Bahay Kubo Revisited
A balikbayan learns to understand the Philippines — and the Philippine spirit of bayanihan — in their modern forms.
By Danielle Peterson, Kaya Collaborative
Danielle Peterson discovers a rising sense of Filipino strength and spirit — and learns to it all back to those old childhood rhymes and memories of home.
I remember swimming in a sea of ankle long jumper skirts, wrinkled khakis and stained polos. Surrounding me were my new grade school classmates, each one eager to teach me all they could about their Filipino homeland. It was here in Sweet Valley elementary school, Barangay San Carlos, that I first experienced and found a new home in my Filipino community.
Each day during merienda, our afternoon snack break, my classmates would teach me games and sing classic folk songs. One my favorite tunes was Bahay Kubo. “Bahay Kubo, kahit munti, ang halaman duon ay sari-sari” they would sing, painting for me a picture of the nipa hut, a traditional Filipino stilt house made of bamboo and leaves, surrounded by a colorful array of vegetables.
I learned that when a family wanted to move their kubo, community members would create a criss-crossed platform of bamboo sticks to lift the kubo’s foundation upon their shoulders and and carry it to its new location.
This collective effort came to symbolize bayanihan (originating from the word bayan, or nation), which represents the Filipino traditions of love, giving and camaraderie for your community.
A New Image of the Philippines
Returning to the Philippines ten years later, I found myself far removed from the simplicity of the kubo. Instead, I was thrown in the midst of the bustling city of Manila where skyscrapers, mega malls, and starbucks were crammed tightly between sari-sari stores and street vendors. The transformation surprised me.
In this unfamiliar environment I wondered: where does bahay kubo and the spirit of bayanihan fit into the modern day Philippines?
There is no doubt that the Philippines’ history is one of struggle — against issues of government corruption, rampant poverty, and environmental catastrophes, just to name a few. While a great majority of Filipinos have found emigration to be the ticket out of this chaos, many others have been inspired by the strength and determination of those who chose to stay. A new generation of Filipinos are realizing that in order to address these issues, there need to be local and sustainable solutions created and implemented by Filipinos, for Filipinos.
It is with this movement that I realized bayanihan lives on — no longer just by the literal lifting of the kubo, but through the uplifting of the Filipino people from their heavy burdens.
From the growing presence and influence of social enterprises in the Philippines, it is clear that Filipinos are not only demanding change, they’re initiating it.
Filipinos are fighting to take the future of their country into their own hands. The desire to collectively stand against the injustices and inequalities that plague society have taken the form of social enterprises and non-governmental organizations. Gawad Kalinga, Unlad Kabayan, and Rags2Riches are some of the some of the familiar trailblazing organizations and businesses of the ever-growing social entrepreneurship movement in the Philippines that are creating services, programs, and initiatives that give Filipinos a chance for a better life in the homeland.
The Impact is Tangible
As an intern this past summer for Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation, I was sent to assist with one of their long running sustainable development projects: the Davao Oriential Coconut Husk Enterprise and Incorporation (DOCHSEI). It was here in the countryside of Barangay Bato-Bato in San Isidro, Davao Oriental that I witnessed the real impact that social enterprises are capable of making for the communities that they serve.
DOCHSEI’s establishment has created jobs in an area where economic opportunities were limited to farming and mining. An estimated ten to twelve families (not to mention the countless others who lived outside of the plant) found greater financial security through their employment here as coconut coir weavers, dryers, balers and delivery drivers. I heard the story of Miyok, the once stick skinny man who after years of risking his life as miner in order to earn a meager income to support his family, found the promise of better health and income at DOCHSEI that enabled him to leave his dangerous career. Meeting him earlier that day, I would have never assumed his prior circumstances given the warmth and positivity he had shown me, and the belly that hung graciously beneath his t-shirt.
In the three short weeks that I spent at DOCHSEI, I learned of countless stories such as Miyok’s. Even the management team, despite putting in long hours for less than a deserving pay, found solace knowing that DOCHSEI’s existence was serving a greater purpose. At the end of my internship, I had come to know a community working together day in and day out knowing that all they did, they did for each other. It was worthwhile to know that in some way, I too, was able to practice and experience the strength of bayanihan.
Sustainable and Sincere Solutions
The efforts and successes of social enterprises like DOCHSEI are not isolated incidents. Social change is slowly but surely coming to grasp at the hands of Filipino innovators and its supporters all over the Philippines. Like the community members who lifted the kubo for their neighbors, Unlad Kabayan and many other social organizations, hungry for change, are lifting the impoverished and the spirits of the Filipino people.
The Philippines is quickly changing, but the endearing image of the kubo continues to inspire Filipinos back home and abroad to do our part in working towards making the Philippines a place where Filipinos want to stay. Social change cannot be accomplished alone, but together these efforts offer the promise of a more equal and just society in the Philippines — by touching one life, one family, one bayan at a time.
Kaya Collaborative (Kaya Co.) aims to inspire, educate, and mobilize the young Filipino diaspora as partners to long-term, locally-led social change in the Philippines. Learn more and get connected by clicking here!
