Kobong Nawa, Container of Life: An outreach program for the landslide evacuees

MAJORITY of the Tboli families living in Barangay Lamcade rely on farming as their livelihood, specifically those from Sitios Tbob, Upper Lemnongu, and Lower Lemnongu. And so when they needed to evacuate after the heavy flooding and tension cracks in their area, they began to worry about how to feed their families. Around mid-June this year, 250 families from Norala and Tboli, South Cotabato have evacuated due to ground fissures and heavy flooding because of heavy rainfall days before.

In a report by Manila Bulletin published on June 17, 2021, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Soccsksargen said the locations of the communities were in the “red zone” of the geo-hazard map, which means residents are at risk of geo-hazards. Families have since evacuated to barangay gymnasiums and houses of relatives while some stayed in makeshift tents.

“Mahirap pa rin ang kalagayan ng evacuees sa kanilang nilipatan sa ngayon dahil sa kanilang hindi na maayos na tinutuluyan tent...Nakakaranas sila ng emotional and psychological trauma dahil sa pangyayari sa kanilang pamayanan... Their homes, their farm as their source of living, and their entire village [are affected],” said Benjie Manuel, Tboli Sbu Senior High School in-charge.

For now, the evacuees rely on the local government units for their essential needs but these are not enough to sustain their daily needs. They get their water from the source which sometimes has little to no flow.

Manuel decided to launch an outreach program to help these evacuees who have been in the makeshift tent for almost a month now. He decided to call the program Kobong Nawa, which roughly translates to “Container of Life.”

“Kobong, in the Tboli language, means container. It refers to the bamboo internode that the Tboli traditionally use to store water or rice. Nawa means life. Simply put, Kobong Nawa means container of life. Tboli Sbu Senior High School, through the leadership of Mr. Benjie Manuel conceptualized this outreach program based on the urgent need that the evacuees had articulated - safe drinking water,” Karl Lozano of Sesotunawa shared.

Interestingly, in the Tboli language, Kobong Nawa, when spelled as “Kbong Nawa,” means love.

When the evacuees first arrived at the site where the makeshift tents were built, the nearest water source was 30 minutes away by foot. Now, there is water on the site, however, evacuees still have a hard time storing water because of the lack of containers. The outreach program is in partnership with Sesotunawa, a social enterprise that aims to promote culture and the arts of Tboli communities through handmade products.

The outreach program initially targets to raise P36,000 for the needs of the evacuees. They have already reached P31,000 coming from donations and part of the sales of Sesotunawa products. Manuel said they wish to raise more considering the essential needs of the evacuees.

“Our commitment in this campaign is to donate 20 percent of our sales from June 28 to July 10. Based on our discussion with Mr. Manuel of TSSHS, we wanted the campaign to be based not solely on donation. But to also offer an option where the Tboli community can also give something in exchange for the support that people will give to the campaign,” Lozano said, adding cash donations are also welcome and donors are advised to reach out to Sesotunawa for proper accounting of the donations.

If you wish to order Tboli handmade products, you can visit Sesotunawa’s Facebook page and/or website for more details.

Even before the flooding and tension cracks appeared in the community, life was already hard for the Tboli in Brgy. Lamcade because of the pandemic. Aside from farming, they also rely on weaving and beading as a source of livelihood.

“I am grateful for all the people who helped and supported us here at the evacuation site. But I have to admit that I am also worried. I know that we cannot rely on other people’s help forever. We also have to find means to support our family. I hope that we can settle in a more permanent site soon. And I look forward to the day when my family is already in a secure place and I can weave Tnalak again,” Maricel Ule, mother of four and one of the evacuees, said in vernacular.