Integrated Development Project on the Teduray, Lambingan Youth within the Ancestral Domain Claim

The project will be done inside the claimed ancestral domain of the indigenous peoples belonging to the Téduray and Lambangian in the Municipalities of North Upi, South Upi, Datu Odin Sinsuat and Ampatuan all in the Province of Maguindanao. The Project is a community-based project that aims to address the issues of lack of sustainable livelihood sources among the indigenous peoples and enhance the awareness of young Kefedewan that somehow affect their socio-economic, political and cultural condition. The projects have the following component:

1. Community mobilization – concerns with the mobilization of the community beneficiaries to participate in consultation, meetings, policy formulation, assessment, actual participation on conflict resolution and other gatherings for the successful implementation of the project.

2. Implementation of Livelihood Activities – One livelihood project is chosen for this project: Post harvest assistance by way of Corn Sheller. To facilitate and ensure the good quality of corn products, the federation will negotiate with truck owners and operators.

3. Support to Conflict Management – Part of enhancing the capability of youth was more on helping elders on documentation of the case or problem in all the process. Improve of the youth’s awareness on tribal conflict resolution and Enhancement the capability of youths who have skills on conflict resolution. Campaign and advocacy on the tribal elders for the youth involvement and participation on community activities.

4. Institutional building and Networking – There is a need as well to organize and consolidate groups of young Kefedewan and farmers by way of organizing and proper training to enhance their capacity to manage their organization and their skills on tribal conflict resolution and farming activities. Alliance work will also be done with all concern stakeholders like the Lumad Development Center, Inc (LDCI), Timuay Justice and Governance (TJG), Mamalu Descendants Organization (MDOI) and Local Government Units (LGUs) for the recognition of youth participations in conflict management and support to youth farmers.

Ketay de Tribo Koh Katnak (Tulay sa Kultura ug Kalambuan)

The ultimate goal is to facilitate a culturally rooted process for change. It seeks to assist the youth of Eday, as community, to identify their cultural resources, relive their traditions and values and celebrate their culture as a way to live peacefully and to assert their significant presence in the larger society. Nito* will be the medium for this.

The B’laans are known for their nito weaving. Beautiful creations of plates, trays, baskets and decorative items come from B’laan artists over the years. Eday still has these gifted weavers around. Most are old women, who still sell their creations from time to time on a per order basis. Nito weaving is a B’laan skill and speaks of the B’laan identity. However, only a few of the present generation know this ancient craft. Even some of the children of the weavers do not bother to learn the art, convincing the elders that the young are not interested in preserving their tradition, and fear the death of their culture. Nito weaving is not seen as a viable income source and an effective way to preserve their culture by the B’laans. The municipal government of Columbio, which actively promotes the products of the municipality, knows that the market for nito handicrafts is big, but that supply is nil. Thus it focused its support to other agriculture-based products such as banana chips production in other identified barangays, and in Eday, corn grits production. Among the youth, these income-earning programs are welcome but are viewed as an additional load to their daily grind. What they need is something that can both earn and learn from, particularly their identity as B’laans. Larry and Danny know that the B’laan youth find meaning in knowing their culture more intimately, and nito weaving is a first step. Tulay sa Kultura ug Kalambuan hopes to see the youth of Eday learn the art of weaving the nito from their elders, understand their culture in the process, learn about peace and express these concepts as designs in their work, slowly build markets and getting their identity known to a world that has ignored them, and learn to manage an enterprise with full respect of their community and the environment. The opportunity to gather together, bound by a shared goal, can weave the fabric of the B’laan community life. They can talk not only about nito and weaving, but also about themselves, their identities, about what it means to be a B’laan in this period of their lives and in this moment of their history as people – these are the deeper and more lasting gains of bridging the gap, of reconnecting.

Good Values through VCO – Youth as Partners in Community Development

The project is about engaging the youth sector of the municipality of Linamon in the overall goal of the local government to achieve social and economic development. This is a social enterprise that aside from generating profit, it aims to create jobs and provide additional income for the local residents of Linamon, particularly the out-of-school youth and unemployed women. With additional income, the target beneficiaries will have increased purchasing power, thus spurring economic activities in the local community.