YA LEUM. 49 — A life lesson with the Kalinga mixed tribes
Our cultural immersion was at its best. We were now feeling quite comfortable and we kept learning the incredible life stories from the Kalinga people.
The municipality of Tabuk is home for about 110.000 citizens, who are mostly from tribes. Commonly, people from the same tribe live in the same communities. However, it is also possible to find mixed tribes in the same communities. The different municipalities in the Tabuk area are called barangays.
Some barangays are more developed than others, as well as some are more isolated than others.
Gabriel asked us to visit the barangay of Lacnog but we could only stay there for a night with the tribe because they did not have conditions to accommodate us for a longer period.
The majority of my trip was spent in rural areas. I was familiar with dry toilets, bucket showers, living with limited electricity, lacking a variety of food, and the need to always boil water before drinking it.
Yet, when we got out of the tuk-tuk and the entire tribe came to welcome us, my heart sank and I felt a knot in my throat, thinking “how is this still possible?”.
Something about that place was sad. Astonishing incidents happened there. There were stories engraved on the floor, on the houses, in the rice fields, and the eyes of the people.
Yet, we were welcomed like never before! A group of people welcomed us. Their smiles had something truly pure and heroic. Their eyes were filled with love and their body with strength.
Only 8 people lived there. They were from different tribes but united like a single one.
We all sat by the door of Eli’s place. Eli spoke English properly and told us that their problems started during the ’80s when a wealthy man decided to buy their land for private construction. They refused to negotiate, which was not well received.
So, a few years later, someone burned their houses, belongings, and fields. They lost everything. Except for Eli, who entered her house, removed all she could, and refused to leave the place until she was sure no one was going to burn it.
They were devastated! Slowly, they started rebuilding all they could. Yet, the truth is that they had practically no resources. Thus, rebuilding everything took them years.
At the beginning of the year 2000, there was an election for a new president of the barangay, a man who, according to them, was corrupt and had a personal agenda. They agreed not to vote in that president and, as a consequence, their records as residents of the barangay of Lacnog were destroyed. Thus, they were considered as inexistent for any circumstances, including for having access to water, electricity, or health services.
In 2005, a tornado violently struck the region, and, once again, they ended up losing everything. At that moment, without any support from the barangay or someone from the region, they entered an emergency state and started to get support from the UN. During the most critical period, the UN provided drinking water, food, and wood for them to build their houses.
We paused the conversation to visit the area. It was getting dark and one of the houses was enlightened by candles. As we were passing close to the house, its owner, Teresita, immediately invited us to enter.
It was a simple bamboo house, that was enlightened by two small oil lamps and had a few mats on the floor. Her husband was tall, with a melancholic look, yet tender. He was sitting and cleaning the dishes. We sat and the cozy environment invited us for a good conversation. Teresita was the only one who could speak English and she shared their perspective about the fire and how hard it was to rebuild everything with so few resources.
The details were like thistles that sliced a soul and enraged the mind.
I hid my tears and could only hold her hand. Mathieu did not say a word either. Teresita’s husband remained in the melancholic silence. Teresita had a combination of sorrow and strength in her words.
Just like everyone around there.
I had never seen anything like that, neither did I ever saw it again.
After all, they were the immediate ancestors of the tribes that physically fought against other tribes. Their blood, Their memories and their skins had the signs of perseverance and fight.
They, who always lived according to the rules of nature, living in pure harmony and becoming as pure pure, light, and beautiful human beings as the birds and flowers that everyday crossed their path.
They were like a mountain, a bird, and the sun, all in one.
Living there is difficult. They have no access to water, electricity, and all the easy comforts that comes from those sources. Fortunately, something we barely can notice it in our daily lives.
When the night came, everything was dark. Completely dark. There was only a single light from a few candles and the little lamp that got its energy from a solar panel that was the same size as a knife.
Without electricity, there are no refrigerators and thus there is no way to preserve food for a long time. These small-big details that define the concept of dignity.
We talked for long time. Although it was dark, it was not cold. We all gathered around Eli’s place, sharing dinner like they did every day. We stayed there as if we knew each other from another life.
We decided the next morning to learn about the challenges of not having water. It is as shocking as not having electricity.
Without water, no agriculture or health that can endure. To have access to drinking water, they need to do like everyone else and build a well that should, at least, 18 meters deep. Yet, to do so, it is necessary to invest in the construction of the well and they do not have the resources. At this point, the well had 9 meters deep. Thus, water should not even be consumed. Not only does this water lack quality but it is also insufficient for the entire year for agriculture or to even be boiled.
That was one of the most shocking facts. Their rice fields and agricultural lands are completely dry while the properties of their neighbors, which are just 20 centimeters away, were green and abundant.
Eli showed us how, a few times a week, during the dawn when no one could see her, she crossed the lands to steal some water.
That is the price one pays for being a nonconformist. It is the price of survival.
We walked through those dryland, the agricultural machines were not used for months. The place look like it was forgotten by everybody.
We saw a group of farmers who were hunting field mouses to grill while they were also cultivating the soil.
“We don’t do that!” — said Eli to me.
We went for a long walk and saw some wonderful trees and bushes with bananas, wild fruits and berries.
Teresita and her friend grabbed a bunch of bananas and prepared a delicious salad with banana flowers. I had never eaten something similar!
The gentle spirit of the group reached every single place. Although their lives were not easy, they created a space of harmony and union between everyone.
And that was something truly incredible to witness.
Before we left, they offered us seeds and asked us to plant a tree.
They said that two trees would grow there: they would call them Patrícia and Mathieu.
This was one of the strongest and most intense experiences of all my life. After that day, I am surely not the same.
I am the same person, but I with new sensations inside of me, I am more aware, hopefully, and more compassionate. Experiencing the world through our eyes and emotions is creating new facets in our soul.
We recorded a video in which everyone shared, firsthand, the stories about that place. They asked me not to show it to anyone because it had sensitive information and stories…
You might see it as ironic or not but a week later, when I lend my memory card to someone else and ended up losing all its information.
Yet, today I write about it so that I always remember that the world is bigger than what I can see.
December 2017,
Patricia Assis
