Sitio Banawen a community of Aetas: A story of Hope

A lot of our places are derived from Spanish sounding names and Sitio Banawen located in the town of Palauig in the province of Zambales. A sitio is the smallest administrative division of a zone typically of a rural area far away from the town center.

Here lives a tribe of indigenous people called the Aeta. Believed to be the original inhabitants of the Philippines of Australo-Melanesians origin like the Aborigines of Australia and the Papuans of New Guinea.

Credits to Source

They are a protected tribe of indigenous people who were displaced by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo on June of 1991.

Protected but often neglected by the government as they have no means of livelihood aside from eking out a living by growing tubers, rice and foraging fruits and other edibles to sell in the market. They also teach jungle survival training before to US soldiers who would conduct war exercises in Subic and other former US bases.

I wrote about the origins of Gift In Kind Foundation in another post but want to focus on Banawen Elementary school this time.

Three years ago our group called Gift In Kind Foundation decided to adopt Banawen Elementary School in order to give them a better chance in life. You see education is not a high priority when you are hungry and impoverished. Being an indigenous and marginalized people the Aetas of Banawen is at the bottom of the priorities of the province.

Every June we make it a point to provide the elementary school of Banawen with school supplies, medicine, books and supplies for the teachers. We would load it to a truck because that is the only means of transportation that can reach it and is a 2 hour travel.

Here is a photo of the dirt road we take

One of our biggest fears every year is to have our truck stall and get bogged down in the mud and we are unable to get to Banawen. Yet God is good with us always and we get through.

We would unload all the supplies and make that final ascent by foot carrying all the boxes

It is back breaking and very hard because the road is steep and full of slippery rocks. There have been several times that someone would slip. So we always bring a first aid kit and a good thing we always have a nurse.

We would be greeted by the students and the teachers. We are a familiar face since we have been consistently been going here for the past three years. We have gained the trust not only of the teachers and students but also the adults and even the chief.

Since we have been doing this for the past three years Banawen Elementary School was able to endorse five students to high school down in the town of San Felipe . This was a momentous occasion because it was the first time they were open enough and willing to further their studies. We felt very proud like their own mother's and father's because these five brave souls were willing to be away from their family and friends just so they can study and change their lives.

The Aetas are nomadic but very close tribe and so we knew what kind sacrifice they had to make to do this. To have the mental and emotional strength to focus on their studies while being bullied and assessed by their peers.

You see because it takes two hours by truck to get from Banawen to town they could not go home everyday. They had to stay in school and live there. That was the best the system could offer and since they don't have any relatives there.

I remember several of our members cried when they heard that these five young kids are being teased by their classmates for being a have not because they stay in the school and the color of their skin. High school kids are mean and judgemental.

I admire these kids tenacity amidst the ridicule. They mean to stay and learn. They want to be the first one to graduate and change their lives. We take care of their food, school supplies, uniforms and some allowances. I am amazed that they can subsist on ₱1200 or $24 a month per student. The parents of these five kids take turns in taking care of them, cooking and washing their clothes so that they can concentrate on studying.

We really want to increase the living allowance we provide the kids but their parents and chief is proud and does not want to take advantage of us. Most of us have families and breadwinners so we really do not want to impose on people. We accept help only those that can give. Yet we want to do more. We have so many initiatives we want to do. We want to help them find a house they can stay so at least that should lessen the teasing.

I have talked to the core of the foundation and have discussed Steemit and another ICO that I am supporting as a means to help them further. They are open to it and I want to be able to drive some of the funds that I get to be directly sent to them. The ICO indigen.co will be a long term plan to create an income not only for them but a jumpstart to several livelihood and donation drives to make the Aeta's lives better. This would pave the way for our next year's supplies.

We also give out gifts on Christmas to the kids and a simple Christmas meal for them to share with their families. It is by giving that we receive more.

If the government cannot take care of our indigenous people then it will be up to the ordinary people like us to try to make a difference.

We are our brother's keeper. We are the one's to take care of them and help them to have a better future.