NO MORE POLITICIANS’ PICTURES A sign leads the way to a school built for children of the B’laan people, who have not seen government presence in their area except for the occasional visits from officials and aid workers. ROSA MAY DE GUZMAN-MAITEM
MAASIM, Sarangani—Nestled on the high grassy plateau of Sarangani, Barangay Amsipit, home to the B’laan people, has not seen growth in decades. Every day, the tribe struggles for life’s essentials—healthcare, work and education.
Electronically out of the loop, the remote village scrimps on little food coming from farming and pins its hopes on education.
“Sending our children to school is our only way out from poverty. It’s the only solution to our present problems,” Ruffa May Caliso, 28, says, cradling her frail 2-year-old son.
B’laan education is a far cry from that of nonindigenous peers. The natives rarely complete high school, and the three-hour walk to Colon National High School discourages them from attending school.
This hurts teacher Cleofe Moyak, an Ilonggo. “Almost no one wanted to go to school. Besides, children are short on food when they leave home. Practically, they can’t survive,” she explains.
Often, at 15, the youths marry and beget five children half a decade later.
The story of Kyumad
The story of Kyumad Integrated High School, borne out of the natives’ desire to educate their brood, offers a bright prospect for some 700 B’laan households, however.
Piece by piece, the people worked on bamboo materials to erect two school buildings right at where they live, beside the elementary integrated school. Finally, the elementary graduates can move on to first and second years in high school, but those on the higher levels must still walk for hours to reach Barangay Colon.
Time and the changing weather, however, have taken their toll on the makeshift classrooms. They have gone beyond repair and gradually lost its students. Village officials scoured for funding to rebuild the school and win back the hearts of the young.
“Enrollment and student attendance went down. We were unmotivated, plus the parents showed disinterest in the set-up,” recalls teacher Moyak.
“I saw the urge of younger B’laans to finish school and one day become professionals, and do away with the perception that our tribe is futile,” says her husband, B’laan Allan Moyak, who is also a village leader.
“The students and teachers long for a school conducive to learning and a much better set-up will inspire our children all the more,” he says.
Julius Sukin, 20, studied late and blamed the little resources in the village for the situation. Like other youths his age, he stopped school for years and toiled the slopes of Amsipit with his father to meet both ends.
But he works with a purpose. “I will become a teacher one day and offer B’laans the education they deserve,” he says. “How will I reach that?” he asks. “Perhaps, I hold the answer myself, and that is to persevere in my studies.”
Kalahi-CIDSS
IT’S A NEW day at school for these B’laan children and their teacher. Most members of the tribe believe education is key to their deliverance from poverty, but one that is elusive until the government and the private sector team up to build a school for their children.ROSA MAY DE GUZMAN-MAITEM
Today, the village is close to realizing its dream for the younger generation. A P1.2-million two-classroom building, sourced from Kalahi-CIDSS (Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services), has been put up.
Under the Kalahi-CIDSS, a project initiated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and supported by the World Bank, communities and their local governments are trained to decide, plan and implement sub-projects that address their most pressing need.
In Barangay Amsipit, the villagers identify the construction of classroom as top priority to stoke their dying hope for the youths to at least finish high school. “We were selected in the process. Maybe other villages felt our pain,” says the beaming Moyak.
Maasim, with 16 villages, received a grant of P7.2 million from the Kalahi-CIDSS, plus 30-percent local cash counterpart from the municipality, and P1.5 million cash from the provincial government. Sarangani Energy Corp. gave P150,000, plus welding services from Dole Corp.
Community-driven
Gemma Rivera, the project manager, says the grant is used for community-driven development strategy to combat poverty and empower the people in Maasim.
“Eight years later since the project was put up, its focus continues to improve the poorest sectors and connects the rural Philippines to basic services,” Rivera says.
“With the construction of new classroom building, I will be seeing more professionals in the years to come, not just elementary and high school graduates,” Gov. Miguel Dominguez says.
Dominguez says students in Maasim have the lowest in educational attainment despite the local economic boom. He acknowledges that education opportunities remain a challenge.
“With more classrooms, we can reverse the trend … Otherwise, the future of Sarangani will be bleak,” he says.
DepEd Superintendent Socrates Mabalot agrees. “It’s the lack of instructional rooms that hampers the delivery of quality education. But we have these classrooms here that will improve your condition. I believe, it is only through education that we can fight poverty,” he says.
“Money is not the solution to address our education woes. It takes a village to educate a child. Parents and not the teachers have the responsibility to pull up a child. I challenge the parents to participate in day-to-day aspects of their children’s education,” he adds.