Fifty Alangan Mangyan junior and senior high school students attended an Alangan Mangyan Youth Gathering on May 22 to 24, 2019, held at Country Wood Resort in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro. The students who attended are grantees of both the Zero Extreme Poverty Ph2030 Program and the Mission Fund of Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS). The Mangyan youth are from sitios Kulasisi and Kumiray , Brgy. Batong Buhay and Sitio Calamansian in Brgy. San Agustin, Sablayan Occidental Mindoro.
The Holy Spirit Social Center in partnership with the Zero Extreme Poverty supports the basic education of around 60 Alangan Mangyan students in Occidental, Mindoro. A youth gathering was seen important in order for the Alangan Mangyan youth scholars engage with their peers in a rare opportunity of spiritual and festive cultural strengthening, and understanding of their unique rights, capacities, and unique situations as indigenous communities in the Philippines.
A unique process was followed –the “I” part that aimed to surface the struggles and happiness of the students through a recollection facilitated by Sr. Patricia Pumihic, SSpS; the “We” part where the students were made aware of other indigenous groups in the country who share similar cultures and situations with them as facilitated by HSSC’s Executive Director Veronica Tarabi; followed by a discussion on their unique rights by introducing the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) given by Mr Rey Tupas from the Mindoro NCIP Office, and unique aspects of their culture. The latter was done through a Cultural Night that capped the first day where the students showcased their wedding, healing and planting practices, and Sportsfest featuring their indigenous games in the morning of the second day.
The second day ended with a Planning session. The students were grouped in their communities where they addressed particular issues that surfaced during the previous sessions about themselves and their families and communities. Evaluation and distribution of certificates of participation capped the entire Youth Gathering.
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