the inhabitants being developed. In the conduct of Parenting Sessions, I particularly witnessed and understood the IP’s ways of life. Extreme poverty is still their major problem. Poor roads, bad transportation, lack of school buildings, books and school materials, further compounded the problem. What emerges is an entire generation of rural IPs who are barely literate.

In general, the proximity of the IPs’ houses from the village center where schools are mostly located, deprive many children from attending school. They come from poverty-stricken, large- extended families and parents could hardly afford them even just the basic education for their children. Poor health, nutrition, sanitation, hygiene and psycho-social conditions of these children aggravate their lack of opportunities to education. Many children work in the farm with their parents and they are left with no choices as this is their only way to survival.

Interventions and Significant Changes
The project implementors gradually succeeded in empowering the communities through the continuous conduct of parenting education. It is the process of eradicating the “culture of silence” among the indigenous peoples; it is developing critical minds and so these people will not be easily relegated to the sidelines.

The parents have exhibited some manifestations of self-improvement in attitude on children-related issues specifically child care development and self-reliance. The team had worked diligently in ensuring that these critical services for the families are integrated into the Parenting Sessions which undoubtedly are inching towards effecting a change of attitude in the IP communities.

Conslusion
The implementation of the project during those years when I worked for and with the IPs has not only provided impetus in changing the lives of the poor families and disadvantaged individuals in the depressed communities. The intensified conduct of Parenting Sessions denote the effort to actualize the steering role of concerned groups.

It is therefore essential that early childhood development programs are considered as education projects that center on children and are mediated by the participation of the families, the community, society and the government. It is only through this kind of alliance that the millions of children living precarious lives can have a real opportunity to develop.

I wish you blue skies and all things nice,