Mindanao Trip:The Enchanting Surigao del Sur

First thing first, Travel Alert. Many people would rolled their eyes when you say that you're going to Surigao-Mindanao. Some will ask you why because it's considered as an NPA base and some just shrugging their head coz mindanao still equal to conflict (they think). I say, Mindanao is one of the place that got underrated only because it's neighboring provinces is in a conflict. Surigao has beautiful beautiful landscape and nature. You can just go anywhere and you will find river like the famous Lo Boc river in Bohol and also blue clear river where you can swim with fishes. This place is one undiscovered place for tourism and that what make it more nice. It's where the local goes or some place that only the locals knows. Here are some hidden secret of Surigao:

1. Enchanted River
Ok, this is not so hidden I guess. It's quite famous among the locals here. The enchanted river is a somewhat magical  place. I mean, where else you can find a river that has bright beautiful color (dark blue turns into bright green) plus the fact that this is only a river located quiet remote in the coast there in Hinatuan. The water is cool and you can do snorkle here. You can't see any corals but it still feels cool cos you'll be surrounded by cliff. They also have feeding frenzy for the fishes there. Guests should out of the pool for an hour every 8 am, 1 pm, and 4 pm (sorry i'm a bit forgot the exact time). During the feeding time they will played the Hinatuan National Anthem. Try to get there with a boat instead of habal-habal, the view is very enchanting!

2. Tip Does Beach
To be Honest with you, I don't know how to write the name of this place. It just sounds like that hehehe. Sorry po! It's one of the small island near Enchanted River. It got white sand, clear water, you can do snorkle and see some corals here. Best thing? not many people knows about it so it's like having your private beach. You can play  a cast away if you're there ;)

3. San Juan
I did  a short visit to Barangay San Juan. You can do island hopping there and also visit the abalone hatchery run by CERD and the community there. They can give you kinilaw also if you are in the mood for it!

I think the only challenge to go to this area is it's quite remote. From Butuan you still have to take Mangagoy bus and have 4 hour ride until reach Hinatuan. After that you still need to take habal-habal or rent boat to go there. It's quite worth the trip though so if you happen to be in the area, you definitely should pay a visit!

Coastal Village part 1: Barangay Loyola, Surigao, Mindanao

I have choosed Barangay Loyola as my first site of research. The composition of the livelihoods here are interesting, many people engage in seaweed farming, nipa thatching, sea shell gathering, copra workers, and at the same time work as a fisherfolk also. This barangay, the kindness of the people, the dynamics of husband-wifes role has taught me in some many ways.

First, I would like to talk about the different of livelihood that they have. You might be aware that a coastal community will rely much on their diverse resources as their sources of livelihood. This apply strongly to men and women who in Barangay Loyola. Most of the families here worked as a fisherfolk, and when I say family it includes men and women, sometimes along with their children also they go fishing and put the net for crabs. 

shells collecting

Shell gathering mostly done by women. They usually go in groups and sometimes accompanied by their children. They will bring their net bag or a sack to get the sea shell and some of they collect seaweed also that swipe away by the mild waves. I joined them for collecting sea shell in a sunny day. Trust me, they have eyes sharpen than eagles! I mean how come you can see that piece tiny winy blackish shell in a rock? They were all like, 'Oh, that's one shell, can you see that Kuntum?' and there was I, standing, trying so hard to look at the rock, feeling stupid and then gently shaking my head. Not even with my glasses i can see this small shell. This shell collecting usually done in mid day, when the sun shinning so brightly, without mercy. A hat will definitely help. Oh, and I forgot to mentioned that even women who is five months pregnant still doing this practice. She said to me that staying in the house won't give her anything and she will feel very weak if she only relaxing. She actually considered this as her exercise and the salt water is good for her feet, she acclaimed. This sea shell collection finish when the high tide comes and the water start to cover all the rocks there. One of the women told me that before, they can find more of shell, their favorite is oyster.They don't really sell this unless someone will buy it. their priority comes to their family. At home, they will cook this sea shell and serve it as viand. Talking about food security here.

nipa shingles

Wome here can find a lot of sea shell near mangroves area.This abundance of mangroves in Loyola is a treasure for them. Another type of mangroves which abundantly exist is Nipa. Thatching nipa is another occupation that is predominantly done by women. I don't want to called this as an additional livelihood since I think this actually the most sustainable means of livelihood. I met Nanay Donesia, whose has been making Nipa shingles since 60 years ago. Nipa forest can be harvested through out years. This give the family a reliable income however, the price of nipa shingles are extremely low that leads most women and families here lives below poverty line. 

catching crabs

One cannot talk about coastal community without mentioning fisherfolk. Most of the families here have boat and the type is diverse between the paddle boat, barroto, or pump boat. I was thinking the other day, with this abundance of resources located in their backyard-literally- they should not live in poverty. they can get their meal of they go fishing and living here is so peaceful (considering most the houses don't own a tv set). A friend then struck me with a question, if the family that i lived in with have an economic means by that he means boat to look for a fish, a proper net, or gasoline to go further to the sea where fish is more abundant. I got hit by the reality, once again. Saving is not a practice here, a family that i stayed with only have 40php (less that $1) that day when I asked them in term of cash that they have. 

CERD, a local NGO here, introduce the practice of seaweed farming in 2000. The seaweed (guso) has become another light of the community life. Many of the fisherfolk changes their livelihood to seaweed farmers. Some because they need the capital to start farming so they sell their boat, others stop because they suffer from illness and thinking that with seaweed they don't have to go to the sea everyday. They can harvest guso after 45 days or a month however in unlucky days, they need to harvest it faster before the guso ruin by the disease called 'eyes-eyes'. A kilo of guso can be sold round 30-35 php. 

seaweed harvest

I reveal a lot of ironic facts during my stay there. I have been aware during my working time with coastal community in Indonesia that coastal community mostly only live day by day. It means that what they gain that day, they will spend it in a day also. Here, I understand, experience, ad feel at risk about it. For example, I bought many vegetables and viand for the family thinking that we could save it for at least 3 days but instead they cooked them all for our dinner that night. As a result, the next day we almost have nothing to eat. The father came back from fishing with no catch, the mother did not work, and nanny money's is almost running out. This is the reality and somehow there should be better solution for this.

Hinatuan - Zero Basura Town

Saya sudah seminggu lebih tinggal di kota kecil bernama Hinatuan ini. Di kota inilah, kepercayaan saya terhadap masyarakat yang menjaga lingkungannya terpulihkan atau restored. Kota yang berpenduduk 38, 484 (2009) terkenal dengan kota yang mempunya 0 (nol) sampah - Zero Basura Town

We should have this kind of Olympic!

Hinatuan terdiri dari 24 Barangays di mana 10 Barangayas ada di Riverside dan 11 Barangays ada di Coastal. Nah, yang 3 lagi kemana yah? Saya juga agak bingung kenapa tidak tercantum di profile municipality-nya.

Saat ini saya ada di Barangay Maharlika. Barangay yang kecil dan nyaman.  Ada dua hal menarik di kota ini:

1. Pertama, ada sirene untuk jam malam. Setiap waktu menunjukkan jam 8 malam, akan terdengar sirene di kota ini. Bukan untuk menandakan kebakaran, tapi untuk menandkaan jam malam bagi pemuda-pemudi yang berusia di bawah 18 tahun untuk kembali dan masuk ke rumah masing-masing. Efek dari sirene ini? ya, kotanya jadi sepi ketika masuk jam 8, tidak ada saling ngeceng-mengecengi berhubung mukanya juga tidak keiatan karena jalan-jalan sudah gelap gulita.
Jam malam yang kedua di jam 12 malam. Diharapkan semua orang sudah masuk dan beristirahat dengan tenang. Tapi kalau yang jam malam kedua ini saya tidak tahu keefektifannya berhubung saya sudah terlelap. Yah, saya kan bagian dari yang di bawah 18 tahun itu. hehehe...
Dampak dari jam malam ini? Semua orang bangun pagi-pagi sekali. Jam 6 di kota ini sudah seperti jam 7, jalanan ramai dan cahaya terang benderang. Bahkan mataharipun sepertinya terbit lebih cepat di kota ini.

Maharlika Brgy. in the morning

this is only 8 pm 

2. Waste Management
Kota ini punya regulasi yang ketat tentang pengaturan sampah dan penggunaan plastik. Setiap rumah, tidak terkecuali, harus memilah milah sampahnya menjadi beberapa  kelompok: kertas, foil, botol plastik, kaca dan sejenisnya. Sedangkan untuk sampah dapur dan sisa makanan, pemerintah mneggalakkan setiap rumah tangga untuk mengolahnya terutama menjadikan kompos. Home-gradening dikampanyekan supaya setiap rumah bisa memelihara kebun atau pun tanaman untuk menghijaukan lingkungan sekitar. Ide dasar tentang adanya kebun keluarga ini juga untuk mendukung peningkatan food security/ ketahanan pangan di tiap-tiap keluarga. Salut!
tahun 2010, Hinatuan memenangkan zero-basura olympics yaitu kompetisi tentang pengelolaan sampah di lingkup nasional.

segregated waste management

Kalau masih ada yang berkomentar bahwa isu lingkungan merupakan isu elite yang hanya bisa dinikmati dan dilakukan segelintir orang. Check this out! Bahkan rumah yang berada di pinggir rawa ini bisa memilah sampahnya dengan sangat baik. Tidak ada bau busuk menusuk ataupun lalat-lalat mengerumuni tumpukan sampah yang terbengkalai.

you see those sacks? Waste management no excuse

Regulasi tentang plastik juga sagat ketat di kota ini, ketika Anda berbelanja tidak akan ada toko yang memberikan plastik. Barang belanjaan Anda hanya akan dibungkus dengan kertas koran bekas dan kalau Anda berbelanja cukup banyak dihaapkan Anda membawa sendiri tas berbelanja. No plastic allowed that's the rule. Juara!

Untuk memastikan bahwa peraturan ini tidak dilanggar, sesekali dan secara acak akan ada semacam petugas yang berkunjung ke rumah untuk memeriksa sampah Anda. Kalau belom terpilah denga n benar akan ada peringatan di kunjungan pertama, jika setelah diperingatkan masih terjadi lagi akan dikenai penalti sebesar 500php (Rp. 125,000)

we always bring that net bag ev'time we do shopping

Ini yang saya salut sekali, terdengar tidak mungkin untuk dilakukan di Indonesia? Sayangnya iyah, tapi harusnya kalau ini bisa dilakukan di kota dengan ekonomi yang beragam ini, tidak ada alasan untuk tidak bisa mereplikasikan sistem ini setidaknya di satu desa saja di Indonesia. Pasti akan sangat indah dan bermanfaat untuk lingkungan dan sekitar.

you can see the recycle ad everywhere