Agak

This weekend brought me for the first time to Tubigon, Bohol province to document the proceedings of the First  AGAK National Assembly. AGAK is the acronym for Aksyon Ginikanan Alang sa Kabataan, the latest program of Feed the Children Philippines which focuses on effective parenting as the key to a successful family and a child-friendly community. The assembly theme “Empowering Parents, Building Child -Friendly Communities” articulates the program’s goals. Agak is also a Cebuano word which means helping someone to move on without pulling or pushing but going with the one being helped, then after a while letting  go when the one being helped could manage on his/her own. What is striking is the similarity of the nature of the program to its meaning in Cebuano.

The venue of the assembly was the RM Monina Midtown Inn and Restaurant which was  ideal –  clean and full of trees and plants.  The food was very good and the service was great. There were more than a hundred participants  from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Each AGAK contingent was identified with their assigned colored T-shirts (green, pink, blue, yellow with and without collar, and red), the staff wore light violet. The contingents were accompanied either by the barangay chairmen or the mayor. The participants were all facilitators and leaders of their respective barangays. The main task of  Day 1 was an intensive workshop analyzing the current status of  AGAK by committees, namely: health and nutrition, women and child protection, environment, education, savings and livelihood. There followed a Back-to-Back Session with resource persons who were also the members of the board of directors of Feed the Children Philippines. I learned that  bolinao, a type of   small dried fish, is very good for children and the elderly. One sound suggestion was that it is not hard for parents to raise five chickens so that they can have eggs everyday, for it is very healthful for children to eat one egg a day. One very good practice which intrigued everyone is the production of malunggay powder by one island barangay in Bohol.

Stories from the field revealed some victories such as behavior change of husbands, wives, and  fathers such as an  end to  gambling, no more drinking and smoking. A brief input on parents as spiritual leaders ended the serious part of the assembly. I overheard the assembly coordinator reminding the male participants to keep their cool if they wanted to  go around Tubigon which  will have its fiesta three days after.

Solidarity Night was a  memorable event which  revealed what true community spirit is. I was struck by the presentations which reflected the culture of  different  communities without  fanfare but with much local color. Everybody was very game, no one was a wallflower. Even barangay officials danced. The Zamboanga del Norte group composed  a song in Cebuano which could well pass for the AGAK theme while  another composed a song on AGAK sa Kalambuan. The Zamboanga group also presented a dance of the Subanon tribe. I commended the participants for including their communities’ heritage as part of their communal life. It was a unique solidarity night because there were no Hollywood style production numbers, no excerpts from Broadway or American Idol type of singing and other foreign type of entertainment.

Kudos goes to the staff of Feed the Children Philippines who were so efficient in running the assembly from the arrangement, coordination of the travel of  participants from Luzon and Mindanao who came to Bohol via Cebu (its national office is based in Cebu City) to the smooth accommodation in the venue and the workshops where some of them were also the facilitators. There was no  hitch at all. The workshop was very participatory, interactive, and productive. There was so much enthusiasm among the participants and staff as well. Congratulations most of all to the national director of Feed the Children Philippines, Esperanza “Becbec” Abellana (my good friend and classmate from Kindergarten  to college and up to now) for the hard work and very effective and strong leadership. Thanks for involving me in your work  towards empowering parents  to build child-friendly communities. From the sharing of experiences from the different chapters one, could see the extent and  expanse of AGAK in helping communities, hence the name speaks for the word and the work “agak”. It  also shows that Feed the Children is not just feeding to address the problem of health and nutrition but it also addresses  problems in education like finding sponsors to build schoolbuildings, like the recently inaugurated two-storey, eight-classroom building  in Pasil, Cebu City  and added two more classrooms ready for use this coming June. It also deals with savings and livelihood, environment, gender and development – all of these rolled into one. The gains and  challenges of AGAK were  best articulated by one of its leaders, the unassuming and work-oriented mayor of the municipality of Leon Postigo, Zamboanga Del Norte,  Rolando Tablezo, who said in his message that being an AGAKer is to have a “passion for service.”