Barangay Trinidad, Guihulgnan, Negros Oriental

July 26, 2008

20:00 in the Kalabaklabakan Mountain Clinic

So, Aiyanas and I sit down at the computer together already at the end of our third week here in Kalabaklabakan. Martha has already delivered a baby, which is the subject of another blog entry, and was a great way to gain the confidence of the local women – though they are still very shy; if only we could stay here for the duration! We have learned plenty about this community which is a site of intense militarization and human rights abuses by the military due to the history of this area as a stronghold of people’s organization.

Prior to the 1990s this community had a strong organization, and the connection between the legal and underground movement was cohesive; the NPA (New People’s Army) and the armed movement has a policy of 90% community service and only 10% military struggle. This balance has a great impact on communities. Leaders in this community remember the demonstration farm, the agricultural advances, the winning of lands converted from sugar plantations to food production, the vibrant health clinic which functioned as a people’s hospital. When we look outside the window the clinic, we gaze upon fields that were once sugar production, and now feed peasant families with rice, corn, bananas, cassava, and kamote. When the community was strongly organized the community was able to win a reduction in landlord tithe from 1/3rd to 1/5th of production. For families in a sitio where hunger is commonplace, this can mean less hungry bellies.

In discussions with leaders from the peasant organization Kaugmaon, we have gotten a better sense what feudalism actually means for the lives of those who live in the Philippines countryside. One child in the neighbourhood was complaining today that he has been eating kamote (a root crop like a potato) as his only food for 3 meals each day! Even families with land to till often experience hunger because of the landlord tithes and the fast-rising food and fuel prices. Aiyanas has noticed that every week in market the price of rice rises 5 pisos per granta (~2 kg).

Early this week Mamee and Nanay led us on a 6 hour walk through the Barangay to visit a pregnant woman, the home of Imelia (snatched from her home and now a political prisoner – more later), and to cross the bridge that Bayan Muna built. Bayan Muna, a progressive congress party list, responded to the dire need of the people, and built a suspension-bridge that connects two of the sitios. This basic necessity means that children can get to the primary school by simply crossing the river, where previously it was a 3 hour walk to cross by the nearest concrete bridge! In response, Bayan Muna, a legal political agency, is a target of intense military harassment and threats, and basically unable to operate openly in the Barangay Guihulgnan. Party-list organizers have been the victims of political killings in Guihulgnan.

Peppered throughout our community integration is the steady trickle of patients that come by the clinic or that we visit on our house calls. I am having great fun seeing patients in the clinic and at home. I have several pregnant ladies in my care now, hoping that I am actually here for one of their births! There is fair amount of training the clinic CHWs with each visit, which is an excellent chance to build their skills. I am also enjoying the reciprocal challenge of diagnosing, treating, or struggling to help with machete wounds, skin infections, infertility, respiratory infections, tooth abscesses, rashes, urinary tract infections, diarrhea, and a host of troubles and complaints. I am doing a fair amount of risk assessment with the local pregnant women, as the slideshow I am posting attests, advance emergency preparation is a major concern as transportation is severely limited. I even had a chance to talk up the Barangay Capitan about more liberal use of the municipal truck for childbirth emergencies, which hopefully will do some good. See our clinic and transport slide shows.

I am thrilled and quite nervous that next week I am leading a two day basic midwifery training for local hilots and community health workers. How exciting that I have this honour, and I hope I can teach well. I am terribly excited about the chance to really talk to the hilots and learn their experiences. Hopefully, if we return in September for a few weeks, I can attend a delivery with one of the hilots – this is a goal of mine.

I will be posting a whole entry on the people’s health clinic in the days to come, so health folks, stay posted!!

Aiyanas is a hero, spending 3 to 4 hours each day lighting the fire, stoking the fire, and preparing our very simple meals; given the few choices of ingredients, Aiyanas is making the best of a difficult situation! Last night we had the pleasure of eating lechon manok (roasted chicken), freshly shot out of the trees (true fact) with Zari’s rifle and spit-roasted with fresh tanglad (lemongrass) – yum! Most nights we eat rice and a variation on squash, string beans and a weird green veggie. I have lost 12 pounds of midwifery-school flab. See our Life in Guihulgnan slide show.

Thankfully the kids are enjoying their integration at the local primary school. Sophia has 50+ kids in her class, and 1 text book for every two kids, or for some subjects, no books at all. Sophia, as usual, has a huge posse of girlfriends that she plays with at recess and after school. Billy enjoys playing basketball with the B-ball posse, but finds school less exciting. The rote copying is a bit more trying on him. See our school slide show.

An organizer from Karapatan (the human rights organization) shared with us that the militarization is closely linked to economic developments here on Negros. The first is the large number of local and foreign-controlled mining developments; the second the local landowners desire to increase sugar production to meet the new demand for biofuel as a legislated biofuel quota kicks in. Under the prevalent conditions of high-level of people’s organization, especially the strong presence of the NPA, these kinds of anti-people developments can be resisted. Hence, the first actions of the military have been to attack the progressive political organizations, especially the peasant organization, to persecute and harass those thought to be sympathizers with the NPA.

We’ll keep you posted; we hope you keep reading and supporting the struggle!