Wednesday, May 18, 2011
A WALK TO REMEMBER
By: Johanna Lorenn Igot (Gen B- Team 6)
Edited by: Marla Arielle B. So (Gen B- Team 6)
Last May 2 and 3, 2011, I, together with 82 other season five scholars of the Young Minds Academy (YMA), a program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), had our last module for the first quarter – the Social Discovery Walk. In simpler terms, we had an urban backpacking adventure. Since this season’s theme is poverty, the walk’s goal was to show us the current situation of city life in Cebu.
On the morning of May 2, 2011, we ate breakfast in the Plenary Hall of the Eduardo Aboitiz Development and Studies Center (EADSC) and proceeded to Casa Gorordo. When we were settled, we were grouped into six different teams – Team Osmeña, Team Lapu-Lapu, Team Maxilom, Team Sotto, Team Fernan, and Team Leon Kilat. I was placed in Team Sotto. Each team also had a facilitator from RAFI, ours being Ms. Daphne Dia. Furthermore, my team also had Ms. Amaya Aboitiz as a special guest.
When we were with our respective backpacking teams, we were tasked to design net packs – bags which we would use for the duration of our walk. After that, the teams were given a tour of Casa Gorordo and, afterwards, were given some questions about the museum.
Then, the different teams split up and went to checkpoints all over Cebu. There, station martials (former YMA scholars) gave us envelopes, inside which were activities which needed to be accomplished within an hour. We were then given points based on how well we performed. They consisted of the following:
· Taboan Market - Although famous for its dried fish, we were told to go towards the uling (charcoal) station. There, workers repack charcoal due to laws concerning its marketing.
§ Challenge: Try our hand at repacking two sacks of charcoal into individual plastic bags, ready for retail.
· Office of the Pagtambayayong Foundation - A non-government organization whose goal is to provide cheaper land and housing for the less fortunate
§ Challenge: We listened to one of the foundation’s committee members, Ms. Hope Minor, as she shared about Pagtambayayong: its meaning, its goals, and its methods on securing Cebu’s urban poor with land and housing.
· Parian Drop-In Center - A RAFI-supported organization which cares for street children
§ Challenge: A speaker, Ms. Belle, talked to us about the condition of Cebu’s street children and how the Center benefits them.
· Estero Parian - A river and creek system that runs through the heart of Cebu and is notorious for its high levels of pollution
§ Challenge: Retrace the river based on an old map of Cebu. Go to where the river ends “below a building” (Gaisano Colon). On the way, approach people who live by the river and ask questions such as “How long have you lived by the river?” and “When was the last time the river was clean”?
· Colon Obelisk - A monument which marks one end of Colon Street, the oldest street in Cebu. It bears a short, historical fact on its façade
§ Challenge: Walk along Colon and look for heritage markers, green posts with Colon’s history written upon them. There are twenty-five of them in all and we were told to write them all down.
v Comment: These markers are important in preserving our knowledge of Cebu’s history. Sadly, they are usually ignored or worse, vandalized. I’ve been to Colon a lot of times and I have never seen these markers. Now, every time I pass by, I’ll look for them and smile.
· Freedom Park, Carbon Market - One of the largest, open-air markets in Cebu. There, we looked for Mary Goldove, a flower vendor in the market
§ Challenge:
1. Interview at least five nanays who sell flowers there.
2. Help Nanay Mary with her work.
3. Window shop for dinner enough for your entire team with only Php 285 at hand, the minimum wage in Cebu
v Comment: This challenge opened our eyes to the hardships women, especially mothers, face. They try to find work yet, by the end of the day, they only have enough money to sustain their families for the day.
On our way to our last checkpoint, we took a jeepney to Redemptorist Church. When we arrived, an envelope was handed to us. We were told to use the points we earned to buy dinner and shelter for the night, treating it just like real money. My team earned 153 points. We deducted 30 for the carton (our chosen “bed”), so we had 123 points left for food. Each person had two free puso for reaching Redemptorist. We had three options for our viand: ngohiong (7 points each), longganisa (7 points each), and chicken back bone (8 points). After eating dinner, we grabbed the opportunity to get to know each other by talking to our teammates.
Fuente Osmeña Circle. We were going to spend the night there, in the open air and sleeping on cardboard. However, we were too tired to care and quickly fell asleep. I took the opportunity because I really needed rest. Nobody knew what we were going to do for the second day.
We started to go on foot at 5 am. We were heading towards the Calamba Cemetery. We were then told to find a dead person whose first or last name was similar to our own. We were given questions to ponder on. We shared our reflections and realizations then ate breakfast, which consisted of two boiled bananas and one boiled cassava. After eating, we were ready for our final challenge – going back to EADSC… on foot. In the middle of our voyage, it started to rain. Like a little kid, I was very happy because I could get wet and clean. Our team stopped and found shelter but that didn’t stop me from wanting to bathe in the rain. We continued walking once it stopped.
I felt relieved when we finally reached EADSC – that familiar structure where we hold most YMA sessions. Our experiences the previous day stretched us to our maximum potential. We extended our tolerance for heat, for dirt, and for physical activity. According to Ms. Daphne, “You are like rubber bands, when stretched to your maximum potential; you will never go back to our original phase again.” She hopes that we would remain that way, and so do I, Ms. Daph!
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