Last Sunday, 07 March 2021, I had the pleasure of meeting a tribal chieftain. As we traveled through the hilly landscapes of Northern Mindanao, Bai Jerlina Owok entertained us with stories from her journey as the Bagobo Tagabawa chieftain in Barangay Binaton, Digos City. She shared the story of how she reclaimed her identity as a Bagobo Tagabawa when she reached the summit of Mount Apo—the highest mountain in the Philippines.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2021/03/power-peace-and-kinship-indigenous-leaders-share-their-dreams/
How does Social Entrepreneurship look like when seen through the lenses of Indigenous Knowledge System and Practices (IKSP)? Last 09-11 November 2022, our Inclusive Development Team travelled to the Talaandig Ancestral Territory in Bukidnon. With the guidance of Datu Migketay Saway and of some Talaandig women and youth, we invested a couple of days seeking to design a Social Enterprise development model that would be sensitive to the worldviews, value systems, and customs of Indigenous Peoples. This is made possible in partnership with the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UP Mindanao) and the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT).
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/11/budding-talaandig-social-entrepreneurs-finish-their-second-training-session/
“The Spirit of the Creator was there!” That was the constant existential feeling I had while participating at the Talaandig Day Celebration. It was held last 14 October 2022 in their ancestral territory at the foot of Mt. Kitanglad. That day of festivities was actually the final event of a whole week of rituals and celebrations. It was indeed a day when, from the perspective of our team at PBCI and CFP, we participated in activities that harmonizes us with the Creator, with our being, with others, and with the creation. Our team also accompanied the traditional leaders of the Bagobo Tagabawa Tribe to meet the traditional leaders of the Talaandig Tribe, praying and hoping that the two Indigenous communities become partners in inclusive development.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/10/the-spirit-of-magbabaya-was-there-during-the-talaandig-day-festivities/
26 – 27 Aug 2022. The Talaandig Indigenous People’s community in Sungko, Lantapan, Bukidnon, finished the first of two social entrepreneurship workshops which was jointly facilitated by Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), led by Dr. Jinky Bornales, and the Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. and Coffee for Peace (PBCI-CFP IncluDev Team). With the cultural guidance and leadership of Datu Migketay “Vic” Saway, the seminar-workshop focused on generating Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP) that can be used in their social enterprise ventures. The participants also identified the products that they want to develop as social enterprises.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/08/talaandig-community-finishes-first-workshop-on-social-entrepreneurship/
We started having a dialogue with Regional Director Lorenzo G. Macapili of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in Region XI (TESDA XI). Today, Monday, 28 September 2020, he visited the Malipayon Peace Hub, our post-harvest processing plant. He laid down the requirements and processes towards TESDA’s accreditation of our farmers’ training programs. While firmly standing on our spiritual convictions and ethical principles, we will seek to comply with all the requirements and procedures shared with us.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/09/we-started-a-dialogue-with-tesda-xi-towards-a-justice-and-peace-based-farmers-training-program/
Our Ama, Lakan Sumulong, led the Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee for Peace (CFP) to celebrate with the Indigenous Peoples and the Bangsamoro in affirming their kinship at the Talaandig Ancestral Territory at the foot of Mt. Kitanglad. The Settlers have been actively participating in this celebration for the past 9 years.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/03/pbci-cfp-tribe-participates-in-the-9th-celebration-of-ip-moro-kinship-affirmation/
08-17 January 2020. Three Indigenous Communities in Mindanao welcomed the visit of 12 Canadians from Southern Ontario. This is part of PBCI-CFP Inclusive Development Team’s initiative to facilitate the connection between the coffee farming communities and prospective impact investors and market representatives. This relationship-building and social entrepreneurial partnership is based on justice, peace, and reconciliation.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/01/ip-communities-welcome-canadian-inclusive-development-partners/
12-13 October 2019, Talaandig Ancestral Territory — It was a blessing to be a participant in a series of Talaandig rituals, a gathering together as a people before the Creator for worship. It was a time to ask for the Creator’s mercy, grace, forgiveness, and blessings to the people and to the land. It was a time to affirm, as one people, the harmonious relationship between the Creator, the people, and the whole creation — wherein the spiritual and the physical realities interplay in the same realm.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/10/pbci-cfp-tribe-participates-in-the-talaandig-indigenous-celebration/
Our teams at PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee For Peace (CFP) are being led, spiritually, to work with the leaders of the Indigenous Peoples (IP) who seek The Creator’s heart and who walk with what we mutually understand as The Creator’s just and peaceful statutes as they serve as stewards of their ancestral domains and as they struggle to realize their right to self-determination. This spiritual perspective of partnership govern the inclusive development strategies we practice in the field.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/08/the-partnership-between-the-talaandig-indigenous-people-and-pbci-cfp-is-renewed-and-enhanced/
Lakan and I were invited to serve as principal sponsors at the marriage ceremony of Aduna Saway and Jay Manpatilan. It’s a great joy to be invited into the merging clans and respective tribes of this beautiful Talaandig bride and this handsome Higaonon groom. With the expressed blessing of Jay and Aduna, we’re sharing their wedding story to our global community.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/05/the-indigenous-wedding-of-aduna-and-jay-enriched-my-intercultural-outlook/
“Peace is within our reach but largely depends on our willingness to treat each other within the bond of kinship!” This has been the continuing message of Datu Migketay “Vic” Saway as he calls various leaders of Indigenous Peoples, Moro, and Settlers to gather together to affirm our kinship.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/03/lumad-moro-and-settlers-affirm-their-kinship-as-primary-basis-for-peace/
The Peace Commission of the Mennonite World Conference have proposed a declaration of solidarity with indigenous peoples. It was approved during the General Council meetings last 23–26 April 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya. Mennonite World Conference DECLARATION OF SOLIDARITY WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2018/05/our-global-community-declares-solidarity-with-indigenous-peoples/
We are sent by Mennonite Church Canada Witness in partnership with our international community.
