Bayanihan: The Gift of Community for Disaster Resilience in the Philippines
The first time I saw the image above was in my grade school text book. I feel I lost its meaning over time because I see it often through the years, being a standard image for cooperation in my country, the Philippines. Recently, I was showing this image to European colleagues as I prepare a social innovation lab with them for an upcoming ecosystem based DRR project. I then realized this meant something to me all over again, most especially because this meaning was sparked by the outpouring of community spirit for the recent Taal volcano eruption relief efforts, and other recent natural disasters, from back to back typhoons, and a series of earthquakes.
This image of people carrying a house is a popular icon for “Bayanihan” where in traditional communities, homes are transported collectively with fair exchange of the same aid when needed, or often without expectation in return. The word Bayanihan comes from the word “bayan”, which means nation, town or community. Bayanihan means the process of “being in and making a bayan.” I believe at the heart of this communal spirit is the sense of Kapwa, the concept of the shared self in Filipino psychology.
“Unlike the English word ‘Other’, Kapwa is not used in opposition to the self and does not recognize the self as a separate identity. Rather, Kapwa is the unity of self and others, and hence implies a shared identity or inner self. From this arises the sense of fellow being that underlies Filipino social interaction.” — Leny Strobel
It made me realize how much it represents Filipino resilience as I work in several displacement contexts from floods, typhoons, and conflict over the years through small scale regenerative solutions. I don’t think anyone has literally moved houses this way during emergencies, since most of them are gone overnight from harsh winds or floods, or that forced displacement from violence have led people to leave them behind only to never return to them intact or even return at all. Losing one’s home disconnects people from a sense of belonging and identity. Bayanihan restores that on some level, people helping people in times of need that represents an act of collective compassion.It is how people have transported and set up a “sense of home” wherever they could — in basketball courts, public schools, and other spaces that often become temporary shelters for those displaced.
It is special to recall that I’ve come across the different names we call Bayanihan in various parts of the country through various projects with my organization, Green Releaf. In Leyte where I volunteered after Typhoon Haiyan, it is called “Pintakasi” in Waray. In Kalinga, where I’m engaging with indigenous leadership on an ecovillage development project after Typhoons Lawin and Mangkhut, they call it “Pango” or “Kil-loong” in Kalinga. In Sagada where I’ve been co-hosting a learning journey and u Lab on an emerging food ecosystem based DRR initiative, it is called “Ob-obbo” in Kankaney. In Marawi, where I worked after the ISIS triggered Marawi siege, it’s called “Kapamagogopa” in Meranaw.
It is beautiful to see the many forms of Bayanihan happening after the recent Taal volcano eruption — from emergency community kitchens, to zero waste refill drives for water, to communal laundry services, to mental health and psychological first aid, to lactating mothers sharing breastmilk, to brave animal rescue efforts, to far off towns struggling with low vegetable prices yet still sending truckloads of harvest as food aid, among others.
The Philippines is one of the most ecologically vulnerable places in the world, belonging to the Pacific ring of fire facing the realities of harsh weather, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions which grow more intense with climate emergency and political challenges over the years. As we face more and more vulnerability in the country, the need to strengthen the social fabric for cooperation will be core to any disaster risk reduction and management effort.
My initiative, Green Releaf, is starting to map various forms of regenerative aid inspired by Bayanihan, and we would love to learn more what others are doing. Check out what we’ve discovered so far here and help us add more to this list here: http://bit.ly/RegenAidTaal.
