By Patricia Torres
A group of Lumad women in Marilog, Davao City in South Philippines are learning how to lift their hearts and minds to God in daily prayer through a prayer card in the local dialect to St. Josemaria Escriva and some brightly colored beads.
Most of them are not Catholics, since most indigenous peoples of the Philippines do not have any formal religion. But through St Escriva, these women are slowly learning to entrust their daily work and concerns to God.
A group of Lumad women in Marilog, Davao City in South Philippines are learning how to lift their hearts and minds to God in daily prayer through a prayer card in the local dialect to St. Josemaria Escriva and some brightly colored beads.
Most of them are not Catholics, since most indigenous peoples of the Philippines do not have any formal religion. But through St Escriva, these women are slowly learning to entrust their daily work and concerns to God.
 Lumad Women |
The Lumad People
There are 18 indigenous groups in Mindanao, southern Philippines. Lumad, which means “native” or “indigenous”, is the collective name for the non-Muslim indigenous peoples of Mindanao.
According to the Lumad Development Center Inc., there are about eighteen Lumad groups in 19 provinces across the country. They comprise 12 to 13 million or 18 percent of the Philippine population and can be divided into 110 ethno-linguistic groups. Considered as “vulnerable groups”, they live in the hinterlands, forests, lowlands and coastal areas.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the area controlled by the Lumads covered what is now 17 of Mindanao’s 24 provinces, but by 1980 they constituted less than 6 percent of the population of Mindanao and Sulu. Heavy migration to Mindanao of people from Central Philippines, spurred by government-sponsored resettlement programs, has pushed back the Lumads into the mountains and forests and turned them into minorities.
There are 18 indigenous groups in Mindanao, southern Philippines. Lumad, which means “native” or “indigenous”, is the collective name for the non-Muslim indigenous peoples of Mindanao.
According to the Lumad Development Center Inc., there are about eighteen Lumad groups in 19 provinces across the country. They comprise 12 to 13 million or 18 percent of the Philippine population and can be divided into 110 ethno-linguistic groups. Considered as “vulnerable groups”, they live in the hinterlands, forests, lowlands and coastal areas.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the area controlled by the Lumads covered what is now 17 of Mindanao’s 24 provinces, but by 1980 they constituted less than 6 percent of the population of Mindanao and Sulu. Heavy migration to Mindanao of people from Central Philippines, spurred by government-sponsored resettlement programs, has pushed back the Lumads into the mountains and forests and turned them into minorities.
 Jessa Mae |
Outreach in Sitio Ladian
In one of these mountain villages, St. Escriva has found a place in the everyday lives of the Lumads.
Sitio Ladian, which is part of Barangay Marilog, is about 50 km from Davao City, (946 km from Manila). Ladian, which covers 79 hectares, has a population of about 426, most of them Lumads. Most of Barangay Marilog is agriculture and pasture land. Basic services are poor. Only one health center services Barangay Marilog’s entire population of 14,255 and there is no nutrition post. There are only four public elementary schools, but no secondary and tertiary schools in the area.
Last summer, a group of young people from Cebu and Davao visited the Lumads and stayed with them for a week. The girls painted some of the public school’s classrooms while volunteers from an urban poor-based livelihood cooperative in Cebu, an island in Central Philippines, taught the Lumad mothers how to make simple fashion accessories from colored wooden beads which they can sell to tourists. The volunteers also taught the Lumad mothers how to make simple native snacks to sell to neighbors.
Four young professionals, two college students, eight high school students, and two mothers from the livelihood cooperative also participated in the outreach program. A medical mission was also organized participated by 14 doctors and nurses and more than 10 volunteers.
The outreach program was organized by the Banilad Study Center in Cebu and the Lamdag Foundation in Davao. It was their first outreach program in the area and there are plans to hold such activities twice a year starting next year.
In one of these mountain villages, St. Escriva has found a place in the everyday lives of the Lumads.
Sitio Ladian, which is part of Barangay Marilog, is about 50 km from Davao City, (946 km from Manila). Ladian, which covers 79 hectares, has a population of about 426, most of them Lumads. Most of Barangay Marilog is agriculture and pasture land. Basic services are poor. Only one health center services Barangay Marilog’s entire population of 14,255 and there is no nutrition post. There are only four public elementary schools, but no secondary and tertiary schools in the area.
Last summer, a group of young people from Cebu and Davao visited the Lumads and stayed with them for a week. The girls painted some of the public school’s classrooms while volunteers from an urban poor-based livelihood cooperative in Cebu, an island in Central Philippines, taught the Lumad mothers how to make simple fashion accessories from colored wooden beads which they can sell to tourists. The volunteers also taught the Lumad mothers how to make simple native snacks to sell to neighbors.
Four young professionals, two college students, eight high school students, and two mothers from the livelihood cooperative also participated in the outreach program. A medical mission was also organized participated by 14 doctors and nurses and more than 10 volunteers.
The outreach program was organized by the Banilad Study Center in Cebu and the Lamdag Foundation in Davao. It was their first outreach program in the area and there are plans to hold such activities twice a year starting next year.
 A Lumad student bead |
Among those who attended the livelihood classes was Linda Laglagan, 29, mother of two children. Linda works as a village health worker while her husband is a migrant banana farm worker. Linda was given a prayer card of St Escriva during one of the classes.
Since then, she says in the local dialect, she has been praying to him twice a day. “I pray for everyday needs. In God’s mercy, my family hasn’t starved. I also pray that my husband find a regular job soon. He has applied to dig canals in the city but still has to wait for a call. We don’t earn enough for our needs. I earn P350 (US$7.08) a month as a health worker while my husband earns P120 (US$2.43) a day when he finds temporary work at the farm.”
Linda taught her friend and neighbor Mary Jane Galleto how to make the bead necklaces. Mary Jane, 29, a mother of three, is homebound because her eldest child, Jessa Mae, 10, has cerebral palsy. Jessa Mae has spent most of her life lying still on a hard wooden bed in their small one-room hut. Her father, a migrant farm worker, currently has no work, and there is often not enough food to eat.
Last summer, volunteers who took part in the medical mission brought Mary Jane’s daughter to a doctor. Somebody taught her to pray for her child to St Josemaria Escriva. She has been saying the prayer card twice a day since summer.
She happily relates that her child’s condition has improved. Jessa Mae can now kick her legs and move her body across the bed. She can also sit up and put her feet on the dirt floor.
Dorotea Soldia is a Catholic who lives among the Lumads. She is grateful for the additional income from making and selling beads. She makes about 20 necklaces a day and earns more than P100 a day ($2.00) from selling them. She also earns extra money from working as a manicurist. “Things are not so tight anymore. At least we have some money to buy rice. I pray to St Josemaria for the good health of my six children. He has helped so much.”
She also says she has changed. She now goes to church on Sundays. “Before, I was lazy about going to church. But St. Escriva has led me back to Church and to prayer.”
Inspired by their rekindled faith, the Lumad women have also rediscovered their creative genius. They have now introduced their indigenous art into the bead-making they learned and are making exciting and exotic pieces.
1 comment:
I didn't know there was an article about this until now. Thanks for sharing it. I go to Banilad. There are plans to go there again for outreach programs again this AMy this year.
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