Monday, October 16, 2006 A weekend with Aetas By Miguel Antonio N. Lizada Kuya's Chair
Conclusion
FIRST of all, I would like to apologize for not having a column for the past three weeks. For the first and third weeks, I was not able to do a column because of heavy school work (senior thesis). For the second week, I was not able to send an email because the super typhoon cut off the Internet connection.
So anyway, in my last article, I was enjoying a meal of puso ng saging, which we harvested after walking for an hour in the lahar zone, going deep into the forest and crossing three brooks... and then walking and climbing back to the mountain for another full hour.
After a well-deserved siesta, our formator asked us to prepare a presentation for that night's "cultural night" where both the community and our group would gather inside the chapel for a night of presentation, speeches and thanksgiving.
Our group decided to come up with a short skit, which featured everyday scenes in the life of an Aeta. We suddenly had to learn some of the common phrases and popular kid songs for our presentation. Our girls had to learn how to say "let's do the laundry" and other common household expressions from their nanays and we all had to learn the song "Madali lang! Madali lang!" which all the kids have been singing the entire afternoon.
Cultural night came and we did our skit exactly as we have practiced. Our group was especially applauded for making the kids laugh and for our flawless rendition of their favorite and simple songs. After we did our performances, it was the Aetas' turn. They showed us the different dances they do for different occasions -- such as dancing for the harvest season and for hunting time (complete with bows and arrows). We enjoyed every minute of it. And so did they.
After the presentations of both our group and the Aetas, our formator asked each one of us and our foster families to say something to the community. While we thanked our the community and our foster families for accepting us warmly into their households and community life, our foster families in turn thanked us for being so ever obedient and for accepting their way of life.
Accepting them for who they are, what they do and for the culture and life that they represent was something important for them especially since they have always experienced prejudice and discrimination whenever they go down to the bayan. Our foster parents also thanked us for being with them all the way -- for not complaining when we treaded across the hot and unstable lahar zone, when we went into the forest and braved the insects and generally the unfamiliar environment.
We were all happy and grateful. The point of this whole immersion after all is to not only familiarize ourselves with the lives of a people marginalized and ignored by the general population; immersion also calls for an acceptance of this unique yet legitimate way of life.
To show our appreciation, at the end of the program, we all stood up and danced the "Aeta dances" with the rest of the community. We laughed. We danced. We sang the night away.
Going down
Morning the next day, we had a processing session where we shared our different experiences and insights from our three day immersion. At the end of our prayer session, our formator told us something insightful "Gaano man ka rumi ang inyong mga paa, alalahanin niyo lamang na may malapit na batis na lilinis niyan. Madulas ka man at mahulog, alalahanin nyo lamang na may Aeta na sasalo sa iyo (No matter how dirty your feet are, always remember that there is a brook nearby where to cleanse it. Even if you slip and fall, remember that there will always be an Aeta that would catch you)." That insight among others is something I will always remember.
After promising to our families that we would write to each other, we left Tarukan. When we got back to Manila, our feelings were surreal if not bitter. After spending a weekend living with a community who did not care whether they had electricity, whose rules were simple (Love your wife. Always pray and always do good.) we were back in Manila . Back in the world of materialism, of pollution, of complicated laws in life it is really funny how one weekend can change you.
Looking back
We brought back more than just sacks of bananas and gabi, we brought back a new and broader worldview. We realized that there was a bigger and a much more diverse world out there. We realized that simplicity is not necessarily equal to poverty or suffering. In fact, there even wealthier people who are poorer and less happier than the Aetas we have immersed with. Save for their issues of land grabbing which I hope the government would seriously pay attention to, the Aetas are both satisfied and happy with their state of life.
We want to go back and visit some other time. For now, while we do our duties and requirements as students, we have committed ourselves into helping the community. One of my group mates who is the president of the Ateneo Junior Marketing Association organization has included the jams and other products that Aetas make in their upcoming bazaars and sales.
We have also come up with fund raising projects so that we could buy a few carabaos for our families.
We also learned that the super typhoon Milenyo has wrecked the school so we are also coming up fundraising events to help rebuild the school.
Those who graduated from the Ateneo say that Theology 141, the course, which required us to undergo this immersion, is something different from any other course in the Ateneo. Now I know why they say so. The 141 is more than just a course. It is a life-changing event.
