Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Duct tapes and Astro shoes
Walking around the city can be tiring. But if I were the shoes people used to walk around the city, I’d be exhausted, beaten-up, and maybe even mutilated. That is exactly why duct tapes were invented!
On May 2nd and 3rd,2011, we had our Social Discovery Walk which was like The Amazing Race spiced with Cebuano culture and poverty plus unlimited water supply. Travelling was on foot but jeepney rides were twice mandatory.
For the first day, there were seven checkpoints namely Casa Gorodo, Colon, Freedom Park, Tabo-an, Pagtambayayong Foundation, the Pari-an Drop-in Center, and Estero Pari-an. Each had different challenge tasks which were to be completed in an hour. By finishing the challenge well, the team gains points. The number of points the team has by the end of the first day determines their supper and what they sleep on.
Our first stop was Casa Gorordo where we transformed our net bags to “net-backpacks” and had a tour around the house. We were then off to Colon, diligently looking for heritage markers and copying what was written on them. I never knew Colon was so glorious before.
Next was Freedom Park. Key words were Nanay Mary, flowers, interview, and grocery. Freedom Park is the only station where we didn’t run out of time. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for lunch, so we ate our cheese bread on the last four minutes of our stay in Freedom Park.
I bet by now you’re wondering why the title is about duct tapes and astro shoes. When we were on our way to Taboan from Freedom Park, the sole of my left shoe fell off - more like detached itself. Either way, I was walking the rest of the journey with a sole-less shoe. We repacked charcoal in Taboan and got our hands dirty. Like literally.
After Taboan, we were on our way to Pagtambayayong. While we were on the right track, we asked for directions and got the wrong information. We were lost. Trying to think clearly, we sat on the gutters outside Cebu City Medical Center. Ate Venus (my buddy) finally told Silver Cloud (our facilitator) about my shoe and how tired I was so he called “The Van”. I got in, and that was when Mista showed me his duct tape. A huge roll of duct tape. Silver Cloud helped me fix my shoe and since the duct tape was silver, my shoe looked like it was from outer space. So Silver Cloud coined the word “astro shoes”. Since then, my teammates and I started calling my shoe “astro shoes” even if only my left shoe was fixed.
I rode “The Van” going to Pagtambayayong while my teammates walked another, say, 800 meters sweltering. Thankfully, our Pagtambayayong challenge was to listen to a lecture (about Pagtambayayong and their housing programs) and ask questions in an air-conditioned room. It was such a relief. After languidly listening to the lecture and asking questions, we were to depart for the Pari-an Drop-in Center. That was the first time we rode a jeepney.
Pari-an Drop-in Center housed children and it was there when we were educated about the statistics of children who are abused, abandoned, and the like. We asked the kids what their names were and how old they were. Some actually look small for their age due to malnutrition. After that, we played a game. It wasn’t long until time was up, so we started to make our way to CTU.
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.
A Stride for Change By Carla Bernon
The Philippines has extensive deposits of minerals and the waters here are abundant of many varieties of fish and other marine form of lives. Its location gives the country a moderate tropical climate suited for the cultivation of export crops. Truly, this 7100 island-composed country is undeniably rich when it comes to natural resources. In fact, several other countries want to have those assets, and we are lucky since we those. But why so is Philippines one of the poorest states in the world?
It is evident that our country’s facing poverty these days. As you can see, there are a lot of people who already made the streets as their partner in life. They found home along sidewalks, their food inside the trash bins, and established jobs by begging. These have always been the worst scenario among folks who are not blessed enough to have what others enjoy. They are those who lack the opportunity for a better living.
The reasons for poverty are not clear. Some people believe that poverty results from lack of adequate resources for basic necessities and well-being. It is a fact that there are people who have much more than they need to live in comfort, while many others do not have enough resources to live. There are even those who indeed worked hard but at the end of the day, they still haven’t had enough to place inside their aching stomachs. This has really been a frequent case nowadays. Many know the issue; only few care.
I am one of the many who always hear issues about poverty but just stayed still in the corner. All my life I were contented with what I am and what I have, and never asked for anything more. But when I joined the Young Minds Academy, a program of diverse youth unified in one goal, it taught me how to take the matter more seriously as I can and be one of the few who cares about it, for just a quarter of the program. With its central theme, Poverty which is the fifth Millennium Development Goal, I perceived a broader mindset about it and urged to take steps for amendments.
I must say that the activities I already have encountered during the first quarter of YMA are not less to open my eyes and see what the community needs now. I have realized that there is a call everyone is entrusted for – to help one another, especially the needy. Alleviating poverty should be one of our priorities as concerned youth to pursue the mantra we always hear from everyone, “Ang kabataan ay pag-asa ng bayan.”
My rightful journey has just begun.
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| photo courtesy of getrealphilippines.com |