Humanvironment

Human activities are the sources of environment degradation and preservation. These women are doing sea shell gleaning in abandon fishpond near their houses. Wetland has been converted into large area of aquaculture for the last 30 years. For these women, this means food security; when the sea is not friendly they will go here to collect shell for their family consumption. 

Host: Windy Ariestanty
Tema: Human

Coastal Village part 4: Barangay Tubajon

Tubajon from higher land

Barangay Tubajon located in Laguindingan,  Misamis Oriental, Cagayan de Oro. One can take bus from Cagayan to Laguindingan then take the habal-habal to Tubajon. The Capitain Lady was super cool, she welcomes you with warm-hearted.

Tubajon is like a hidden gem. This place has beautiful beaches and great view. Here's the view from the fisherman boat :

This is near the Fish Sanctuary, as you can see the water is crystal clear you can see all the corals from there. The place has a relaxing beach also where you can just sit and have  a little picnic. 

Relaxing beach

Enough about its wonderful view, how about the community there? Sadly enough, the community live is not as wonderful as the panoramic scene. The community there have to struggle with uncertainty day to day. I life with a family who catch the fish using compressor. It broke my heart when Ate Gagang (the wife) explained, they don't have boat and they don't want to use the net because it means that they need to buy the gasoline for petramax and they dont have the money. The money that they have mostly spend for buying corn (they dont eat rice also since it's expensive) and to send their children to school. 

The greatest fear for this family is when the child or the husband got sick. It will costs them 3000 php just to get the ambulance come to their place. Thus, she said if one of the family member got serious illness she does not know what to do, 'seguro patay' (maybe he/she will die)

Seashell gleening

Sea urchin catchers

Ate Gagang contributes to the household income by working as a washing-labour but this is depends if there is fiesta or ceremony happened in the barangay. Besides, she also do shell gleaning or catch small fishes that hey sell 10 php in one plastic. They used to have tobacco and corn field but they don't have the money to maintain it so it's now idle. They got the land from the government. 

Relocation site Laguindingan

Soon Laguindingan will be famous in the Philippines since they plan to move the airport in Cagayan to Laguindingan. The social aspect from this is minimum 200 household has been relocated. Most of them work as a fisherman or in corn field. Some of them got better access to their work field some of them don't. Life is a mistery for all of us, but for coastal communities this mistery becomes their everyday life. They will not know tomorrow whether they will have good catch or maybe not at all. The house that they stayed does not have paper because they build it in government land. Not to mention they built it from the wood that they found in the sea thus government an come anytime and took their so-called house. They can be totally healthy and working but might be exhausted in few years beacuse of the risk that they go through every time they inhale the compressor. When you think about luxury, it does not always means fancy car or bling bling. Most of the times, it simply means you have something in your plate when you're hungry, being healthy and able to catch some fishes, and for Ate Gagang happiness is when she can serve her family and see that they are happy.

Happiness only real when shared - ITW

Coastal Village Part 3: Sitio Barobohay

Sitio Barobohay was my last coastal villages in Hinatuuan, Surigao del Sur. It is a sitio (maybe similar like a hamlet or RW in Indonesia). There are only 20 families lives in this place. The place itself is quite unique, it is located in a slope of a hill kind of, it's so remote and makes you think who has started living in this place?
This sitio is quite hidden; to get there you have to pass a bumpy roads, hills, bridges, and steep way to enter the sites.
Why is this area interesting for my research? well, as you can see (although maybe not so clear here),   there are more aquaculture compare to the land for housing. That means the surrounding environment has changed so much in the last 30-40 years. This changes somehow I assume would bring affect the the livelihood of its people surrounding. Thats basically what I want to see here. Did I get what I want? well, you're about to find out :)

there are some ponds that already abandoned

I stay with Nanay, she is a housewife/sitio activist/ community organizer. Her husband works in a fishpond, he own a small hut there. He stays there most of the time and rarely come home. They have four children, two of them in Manila (which is very common there when they grow up either go to big cities or work as a migrant worker) , one is married and lives nearby and one still living in the house. One interesting fact is this family used to own a fishpond but since they experienced failure in harvesting and the maintenance of fishpond costs them a great fortune they decided to sell it and her husband works as the watchman instead. They got their share around 20 % of the total harvest.


Ladies and gentleman let's now use our gender lenses to observe the situation in this Sitio. Yep, you can put your bra on your eyes if that helps :)

By saying gender lenses, I means let's see it from every possible point of view. Almost everyday, Nanay are occupied with the household chores starting with cleaning the house, gardening, washing, preparing food (although her husband seldom eat at the house), fetching water, sewing, and this just go on and on. You may think that this is a usual habit but try to ask a question on their economic resilience. I am not here against a housewife but I believe that one still need to maintain his/her economic resilience. This family income generates from the husband salary and luckily they have coconut share also (every 3 months). Food and daily need is their biggest expenses.

They are looking for libo'o, no matter how old they are-no matter how hard it is. Looks like fun?

So, what have changes in terms of environment related to gender issues? The development of aquaculture somehow limit women access towards their environment. Their activities might not give the family big bucks but you know what this actually more sustainable. The fact that they are still able to do something to support their family gives them a sense of pride, it helps them to gain their confidence and it surely more environment friendly. I dont really want to go through this debate of mangrove-or-aquaculture but I think whatever that is it should be environment friendly and can be accessed and benefited for men and women. Any macroeconomic policy that related to the environment and have a good intention on increasing 'people' income should have a positive impacts toward the grassroots community especially women.

Freshen up after a muddy exercise down in the mangroves. 

Coastal Village Part 2: Mahaba Island

Map of Mahaba

It takes 30 minutes boat ride to go to Mahaba Island. The first thing that you will notice when arrived in mahaba is its beautiful beach. It has clear water and yellowish sand. The village is as coastal as one imagine: fishing gear decorate their porch, coconut tree anywhere you look, house made from wood, and boat parked behind or beside the house. The source of their livelihoods relied heavily on the coastal environment say it sea and mangrove ecosystem.

Living in this beautiful island is not as delightful as it seems. First is the scarcity of clean water. Similar with some island in Indonesia, the supply of clean water to cook, bath, and wash clothes still an everyday challenge. Thus, for those of you who lives in a city who sometimes take water for granted need to know that water is a luxurious thing!

I stayed with Ate Nida’s family. She’s considered as one of Female Food Heroes by OXFAM. Ate Nida was married when she was 19 years old and her husband was 33 years old. They have 4 children with the youngest is 5 years old. Ate Nida lives in a modest house; they have a small place to take a bath but no CR.

Now, Imagine there 2 mice inside this bathroom #truestory

The family livelihoods come from fishing and buying sea cucumber. From time to time, children and elderly will come to their house to sell their sea cucumber.           As long as my stayed there, not even once I see a man come to the house to sell sea cucumber. Most of the men engage in fishing activities. They will go to the sea as eraly as 4 am and come back around 6 – 8 pm. According to most of the fisherman, in the last 10 years their catch of fish has declined and at the moment many other fisherman use stick to make the school fish panicked and trapped at the net. These considered as illegal and create loss to other fisherman.

This is what they usually catch and eat (dumud ut)

Income from sea cucumber has helped the family go through difficult times. It helps the family to send their children to school and to buy some fishing gear. They food that they have daily usually based on the catch by the husband. I was there a week and almost everyday I eat dumud ut.

I found the women activities and food variants there very interesting. These are some income generating activities that Ate Nida’s engaged in:

1    
1.     Sea Cucumber buyer

Selling-buying sea cucumber

This is her main source of income. This activity has keep her busy everyday. From time to time (maybe every 15-30 minutes) children and elderly women will come to the house and sell a plastic or two of sea cucumbers. She divided them based on their type and dryness and then weights them. The price ranges from 300php – 1100php/kg.

2.     Seashell & sea cucumber collector

During her sphere time, she went to the ban-ban ( a strip of land/coral which visible only during the low tide – I don't know its name in English or Indonesian, sorry) to collect seashell and sea cucumber.

Gleaning shell

       3.     Libo’o collector

Looking for Libo'o

Libo'o soup

Libo’o is a kind of shell that you can find in mangrove areas. In Indonesia we called this buah tanah. In Indonesia, I only find this in Pambang, Bengkalis. This ‘buah tanah’ mostly consumed by the indigenous people ‘Suku Cina Akid’ and not many villagers there eat this food. In Mahaba, the shell is whiter compare the one in Bengkalis, maybe because they have clearer mud here. The other different thing is the way they look for it. It’s more rough here. One have to go really really really deep, up into your chest and do a dancing a bit (move to the right and left) feel the libo’o with your feet. I feel sorry for them, to be honest; It looks like a super difficult thing to do. I did join a community to collect libo’o/ buah tanah when I was in Bengkalis and the deeper that we went is only up to our knee. We had something like a big knife to help us locate the shell.

My stay here teach me something, everyone have the right to have luxurious thing, you know those thing like food, water, and basic education. Any food that you have in your plate now, maybe come from some family out there who never even taste it. 

A Shingle Smile

Namanya Lola (nenek) Donesia. Saya bertemu dan tinggal di rumahnya (Loyola, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao) awal bulan ini untuk mengetahui kehidupan masyarakat pesisir. Lola Donesia sudah menganyam nipa sejak 60 tahun yang lalu. Sehari dia bisa menganyam hingga 50 nipah, di mulai jam 5 pagi hingga menjelang malam ketika hari sudah gelap. Mayoritas masyarakat di sini masih mneggunaka Nipa untuk atap ruma. Satu shingle Nipa dihargai 60centibo (kurang dari Rp.250). Ketika pertama kali datang, saya sama sekali tidak bisa berbahasa Kamayo (dialek di sini) dan seringkali kami hanya bertukar pandang, tersenyum, lalu tertawa bersama. Mungkin kami sama sekali tidak mengerti satu sama lain, tapi rasanya begitu segar melihat senyum diantara kelelahan yang ia rasa.  Sambil bergurau, orang-orang di sini menyimpulkan bahwa saya dari Indonesia dan ke sini mencari nenek saya yang hilang yaitu Donesia :D


Host: Wira Nurmansyah
Tema: Potret

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.