The road to Barangay Udalo, Municipality of Piagapo, Lanao del Norte.
At the Udalo Elementary school, Piagapo, Lanao del Norte.
Teachers in Bgy Udalo, Piagapo, Lanao del Norte.
Towards the end of March 2011, I was the photographer of a quick three-day visit of the documentation team of a large international organization in Mindanao. We went off to the South to check out a few basic things like toilets and the washing facilities of several elementary schools in rural communities in Lanao. It seemed like an ordinary enough assignment but as a photographer, I was struck by what I saw. It certainly went beyond the toilets and the wash areas. During the interviews, we sat down with a school principal struggling to make sure there are books in her school ( of course, there is a lack of books and her pupils also come to school hungry—we’ve heard this story before), met up with an articulate Imam, and saw the mud-covered flooring of a school and its damaged classrooms that had previously sheltered families running away from the fighting going on between government forces and rebels and from the bombing in 2008 ( what bombing? did we hear about that in Manila? ).Then we also spoke to a Grade 6 pupil who said ” …sanay naman kami” when asked about the non-existence of comfort rooms in school. She and her classmates are used to running to the river nearby anyway.
Today, a week later, back in my small apartment in QC, I wondered about a partnership between a sponsoring barangay in Luzon and any of the remote barangays we visited in Mindanao. What if there were barangays in Manila who can help the elementary pupils of specific remote barangays finish school and encourage them to go on to high school by doing something like an Adopt a Barangay project. The engagement rules need to be drafted but I was thinking about an exchange—no doleouts. Maybe the remote barangay can also send out their produce ( I know—too far and the roads are terrible) , make some mats for the Luzon barangay, etc. There must be a way that can be a good exchange between fellow Pinoys. I also wondered what if people forgot that there were religious differences and went ahead anyway. I dont know. I’m still thinking.
Udalo elementary school, Piagapo, Lanao del Norte.
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