YA LEUM.47 — Our arrival to the Kalinga's tribe
The Philippines surprised us at all levels. We saw incredibly beautiful places and experienced incredible moments with people who touched us in a quite particular way.
We had not left Vietnam yet but we were already nearly certain that The Philippines was going to be our favorite country.
However, I was slightly sad because I was not able to get to know and participate in any community development project. Before starting the trip, I had decided to do volunteering work at least once in each country. Yet, the Philippines was the only country where I had not done anything related to it.
It was the week between Christmas and the New Year and I contacted an organization I found online.
On the phone, I talked to Gabriel, the founder of The Cordillera Project Philipines.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions, so I get to know you? We always go through an interview to understand the profile of the volunteers”, said Gabriel in a truly pleasant tone.
And it continues… “The goal of this project is to support the indigenous people who live in the mountains of Luzon, which cover the regions of Kalinga, Benguet, and the mountain province. At this moment, there are no volunteers in any of the regions because of the holiday season but the week you arrive you can get to know the different tribes and elaborate an assessment report. The local coordinators will be there to welcome you. I will send you the contact of the main person, Espiritu”.
That task sound just like me since I was so used to do that for my own non-governmental organization back in my home country.
We left the Banaué at 5 in the morning and to get to the mountains we still had a long way to go, one which we could not even imagine…
Our first stop, at nine in the morning, was at a small restaurant that sold a delicious soup. By the time we left the bus, the temperature had fallen more than 10 degrees and we could feel the cold of the mountain reaching our bones. The path was going up all the way and had a stunning view over the Luzon regions. It was truly incredible.
At night, we arrived at another city, where we were meant to change to another bus.
We walked 2Kms with our bags on our back, looking for the bus that would take us to Tabuk, our final destination… but, we couldn’t find any bus. The only thing we found after looking for information for one hour was “the bus leaves in the morning”.
It was 11 p.m. and we tried to check-in in several hotels but no one accepted us. I did not want to set up the tent in the park so we decided to sleep on the bench, on the street, in front of the hotel… after all, we were only staying for a few hours, until 6 a.m. We slept holding our bags and taking turns… and everything went fine!
On the next morning, we found out that there was still one more transport to catch. We still felt far from the last stop…
The more we traveled, the more we felt disconnected from civilization. To finally reach Tabuk, we got on a jeepney that climbed the mountain like an elevator.
Yet, that trip was breathtaking. Although the driver looked like he made that trip more than 100 times, the path was full of holes, half made of asphalt and half made of soil, and on our right side we faced an an abyss the entire way. To make the situation even more uncomfortable, from time to time another bus crossed, coming from the opposite direction…
However, the view was stunning, and I was as scared as I was happy. It was as if I was used to those paths, those people, that way of living…
After finally two days traveling, we arrived at Tabuk, the capital of the Kalinga province, and Espiritu, from the Dananao tribe, was waiting for us, smiling.
Kalingas are tribal communities divided 31 subtribes. They are known for their bodies covered with tattoos, made by their peers, by hand, using bamboo needles.
These tattoos represent strength, power, beauty, and maturity, as well as the wars between the tribes that fought for the mountain territories.
Thus, and due to living on the slope of the mountain, in the recent years most of the tribes left the mountain area and moved to the region of Tabuk, which was free from conflicts and was located on a flat area.
The Cordillera Project was initiated by Gabriel Gonzales, an extraordinary man, with a strength and a truly inspiring life story.
Gabriel told us that the first week would be just for the cultural immersion, considering the activities were paused due to the celebrations.
Gabriel Gonzalez, American-Filipino, spent 9 months backpacking in Philippines. He fell in love so much for the Kalinga people he ended up staying for 2 years. With little knowledge on aid development projects, he decided to follow his gut and a start a project to support the communities.
His personal mission was to bring education, water, electricity, medical assistance, houses and whatever was needed.
Espiritu, 45 years-old, with 6 kids, being the first one called Guide. He has 5 siblings with whom we had been lucky to spend a lot of time. When we arrived were introduced to the Kalinga coffee which is produced in the village, also a quite known coffee.
From that moment on until the upcoming days we jumped from house to house to get a real touch of the Kalinga culture.
Everybody was waiting for us, with delicious food, longs talks, many questions and always, always with Kalinga coffee.
We visited five different houses. All of them, always eager to hear our questions and enthusiastic to give clear answers.
Right on the first day we were invited to an engagement party. Tradition says the future bride and groom need to get an approval by the tribe first before being able to get married.
One at a time, members of the village stood up in front of the future bride and groom to give them advice about love and tips on how to take care of each other.
They told us “In Kalinga, you are with us, you are part of the tribe”. So, they asked us to share thoughts about love and marriage could be…
Then they asked to sing a song… and we sang a song! There were more than 100 people together..
After the speeches ceremony, Espiritu’s brother closed with a final discourse recognizing and accepting the new couple in the village, a step more valuable than the wedding itself, they said.
Then, the entire community shared a nice meal prepared by the hunters. The hunters in the tribe must share all the food they hunt, to everyone in the village. Everybody must get their portion.
Same goes for weddings: even if someone is not invited, they can go to the party and claim their part. Guests must be the first eating, while all family waits until the guests finish.
They believe they should give enough food to the guests, if there is any left, then they can eat.
In the beginning this led to extremely awkward situations.
One time, we were invited to someone’s else house. They told us to sit and then they stand around us and told us to eat. We still did not know about the rule and in my culture is exactly the opposite, the house’s owner is the first starting.
I just could not so I kept saying “No, we eat together. We can wait for you family if you want”. However, the all 7 people smiled at us and my mission to eat at the same time was just failed.
So, everyone stood, around us, looking at us, while Mathieu and I ate by ourselves in their kitchen.
Once we finished, they started eating.
There are many rules, like in any other culture. For example, these tribes have got their own law, rules that go beyond the Filipino law.
This was just the beginning of our experience…
Espiritu accompanied us all the way. A man with a great heart, a real giver.
Even with a family to raise, he did not want to be paid to do such job, instead he was committed to help his tribe to grow.
To be continued…
December 2017,
Patricia Assis
