Zambales: Tribes and Treks

Dear Reader,

It’s been a while! Since my last update, the three IWU interns have become quite busy with both work and life on the farm. It’s quite easy here to unconsciously drift away from social media.

About two weeks ago we were invited to take part in one of MAD Travel’s more popular weekend trips, named Tribes and Treks. The trip takes place on the western coast of Luzon island, in a region called Zambales. This mountainous area is one of many in Luzon that are home to the Aeta, a group of indigenous Filipinos. They are thought to be some of the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines, and are unique in that they have mostly resisted Spanish influence during the extensive colonization period from the 16^th through the 19^th century. Today, they are known by the general population for living a more “primitive” lifestyle, and for possessing curlier hair and darker skin than many Filipinos.

The goal of MAD Travel’s involvement with one group of Aeta in Zambales is to assist with reforestation efforts, and to offer an additional source of income through tourism. These efforts are helping to combat the ill effects of climate change, deforestation, and exploitation by outsiders (a common scenario for indigenous peoples around the world). After a 6 hour drive to Zambales and a night spent in Circle Hostel—a partner of MAD Travel—we headed by jeepney (looks kind of like a bus, kind of like an aluminum limousine. Pretty unique to the Philippines) to the center of the Aeta’s town. We were then accompanied by several generous Aeta folks, one dog, and two carabaos (a type of water buffalo native to the Philippines) during the hike to the mountain village where we would be spending the afternoon.

This hike offered some of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen in person. It was almost funny to watch the Aeta stroll along effortlessly through the river, with the comfort and nonchalance of someone walking through their own backyard. Meanwhile the rest of us sloshed quite loudly upstream, necks craned upwards at the mountains that framed the valley. We were very much in luck that day—no rain, despite it being the middle of monsoon season in southeast Asia, and a swollen, crystalline river thanks to weeks of rain beforehand.

We stopped for a while to soak in the water.

Andrea—my MAD Travel mentor and our lovely, knowledgeable tour guide for the day.

Micah(right) and Richard, a PhD student studying tourism in New Zealand. He was on the trip conducting his studies and observing our tourist behaviors. Really cool guy.

Katherine—a close friend of mine from Illinois Wesleyan and a summer intern for Human Nature, a company that had its beginnings at the Enchanted Farm. She was also one of my two Vietnam travel buddies!

Me!

 

Upon arrival at the entrance to the village, I learned that the mountains I had just spent the past two hours admiring are actually “dying”. It’s clear in photos that a large portion of most peaks are a very pale green—they’re missing the crucial forest cover that anchors down soil and regulates precipitation patterns. This is partly due to the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, which buried a large portion of Luzon in volcanic ash and effectively destroyed miles of forest. There is also concern in the area about destruction of forest for mining purposes. Since 1991, the Aeta have noticed more intense and unpredictable rain and flooding because of this. It made sense—just a few hours before we had taken an alternate hiking route to avoid the construction of a damn downstream. The construction of dams in southeast Asia is increasing as a dire need to control flooding has developed.

MAD Travel has helped to plant thousands of tree saplings to help heal the ailing ecosystem in Zambales. I was so glad to learn that a lot of effort is also put in by MAD Travel, the Aeta, and other involved parties to make sure that the planting is ecologically effective. There are many reforestation efforts around the world that consist of simply planting saplings without sufficient planning, and many of them will simply die. Successful reforestation efforts always pay attention to the reasons why a planted forest might not survive. There may not be pollinators present or the soil may be highly salinized, in addition to hundreds of other reasons.

Some photos from the planting:

Andrea

Anna-you might recognize her from my post about Silver Heights. She is training to be a tour guide!

A young Aeta boy. Something interesting I learned about him is that his family has stopped cutting his hair–every time they have, he’s gotten sick.

A mid-planting snack of purple yam chips. They are incredibly sugary and delicious.

Here’s our whole group before heading to lunch. Not my photo.

After a lunch of chicken adobo (a Filipino classic, popular with Americans) and fried tilapia, we got to try out some native archery, which the Aeta men use to hunt wild boar.

We then had a dance party consisting of traditional Aeta performances, and my embarrassing attempts to demonstrate American dance moves.

It was a wonderful, too-short stay. It matched the length of some mainstream tourism experiences, but MAD Travel pushed it much deeper. It is tourism at the expense of nobody—we left nothing more than our footprints, and we gave some of our own energy towards a solution that is benefiting the Aeta.

Maybe we didn’t form lifelong friendships with the tribe—Richard (PhD guy) himself told me that there are twelve different levels of “connection” that one human must work through to become a part of a community they didn’t originally belong to. I don’t think we made it through too many of those levels that afternoon. That’s okay, though. We put our money in good hands and received an unforgettable experience in return. That is an impact you just won’t see with most mainstream tourist ventures.

If we’re making a list of tourism experiences that will help secure the future of the Philippines as a population and as a land, I believe this one certainly belongs on it.

 

The Enchanted Life

Upon returning from Manila after the kids camp, I realized I was not sure what my role was here at GKEF. It seemed like everyone was off doing something, and I wasn’t sure where I belonged. I spoke with some of the French interns to try and rectify this, as many of them have been here for six months or more. I also spoke with Louis, who oversees GKEF interns, from whom I learned that I was being assigned to Tita (aunt) Aida, a mother in the community. What was made most clear to me is that the first step for just about anyone who comes to live on the farm is to spend time with the community—I am a guest in their home, after all. Some interns arrive and want to immediately start a project, and their intentions are always good. A project without a solid network of individuals that know and respect you, however, may be a failed one.

First and foremost I am working for MAD Travel, but if some project I’d like to start at the farm arises and I have the time and resources to do it, then I may decide to do so. Louis has lived here for four years now, and he explained that only recently did he realize what his relevancy to the farm was. That’s what my goal will be here—to find my relevancy. I’ve arrived here with environmental interests, but perhaps at the farm I may spend my time with the people, and do what I can to help them out with the little things. I can’t say that this won’t be a challenge for me, as I don’t always find it easy to initiate a new relationship. It will be a valuable opportunity to strengthen those skills.

It has also become clear just how short my time here really is. It seemed so long before I arrived—two whole months. As many of the farm’s more permanent residents already know, it takes much more than that to establish yourself as more than a visitor. For interns that stay six months or longer, the goodbyes are very bittersweet.

I have since spent some time with Tita Aida and her husband, children and grandchildren. They’ve been so kind, inviting me in when I pass by and pulling out all the stops when I came for breakfast. I hope to have some photos with them that I can show you here.

Soon I’ll be updating you on our MAD trip to Zambales. Thank you for reading!

Tips for an American in the Philippines

These are definitely not all inclusive. Just a few things that have stood out to me:

1. Bring a sweat rag. In Southeast Asia you will sweat from places you didn’t know you could sweat from. (i.e. shins, knuckles, eyelids)
2.  If you need help, ask! English and Tagalog (Filipino) are the national languages, and most people are proficient in both. It isn’t difficult to find a friendly face to point you in the right direction. That said, you should still look out for your safety when speaking with strangers.
3. You may think it’s okay if you step out for just a minute without an umbrella. You’d be wrong. The rainy season in the Philippines lasts from June to October, and the rain gods like to punish fools who forget it.
4. Travelling into/out of metro Manila is not for the weak. Traffic is extremely congested for much of the evening and morning. Account for this, as it may take you an hour or more to travel five miles by car.
5. Eat the mangoes. The yellow ones. Just do it.

Camp Counseling and the Future of the Philippines

I spent last week assisting with the MAD Travel Junior Heroes kids camp, which is environmentally focused. This is a newer component of MAD, although several camps already took place—some at Gawad Kalinga. My being an environmental studies student and having some experience working with kids back in Bloomington clued in Tom and some others from the team that this job would be a good fit for me. I was nervous to hold a leadership position for so much of the week, but I was really excited too. I spent my nights this week planning lessons and activities and sleeping in the Quezon City MAD office. Days were spent commuting to and from the camp site at the Fun Farm in Laguna, and of course running the camp. I got to work with the two lovely ladies Enia and Andrea, featured below, and it has been a joy to get to know them. Andrea (right) is a MAD employee and tour guide, and Enia (left) is a volunteer with plenty of camp counseling experience.

The Fun Farm is a wonderful resource – I loved being there and it must be magical for kids who visit. It reminded me of some of Illinois’ kid-friendly wildlife preserves and arboretums. Some of the farm activities include a zipline, carabao ride, animal feeding, and a playground of upcycled cars and trucks to climb on. We spent part of each day teaching about beginner concepts like plastic waste and recycling, part of the day doing activities like upcycling crafts and skits, and part of the day playing games and inevitably goofing off.

Enia, Zach, and Bella

Me and Zach playing Cat & Mouse

Chris, Alonso and I talking about composting and recycling

Alonso

Feeding the sheep

Emelia and Zach

Left to right: Lucas, Zach, Alonso, Katia, Emelia

Bella enjoying the zipline

It was really fulfilling to know that we were helping to give these kids the gift of being outside—poking around in the dirt, looking at weird mushrooms, and just soaking up the smells and sounds of rural Philippines. The kids all live in metro Manila, one of the world’s biggest sprawling megacities. It’s more difficult than you’d think for them to find a place to enjoy wilderness, and I think that puts them at a disadvantage. It isn’t anyone’s fault, but it does mean that there is a need for someone to mitigate the problem. Spending time in the natural world is a really important component for our development and health – it’s the place our ancestors were born into and I think it’s vital that we make efforts to return to it.

Programs like Junior Heroes are important for the future of the Philippines as a land, too, not just a population. The Philippines is a lower income country by United Nations standards, and it has a choice to make. It may choose to follow the development plan laid out by countries like the United States, and adhere to principles like “grow first, clean up later.” Or it may carve a more sustainable path—one that enables growth but does not forgo the quality of the land and does not leave the poor behind. The Philippines is a gifted country, abundant with natural resources and millions of resilient and kind people. It’s also one of the world’s most vulnerable countries – the emerging impacts of climate change have taken their toll on an array of biodiverse ecosystems in addition to some of the world’s poorest people. These islands will need adults who want to protect the integrity of their home. I hope that we helped foster that desire in our kids.

Soapbox aside, every child I met this week has carved a little place in my heart. They accepted me as a teacher and authority figure, despite my differences, and they are all so intelligent and funny – we decided to award them their certificates at the end of the week with a name befitting their unique abilities and personalities. Ms. Sunshine for Katia, Mr. Speed for Caleb, and so on. I had an amazing time being Ate (big sister) Emily this week, and I hope each child will carry at least one memory from our time together.

Next up is an update about this week at the Enchanted Farm. After that, an update on our next adventure in Zambales, which actually begins tomorrow!! Thank you for reading!

Beginnings at GKEF

Before my work really began, I was able to spend a few days getting used to the inner workings of the farm, meeting people, and traveling a bit. A visit to Treasure Mountain offered a wood-fired hot bath with an amazing view of the mountains.

Our friend from SEED, Jaypee.

The hot bath. Took quite a while to become hot.

Micah, Nicole and I. The three MAD-T interns.

A view from Treasure Mountain.

We were also offered a visit to Silver Heights, one of GK’s most well-known communities. I was quite excited to visit there, as I’d read about it in the book that Tom (my boss) wrote about his journey in the Philippines. It felt a little like meeting a celebrity, or something along those lines. I had read an incredible story about this group of people, and now I would get to actually meet them.

Anna Salamat (which means thank you in Tagalog!) was our guide for the day. Anna is a SEED graduate, works at GKEF, and has been a huge help to us three Americans since we arrived. This is Anna, posed in front of the characteristically colorful GK houses in Silver Heights.

Before Silver Heights was the bustling community and tourist opportunity that it now is, life was incredibly difficult for its 78 families. The people of Silver Heights lived as squatters for years. Their living spaces once carried the nickname Kubeta (toilet) since the size of one housing unit was once roughly the size of one. This was accompanied by a reputation for being dirty, caused by the ten years the community lived without a water supply. In 2009, things hit rock bottom for Silver Heights when a fire destroyed every single shack. This was also a turning point for the community, however. Churches, the government, businesses, and Gawad Kalinga were there to help. Enough homes were eventually built for each family, providing electricity and fresh water for the first time in many of their lives.

I really, really enjoyed my visit to Silver Heights. The community is visited about once a week by foreigners, which helps generate some income through shared meals. The kids seemed to really enjoy the attention–their older siblings played basketball down the street during our visit. The two pictures above at the top right were actually taken by some of said children. They quickly learned how to press the shutter button, and also were thoroughly entertained by my cheeks.

Silver heights is very much a community, and I believe it was like that before Gawad Kalinga came into the picture. I think that is what carried them through their hardships, and Gawad Kalinga helped give them a sense of permanency. It was quite an experience to be welcomed into someone else’s neighborhood for just an afternoon, and to be regarded so warmly.

What is Gawad Kalinga?

As I mentioned earlier here, a lot of my time in the upcoming weeks will be spent living at Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm in the Bulacan province of the Philippines, in addition to working with Make a Difference Travel. What exactly do all of these words mean???

What is Gawad Kalinga? From gk1world.com:

“Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, Inc. (GK) is a Philippine-based movement that aims to end poverty for 5 million families, by first restoring the dignity of the poor.”

That’s a big goal, one with many contributors and many, many smaller tasks to be accomplished along the way. GK began in the 1990s with founder Tony Meloto, who rose out of poverty himself through a scholarship to a prominent Filipino university. Meloto felt called to make a change in Caloocan City–specifically the Bagong Silang slum, which suffered from extreme poverty and gang violence. Meloto felt like he had left the poor behind–he had once lived among them, after all. Through youth programs (implemented by what would become Gawad Kalinga) and a collective effort to become a community, Bagong Silang was eventually transformed. Over 2,000 GK communities have been built across the Philippines and the world since then. What is special about them is that many are built alongside their future residents. It’s not quite charity–it’s a hand extended. That’s the spirit of  Gawad Kalinga, which means “to give care.”

The Enchanted Farm is an important part of GK, and it will be my home for the coming weeks. It’s the first farm-village-university in the world, and a hub for Filipino entrepreneurship. A number of families take residence here, most of which have members working at the farm or at one of the businesses. Some budding businesses are run by graduates from the GK sponsored SEED University.

What am I doing here?

I am not a GK intern, but I am staying here for a reason. GK is an important part of MAD’s history. Tom Graham, co-founder of MAD and my superior for the summer, came to the Philippines on a business venture, only to speak with Tony Meloto himself. He soon found himself drawn to the Philippines and the GK communities, and decided to stay. It was here that he founded MAD Travel. The farm is an important part of the MAD experience, and a crucial business partner. It’s also an incredibly valuable opportunity for myself and my fellow interns to witness something revolutionary, and learn from those who live here.

What is MAD Travel?

Make a Difference Travel is a social tourism company that was born out of a need for a different kind of tourism in the Philippines – one that forgoes cruise ships and guides with megaphones and instead allows you to actually meet island communities and witness the beauty of the lands they call home. MAD Travel makes it possible to find out what the Philippines is really like.

MAD Travel takes visitors to a number of locations around the Philippines, including the tribal communities in Zambales as well as communities that were built from the ground up with the help of Gawad Kalinga.

During my time with MAD, I’ll be helping to refine the Junior Heroes camp – an environmentally focused kids camp. The camp is currently taking place this week – more on that is coming soon!

I feel really lucky to be working with the MAD team, even for just two months. I think they are offering something that many travelers are missing out on. During past travel experiences outside of the United States and within, there were plenty of times when something just didn’t sit right with me. It was the feeling that I was walking through a place and not really seeing it. I wasn’t taking the time to meet and appreciate people. I hated the feeling that I was visiting a place solely for my own enjoyment, and then turning right around and leaving.

It was only during the couple of weeks I spent in Vietnam that I began to fully understand how crucial it is to have an extended stay in a new place. I was able to sleep and eat as a guest in someone’s home, speak with students and professors, and learn deeply about the problems that the Vietnamese people are confronted with daily. I think MAD is offering some of these same kinds of experiences. I can’t wait to be a part of it.

Hello!

Hello, reader! I’m Emily, an almost-junior at Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU). For about a week I’ve been in the Philippines, starting my work with the social tourism platform Make A Difference Travel. This internship was made available through the amazing IWU Freeman Asia Internship Program. During the next 7 or so weeks I will be splitting my time between metro Manila and Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm in the Bulacan province. Here on WordPress I’ll be posting updates and stories about my work as well as my travel, including lots of photography. You’ll likely also read some bits and pieces about my experience taking a university course in Vietnam prior to my internship—it was an incredible couple of weeks and gave me a unique frame of mind for living in another Southeast Asian country for two months. Regular updates are on the way—I hope you enjoy!