Khu Kate Batoon

Kalahi-CIDSS (Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services), has been put up. Under the Kalahi-CIDSS, a project initiated by the Department of School nurtures hope for Blaan folk Social Welfare and Development and supported by the World Bank, By Rosa May de Guzman-Maitem communities and their local governments are trained to decide, plan Inquirer Mindanao and implement sub-projects that address their most pressing need. 11:46 pm | Saturday, July 16th, 2011 In Barangay Amsipit, the villagers identify the construction of MAASIM, SaranganiNestled on the high grassy plateau of classroom as top priority to stoke their dying hope for the youths to Sarangani, Barangay Amsipit, home to the Blaan people, has not at least finish high school. We were selected in the process. Maybe seen growth in decades. Every day, the tribe struggles for lifes other villages felt our pain, says the beaming Moyak. essentialshealthcare, work and education. Maasim, with 16 villages, received a grant of P7.2 million from the Electronically out of the loop, the remote village scrimps on little Kalahi-CIDSS, plus 30-percent local cash counterpart from the food coming from farming and pins its hopes on education. municipality, and P1.5 million cash from the provincial government. Sending our children to school is our only way out from poverty. Sarangani Energy Corp. gave P150,000, plus welding services from Its the only solution to our present problems, Ruffa May Caliso, Dole Corp. 28, says, cradling her frail 2-year-old son. Community-driven Blaan education is a far cry from that of nonindigenous peers. The Gemma Rivera, the project manager, says the grant is used for natives rarely complete high school, and the three-hour walk to community-driven development strategy to combat poverty and Colon National High School discourages them from attending empower the people in Maasim. school. Eight years later since the project was put up, its focus continues to This hurts teacher Cleofe Moyak, an Ilonggo. Almost no one improve the poorest sectors and connects the rural Philippines to wanted to go to school. Besides, children are short on food when basic services, Rivera says. they leave home. Practically, they cant survive, she explains. With the construction of new classroom building, I will be seeing Often, at 15, the youths marry and beget five children half a decade more professionals in the years to come, not just elementary and later. high school graduates, Gov. Miguel Dominguez says. The story of Kyumad Dominguez says students in Maasim have the lowest in educational The story of Kyumad Integrated High School, borne out of the attainment despite the local economic boom. He acknowledges that natives desire to educate their brood, offers a bright prospect for education opportunities remain a challenge. some 700 Blaan households, however. With more classrooms, we can reverse the trend Otherwise, the Piece by piece, the people worked on bamboo materials to erect two future of Sarangani will be bleak, he says. school buildings right at where they live, beside the elementary DepEd Superintendent Socrates Mabalot agrees. Its the lack of integrated school. Finally, the elementary graduates can move on to instructional rooms that hampers the delivery of quality education. first and second years in high school, but those on the higher levels But we have these classrooms here that will improve your condition. must still walk for hours to reach Barangay Colon. I believe, it is only through education that we can fight poverty, he Time and the changing weather, however, have taken their toll on the says. makeshift classrooms. They have gone beyond repair and gradually Money is not the solution to address our education woes. It takes a lost its students. Village officials scoured for funding to rebuild the village to educate a child. Parents and not the teachers have the school and win back the hearts of the young. responsibility to pull up a child. I challenge the parents to participate Enrollment and student attendance went down. We were in day-to-day aspects of their childrens education, he adds. unmotivated, plus the parents showed disinterest in the set-up, recalls teacher Moyak. I saw the urge of younger Blaans to finish school and one day become professionals, and do away with the perception that our tribe is futile, says her husband, Blaan Allan Moyak, who is also a village leader. The students and teachers long for a school conducive to learning and a much better set-up will inspire our children all the more, he says. Julius Sukin, 20, studied late and blamed the little resources in the village for the situation. Like other youths his age, he stopped school for years and toiled the slopes of Amsipit with his father to meet both ends. But he works with a purpose. I will become a teacher one day and offer Blaans the education they deserve, he says. How will I reach that? he asks. Perhaps, I hold the answer myself, and that is to persevere in my studies. Kalahi-CIDSS. Today, the village is close to realizing its dream for the younger generation. A P1.2-million two-classroom building, sourced from

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