2008 Earth Camp

2008 Earth Camp

URGENT GREEN BARRAGE! A global crisis calls for ACTION!

Rationale:

The yearly Earth Camp is a progressive set of workshops that sustains or maintains the momentum of the environmental education for the students and teachers. This two-day activity is an intensive workshop for a specific output based process as the final product of GAME for Children Project.

The conception of the "children's biodiversity pictionary in Kinamiguin" is an ambitious project to showcase the art works of the children put together into a functional resource book.

The Earth Camp is a hands-on experiential workshop on eco-campaign book production as final preparation for the book design with direct production participation of the local students and teachers.

The workshop in itself is the process of the grassroots participatory of environmental accountability. This is a tangible exercise with functional result as a dynamic output of ideas put together as a collective vision.

A deep awakening needs to happen to our communities for us to be able to sustain our lives. It may start with the young minds who still have the purity and their voices are valuable for this is about them and their future.

Objectives:

1. To produce eco campaign art books as the voice of the children and youth for international exhibitions.
2. To finalize book design and content of the "biodiversity children's pictionary"
3. To train facilitators for "green barrage" pep talk in schools
4. To explore creative recycling and design for functional art

Venue: Enigmata Treehouse

Date: September 13-14, 2008

Participants:

Participants on the first day is composed of seven science advisers and seven elementary students from seven chosen schools from four municipalities such as:

1. Hubangon Elementary School
2. Catarman Central School
3. Mambajao Central School
4. Yumbing Elementary School
5. Bonbon Elementary School
6. Sagay Cental School
7. Tangaro Elementary School

Participants on the second day is composed of eleven teachers and eight students from ten schools from all five municipalities in the island.

1. Tupsan National High School
2. Lawigan-Bura National High School
3. Mahinog National High School
4. Yumbing National High School
5. Sagay National High School
6. Camiguin National High School
7. Guinsiliban National High School
8. Mambajao National High School
9. Fatima College of Camiguin
10. Bonbon National High School

Facilitators:

Cristopher N. Salem – recycling and music

Owen S. Jaen – theater and production design

Jims Jozar Vericio Abanero – theater and production design

Ramon Jorge Sarabosing – writing short story and making a statement

Oliver Paderanga – marine biodiversity and coral reefs in Camiguin

Roberto S. Rufino – turtle and bird conservation

Rosalie Zerrudo – overall coordinator and facilitator

Roselyn Jurial – co-organizer

Schedule of Activities:

Day 1

Registration

· The opening ritual was a participatory performance with Enigmata and Actor's Quarter artists and the participants

· Words of Welcome – Mrs. Roselyn Jurial, Education Supervisor - Science

· Inspirational Remarks – Maam Elena Borcillo, Schools Division Superintendent

· A prayer in a spiral walk with grains of rice

· Story telling in participatory theater form about Dodong Pawikan and Daday Pawikan

· Presentation of the "Pawikan" video and biodiversity update by Mr. Roberto Rufino, Department of Natural Resources Protected Area Superintendent

· Trivia game on biodiveresity

· Biodiversity new media film presentation

Story telling with the teachers by Ramon Jorge Sarabosing

Outline of Story-Telling Workshop

1. Drawing out of participants writing experiences
2. Inputs on story telling
1. Parts of a story
2. Characteristics / elements
3. Do's and don'ts guidelines
4. Question and answer
3. Writing the story
1. Collective "germination" / discussion of story
4. Critiquing the story
1. The facilitator checking the draft story
2. Re-writing the draft
3. Finalizing the draft

Bird Call Story telling and Mantigue Island: a biodiversity model (DENR)

A DVD video documentary on birds and "pawikan" was shown to give a backgrounder on the habitat of birds and sea turtles needed for the production design.

A simultaneous workshop followed with teacher's on the story telling workshop and short story writing on marine biodiversity. The teachers came up with about a turtle in an island.

The students engaged in line drawing for familiarization of animal parts and line curves. Then later using water colors and brushes they painted colorful sea turtles in the thicker papers. The mounting of characters was done individually then after they made a two dimensional model of their character in clay for the animated pictorials. The students used the story made by the teachers and played with their characters for the animation and photography during the mounting.

The students had fun and shared their experiences by the end of the day in a symbolic web making to represent the connectedness of biodiversity. We played with yarns while dancing to the music signifying our oneness.

A short sharing of experience by each participant has very positive outcome and new discoveries and learnings about recycling and the importance of the environment.

Day 2

Registration

The opening salvo was done in the manner of gathering the indigenous community where everyone sits together facing each other in a circle. With a musical instrument in hand, each participant played a beat that complimented the person next to each other. A unifying beat was created as each one experimented with an indigenous instruments such as kubing, kulintang, agong, dabakan, chango, marimba etc.

A symbolic prayer lead the participants to a sacred walk where they planted the seeds in the labyrinth sculpture as their connection with the earth.

A story telling started the first workshop with participants playing spontaneous characterization. The story showed the importance of the sea and the creatures that lived in it. It also emphasize on the protection of the natural habitat. A fun and participative atmosphere got the participants ready for the next workshops.

The coral sea and the local fishes was the next discovery. Each participant was challenged to give a voice to one local Camiguin sea creature by giving life to lines and colors. Pens and water colors were used to paint the identified species of Camiguin.

A special lecture on the coral reef environment in the island was given by Oliver Paderanga, marine biologist.

Green Pep Talks facilitator's workshop

The facilitators presented ideas and how to get the message across through a short action performance plug using minimal props and short statements about environmental slogans. The importance of telling your own story is when it comes from a personal experience. It was stressed by the facilitator that it is important that the person must first believe in oneself and the values that goes with it.

Lunch

The book content translation was not yet necessary since the story line still needs to be finalized.

Printed Voices workshop (art book making)

In the afternoon, all the participants looked for materials they like to be able to express their stories and ideas. The art book making vary in size, shapes and colors. Each participant has the freedom to explore all creative possibilities. The materials used were recycled materials and some glitters. After the workshop was a showcase of all the art book and awarding of special tokens.

Book Art Awardee

Best art book

Hyazil Tagupa (Camiguin National High School)

Special Awards

Apple Ty Silda (Mahinog National High School))

Roemme Maria O. Dulhao (Tupsan National High School)

Verlyn T. Genoso (Sagay National High School)

Bazil T. Sabacajan (Yumbing National High School)

Fabio A. Capito Jr. (Camiguin National High School)

The chosen art books will be exhibited during the 5^th YES (Youth Environmental Science Camp) with Regional participation of Department of Education Schools from all over Region 10. Some of the best works will be brought to Korea for the Asian Eco Camp on October 16-19, 2008 sponsored by Korean Federation for Environmental Movement. The creative outputs were rewarded with simple tokens and certificates of attendance for the participants.

BUY, THROW and LEAVE

This is the consumerist trend of travel which destroyed environments, displaced indigenous communities and sold bodies. how much more price we have to pay for uneducated tourists and for money devils in the tourism industry. the old money-making tricks has created a devastating lifestyle trend which has caused a planet to overheat. an average tourist would use up at least 12 kilos of waste a day and 5 gallons of water on the average... this is how much stress we cause to any place a tourist would visit... do we really think about the ill effects of carbon footprints we leave behind when we ride airplanes, buses, taxis, and jeepneys and stay in airconditioned rooms? how much energy do we have to waste just to get a sugar boost of an ice cold coke. these are serious considerations which may require serious change of lifestyles.

i learned from a research study that an alarming 3% original forest cover in the country has deminished even more. i am worried and cried for many nights when i see the forests in my island being bulldozed and dinosaur-age-old giant ferns being slashed and mountains cut like bread leaving behind a loose volcanic soil of vandalized forest floor. A danger zone at the neck of a volcano is a hazard area that is not safe for homestead would have been sacred if left untouched not to mention the natural beauty tarnished for a lifetime. the road has yet to find its end, while the side of the mountain is loosing its grip, so maybe nature has a way to show resistance from humanity's misgivings. maybe the waterfalls has to maintain its isolation away from cars parked next to it as envisioned as a future development project. Maybe its better when tourists make a strong statement not to support any establishment violating natural ands enviromental laws. Can we leave nature as prestine and untouched as possible. Another hundreds of years is needed to recreate such a paradise, and once lost, then we have nothing to look forward to in the future.

it is like a death sentence when over development has engulfed us with monster buildings in the name of leisure and holiday and giant seawalls to protect properties from raving waves. Maybe we have to listen more deeply to the oceans pushing anything on its way away for man has yet to learn to respect the tempest of nature and its sacredness. maybe we have to read again the constitution and the environmental laws of high tide lines and its restrictions. In this post modern age in this part of the world, we still seems to be alien to the the word ecotourism. It is rather an afterthought or we are not sure or in doubt if we have to be serious about environmental protection and biodiversity conservation. BIG words and motherhood statements that maybe does not really mean anything to coca cola trained tastebuds. A monoculture has ruled the world just like an idiot box as a supernatural description of Kidlat Tahimik for a television rogramming the psyche of a nation to keep on buying anything especially cheaper products made in China. shall we wait for a volcanic eruption to clean up the mess. maybe the mountains will rage its fury one day to bring us back to our senses. Maybe one day when one become an archeological site and become fertilizer of the earth, shall one truly know our relationship with the mother earth. How much time there is before greed and the never ending excessive lifestyle defeats this planet. How much roads in the forest has yet to be built to give way to cars and people.

As tourists you can make choices as to what to support and promote. A critical mass is needed to make tourism estbalishment respect the environmental laws. Then maybe we can all create together a stronger position as we slowly change consciousness from within. As one of my favorite statements of Mahatma Gandhi "Be the change you want to see happen in the universe."

Tourism is a big force in the changing lifetyles and world views. Each tourist can help serve as sounding board, walking travel guide book and personalized information bureau to spread a strong consciousness in the travellers community. We a hundred people in one journey or maybe more, and maybe it can be a chance of a lifetime to open their hearts to the ways of the sacred tourism, where respect for people, culture and nature comes first and treated the greatest resource for a sustainable co-existence.

Maybe next time you buy, throw and leave a place, you can also make sure the you give something in return as an exchange of the experience. I thought travel is about meeting interesting people and finding the beautiful corners of nature.

when i grow up, i want to be a child...

When i first started riding motorcycles farther away from home and stood in places higher than my roof, i realized there is so much to explore and discover in the world. The monocrop plantations of sugarcanes is all i know as a playground growing up in the sugarlandia of this country. But when i started to discover mountain trails that lead me to the peaks of hills and forests, i slowly felt the passion for adventure and walking an extra mile. Mountaineering brought me the the outskirts and hinterlands, made my feet stronger, and trained my lungs to breathe and sustained my interest for the outdoors. Later I realized I was in an attempt to climb higher mountains inside me. Hopping from one island, mountain, volcano, lakes, rivers and seas to the next, has made my dancing feet furious to see the wild unbeaten path and exhaust my resources to see a wider vista and expansive panorama in between wild flowers and firelies.

The first independent travel that i deliberately planned was to discover my roots away from the big cities and back to the indigenous communities. Then i met the people that change my life forever. i felt i made a complete loop this lifetime being born a Filipino. Growing up in the heart of this country, made me hear the softest and sweetest intonations that is best used in the art of persuasions. I became curious about other comunities when i heard a different language than mine. When i discovered that a bus ride can take me to the world heritage sites and caves and burial grounds, i hurriedly made commitments to my weekends only spent in sacred places.

I baptized myself in the world of mountaineering in the highest hill near my hometown in negros. then later an unforgetable climb in the highest moutain Mt. Kanlaon, an active volcano gave me a sunrise experience on top of the saddle campsite with three volcanic crater cavities and spewing sulfuric gas around me is an experience i can never forget. i never stopped chasing sunrises again until sunsets and moonrises. The dark nigts is left with the stargazer's wishes aboard yacths, on top of jetties, by the seashores and outside the tents.

An opportunity to cross the island gave me a glimpse of the the endless horizon and the seas. I thought Manila and Mindanao was so far and my Moro brothers are aliens. Then later my destiny brought me to this land of promise and my life was never the same again, it was also hard to leave. Visayas has given birth to my body. Manila and Luzon has given me mental nourishment and opened my life. But Mindnao gave me back my soul. It was i think the flute of Waway Saway that called me back to my ancestors. Then the journey started to lead me to more mindscapes when the handiwork of Kublai Millan brought me back to my creativity as the language of my spirituality.

The story just began. My development work and outdoor adventures brought me to almost all the major moutnains, cities and highways all over this country. After having seen 90% of the archipelago, i can only breathe out a few words, "I am happy i am born in this paradise country" where the people are warm, the weather is gentle and the sea is a great bounty. The textures and diversity in this country is a life changing puzzle worth all the terrors of volcanic eruptiops, the scare of typhoons and the cruelty of natural catastrophies. This country is a tapestry of eventful learning experiences and anything-goes surprises. The resilience of the people is somehow an asset to withstand any tropical depressions.