We are coming to the end of the project with our San Antonio group and are really excited by the photo stories they are now putting together. We talked last week about the different stories that they felt to be most prevalent in their community and yesterday finally got to see some final pieces!
Riza is one of the young women participating and here is the story that she wanted to share,
Riza is one of the young women participating and here is the story that she wanted to share,
"It all started when I was 10 years of age. I am dreaming of something I thought was impossible but I decided to continue the dream: fashion designing.
I used to make pieces of sketch and looked for unused fabric that I may use in making a beautiful dress, growing more and more.
As the days, months, years passed I came to learn much more about designing. I can make my own designs now and I can make my own costume for our school programs.
And now, this talent is what I am proud of."
There really is nothing quite like seeing these stories come together.
Now, its on to the next and we could not be more excited to be working with a the Iraya Mangyan Tribe in Baclayan, Mindoro.
"Mangyan refers to the eight indigenous tribes inhabiting the island of Mindoro, each with its own culture and language, with members predominantly employed in agriculture, hunting and gathering, and wage labor. One tribe, the Iraya, is an extremely impoverished and socially marginalized group. Having been pushed away from their ancestral lands has dramatically changed their way of life. Instead of being able to subsist solely by fishing, hunting, and gathering, many of them have been pushed to the streets to beg and to try and sell baskets and other trinkets. Culturally, the Irayas are not as concerned with cleanliness and hygiene as lowlanders are. Therefore, when the Irayas are in town selling or begging, they are seen as dirty, which then carries a connotation of them not being intelligent. Besides having an overall attitude of ‘lesser than’ towards the Irayas, lowlanders often blame them for local crime. The Irayas easily become the scapegoats of the community.
For over 20 years now, SFI has been reaching out to the local Irayas in Puerto Galera in an effort to help uplift the community from poverty and to help mitigate the discrimination against them. In 2009, SFI purchased 10 hectares of land in one of the Iraya communities called Baclayan. During the time of purchase, we observed a community that was struggling on many levels. We conducted a community needs assessment to see if and how we might be able to partner with the community in creating positive and sustainable change."
(StairwayFoundation.org)
It is with members of the Baclayan young scholars program that we will begin our next project. We had the pleasure of meeting with our nine participants this past Saturday and it went swimmingly. Their brimming smiles and suppressed giggles gave Meagan and I the distinct feeling that they were more than ready to begin their projects. We will be meeting with them this weekend again to hand out the cameras and begin our photography seminar.
The hour-long hike up to this breathtaking view will be great exercise, which is also a plus.
Now, its on to the next and we could not be more excited to be working with a the Iraya Mangyan Tribe in Baclayan, Mindoro.
"Mangyan refers to the eight indigenous tribes inhabiting the island of Mindoro, each with its own culture and language, with members predominantly employed in agriculture, hunting and gathering, and wage labor. One tribe, the Iraya, is an extremely impoverished and socially marginalized group. Having been pushed away from their ancestral lands has dramatically changed their way of life. Instead of being able to subsist solely by fishing, hunting, and gathering, many of them have been pushed to the streets to beg and to try and sell baskets and other trinkets. Culturally, the Irayas are not as concerned with cleanliness and hygiene as lowlanders are. Therefore, when the Irayas are in town selling or begging, they are seen as dirty, which then carries a connotation of them not being intelligent. Besides having an overall attitude of ‘lesser than’ towards the Irayas, lowlanders often blame them for local crime. The Irayas easily become the scapegoats of the community.
For over 20 years now, SFI has been reaching out to the local Irayas in Puerto Galera in an effort to help uplift the community from poverty and to help mitigate the discrimination against them. In 2009, SFI purchased 10 hectares of land in one of the Iraya communities called Baclayan. During the time of purchase, we observed a community that was struggling on many levels. We conducted a community needs assessment to see if and how we might be able to partner with the community in creating positive and sustainable change."
(StairwayFoundation.org)
It is with members of the Baclayan young scholars program that we will begin our next project. We had the pleasure of meeting with our nine participants this past Saturday and it went swimmingly. Their brimming smiles and suppressed giggles gave Meagan and I the distinct feeling that they were more than ready to begin their projects. We will be meeting with them this weekend again to hand out the cameras and begin our photography seminar.
The hour-long hike up to this breathtaking view will be great exercise, which is also a plus.
The building below is the Stairway Camp House where we will be meeting with our participants and wayyy down below you can see San Antonio!
