COMMUNITY CHANGEMAKERS
THE WOMEN IN ARACELI, PHILIPPINES
august 9, 2022
From the early days of the Disaster Assessment Response Team’s response to Super Typhoon Rai (known locally as “Odette”) in December 2021, it was clear that women play critical roles in Filipino society. The team witnessed females acting as the barangay captains and chief decision makers for entire communities and in powerful government roles at all levels. Females were present in the room to ask and answer questions, to ensure the needs not just of their own selves or families, but also those of their entire communities, are met.
It is unsurprising that our unique disaster relief program in the Philippines is being led, managed and steered by a strong group of Filipina women.
In Araceli, a fourth-class municipality in the Philippines, where fewer than 15,000 people reside across 13 barangays (districts). A large percentage of individuals lost their livelihoods when the typhoon blew through the country in December of 2021.
With storms of this strength not being the norm in Palawan, farmers and fisherfolk, dependent on agriculture and fishing to both feed their families and earn a living, were left struggling. All Hands and Hearts has been fortunate enough to partner with two barangays, Tinintinan and Dagman. Working alongside the community members, our fishing boat repair program aims to support fishers in getting back to their livelihoods and help to rebuild capacity and resilience in the community at large.
The day-to-day operations of this program consisted of everyone working side by side to move this good work forward. You could find 60 unique individual community volunteers engaged, spreading epoxy across the “tasok,” or the vertical framing of the boats, using fire to burn and bend “pamalongs” which helps boats to be water ready. You could witness the sense of community through the collective decision to work on the larger boat of their neighbor who supports them all in pulling out the “baratos” (smaller, non-motorized boats) and hauling back the catch.
Over 45 boats across the barangays are already complete and gearing up to be back in the water again. However, this program goes beyond the boats being repaired, beyond the hammers and chisels and structures.
Alongside physical boat repairs, it is the community connection that emerges, the human reconstruction, the rebuilding of the strength and spirit. That type of rebuild, that engagement, is undoubtedly, led by the Filipina women.
These women leaders are in charge of organizing and managing the site and ensuring the operations are running. They are cooking enormous meals served on banana leaves and giant communal pots, ensuring “merienda” (food) is ready at critical times of the day and cutting open the seemingly endless supply of fresh green coconuts that scatter the ground.
As they maintain the daily site support, it is also these women who are guiding decisions around the use of the boats – how and when they will be used, the catch, the support to the family. It is the women sitting in the meetings, making sure it is known they have thoughts and opinions about the communal decisions.
It is the women discussing the greater needs of the barangay. It is the women advocating for themselves and learning new construction skills to work on the boat repairs. It is the women who fill the space with energy and laughter, who care for the kids and each other, but simultaneously influence the overall outcomes for the people around them. As they engage in critical decision making, they provide stability and structure for their friends, children, families and barangays.
Beyond Dagman and Tinintinan barangays, the program, operated by an entirely Filipino, and largely community based group of staff and volunteers, is guided by Rhea, Shan, Kaye and Arvee, four women whose individual attributes collectively drive the success of the work being achieved.
These four women are just one example of a strong group of females driving forward change, whose example in a fairly small island, is one we may all benefit from emulating. A group of women who remind us that as our society continues to challenge and break pre-existing gender norms, there are women around the world holding us to that standard.
These are just four of the women who remind us what it is to be fearless, confident and take ownership of what is important. Without whom this boat repair program would not be close to achieving its fullest potential. Without whom the spirit surrounding the work would not quite be the same. Watching them in a whirlwind of Cuyonon conversation, whiteboards, laptops, piles of safety gear, and purple shirts, there is no translation required to recognize what you are witnessing – the purely distinct energy of a capable team, simply making things happen together.
MEET RHEA
Rhea, barangay lead in Dagman, is seen connecting with her community members daily. She shows up early, guides the day and stays late until work is finished. A bike or tora tora ride to the port followed by a boat ride, (quick on a flat day) connect the barangay of Dagman to the main “center” of Poblacion where the base is. A barrier to entry to some but Rhea loves taking the trip to visit the base, contributing to team meetings, sharing her opinions, and recently exploring the customer relationship management software and navigating Google Drive.
MEET SHAN
Shan started as barangay lead in Tinintinan and quickly grew into the Community Coordinator role. Using her skills and connections all over Araceli, she connects the dots between individuals, suppliers, and municipal agencies. She is unafraid to jump into a new challenge and learn something new and gets excited about building her own skills. She iterates that she just wants what is best for the community and does it all with a bit of laughter and fun thrown in.
MEET KAYE
Kaye is barangay lead in Tinintinan, who can be seen keeping the site organized, shows up on her motorbike to collect, organize, and deliver materials and tracks the progress of the boats. Seemingly shy and quiet at first, she was most recently spotted reaching out to municipal agencies and spearheading the organization and coordination of a municipal-wide agency meeting to plan and prepare a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) orientation and training for the communities.
MEET ARVEE
Arvee is our calm and collected Program Director. She is an avid environmentalist, former community organizer and a native of Palawan. She gently guides the ship as a leader, supporting people in reaching their own conclusions and decisions with a subtle hand of direction. She reinforces at every turn that concerns should be brought back to the communities. Arvee displays a long-term, goals-oriented leadership style that sets the tone for the entire program.
It is no secret that women matter; gone are the days of operating in the background and taking on roles subsidiary to their capabilities. They matter in this community and they matter globally. May we know, be and celebrate the women who lift each other and those around them up. May we share our voices and hear the voices of the women who have important things to say. May we look to a small municipality in the Philippines, where what might be mistaken for a simple life, is full of complex decision-making and addressing challenges that are tackled head-on by the women who face them.
