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rf3000,
MSD MANGAGOY |
Patron: Professor David Bellamy OBE |
What you can do while you are here
This is Huganoy Island, 7 km from base, out in the bay, now a fishing sanctuary area. Half an hour by small boat - $5 to the fisherman, $10 for a bunch of food and drink, then, as they say, Relax lang! The fishing's pretty good, too. |
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Seaborne Patrol with the Coastguard Depending on their commitments, you may be able to go on 48hr seaborne patrol - if you have $50 to give them for the diesel! Like many government departments, even if they have a budget it never seems to have arrived. Here, Jojo & John hand over an otherwise redundant fax machine. |
Gold-panning in the creek Here's Clan leader Tating in what's left of is forest- maybe he can take you down to the creek to help him pan out some free gold. Whe you use local people as guide/escorts, you need $5-10 daily to give them a wage - and a snack! |
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Help map what's left of the forest - previously described as "Inch for inch, the richest rainforest resource in the world". If you can, read "Paradise Plundered." Be prepared to get rather upset. |
Help these women get organised! They know what needs to be done - but some of them literally have NO coins in their house. They say "Some day one eat, some day no eat". If you want to hang out with them, be prepared to field constant requests for "any small amount of money" for snacks, tricycle rides, paper, ballpens. It's hard to magine, but you can try - Imagine a group of women your own country trying to set up a pre-school play-group or a forum to discuss domestic abuse with none of them having a coin or two, or breakfast. They will be enormously encouraged and thankful just for you to be there. You only need to listen. |
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And when you've done what you can, you will probably need a drink. You can can get moderately drunk for a dollar; you can join them in the videokehan singing along with anything from Beatles, Tom Jones to Perry Como (Perry WHO?) - or you can join in with this sentimental chorus -> |
You don't
need to be a medical student ... ... or even a trained first-aider to help spread understanding of elementary health care and hygiene. "If you have tears, prepare to shed them now".
"Hold me; cover my sight. This is no paradise. Don't show me the evil sides of the world. How many hours and how many days? Love is just slipping away. How many seasons and how many years in tears? How many centuries and how many lives, in fear?" |
And on the next day, you can catch a motorbike or Jitney and take in Tinoy-An Falls - 10km from base. And you can "Remember ... it is still a beautiful World" Just because it's corny, it don't mean it ain't true! |
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If you want
to study political problems... ... you can ask this group why they have barricaded the Highway by closing Bislig Bridge.
You will need to use your own judgment as to how far to get involved. Our involvement is limited to an occasional sack of rice and agreeing to take the photographs. They will take enormous encouragement from your mere presence and listening. |
Endless meetings to organise themselves and claim their legal rights ....
Desperately poor, "refugees in their own land", they try to dissuade their hopeless youth from joining the insurgent rebellion by having faith in due process. The smallest assistance encourages them in this. |
Your mere
witness of the meetings of the organised ultra-poor with
Government decision-makers will be of great assistance. Here , the Tribal Chieftain Datu Villegas confronts the government officer: "All we are asking for, Ma'am, is implementation of the law".
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become involved in any "political" activity,
even as a mere witness, you will need to exercise
"the greatest Diplomacy, Tact and Caution". Take a briefing from rf3000: There are some very unpleasant people around.
(But thee are many, many more good folks! Why not come and meet some of them?) |
Not the "kind of men you'd go into the bush with"
Actually, these only look like terrorists*** : they are licensed by government. (*** Please define your terms) |
Tarsier - "the smallest monkey in the world" - not a monkey at all, a marsupial imnsectivore. As big as a coffee-mug: to be seen near Mandus - 20km away Birds? loads. |
Help in our project mapping wildlife- "gawping with a purpose" Hornbill the Flying Kagwang Monkeys Turtles Giant lizards Dugong ("mermaids") More plentiful than realised even by the locals. becuase the available data is not recorded and published. That's part of our project. See Wildlife |
There's plenty of corrupt government workers - but also ones like Gerry and his team at the Dipterocarp Forest Research Centre 15km away.
You can help deliver our technical assistance to them - and learn from them. Masteral Thesis, anyone? help the Research Forester "Mapping rainforest types to enhanced satellite image 'colors'" |
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Visit the Training Office and see what this lot are up to:
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We need helping hands to assist in training these keen- and quick-to-learn young trainees: the future of the country
If you can't visit in person yet, you could send us $10 to keep one of them off the street, in training and in school and keeping their family in rice- for a week. |
You will instinctively reach into your pocket... because these people are ultra-poor; not because they are feckless and idle (tho' some are, of course) but because they have been systematically plundered for centuries. By colonials, by globalised Supernationals, by their own elite classes. Maybe some of the plunder is in your drawing room - that fine table, staircase or piano casing. But please take advice (not necessarily from us) before you give cash to help. |
Bosia's House, donated by Jojo & John. Now they can look after their farm.
Was a hundred quid ever better spent? |
Why not come and see for yourself? If like to be busy rather than idle when you take a vacation, this is the place. Dangerous? No: not like rock-climbing , or drinking in Welshpool on a Saturday night, or roaming Amsterdam in the night-time. It will drive you crazy; but it's all good fun.
Mike Greenwood Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines March 2005 . |
Rough carpentry, anyone? The office always needs repairs and additions.
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Donations are more than welcome, but are not a requisite.< You can assist our current major project: Mapping Visit outlying barangays by jeepney, motorbike or boat with our escorts from the tribal communities; assist them in data-gathering and plotting on the maps. We are mapping: crops, trees, wildlife, Traditional Tribal Sites, lot boundaries etc. etc..
You can help locals develop their vegetable-growing in school & community vegetable gardens
You can accompany Health Workers to help them deliver services to remote areas
You can hep train in our training office
If you are medical student you can do your placement here in a wide range of hospital settings
You will be most welcome in the schools assisting filipino teachers, whether in the "City" (urbanised barrio) or remote areas
WHAT WE CAN DO is house you free for a short period, arrange lodging and give you the right introductions to the right people. We can provide ongoing support and advice. If we succeed in getting the funding we need we may have limited budget to cover some at least of your expenses: email us if you have something very special to offer. We can put you in email touch with foreigners who have visited here already so they can tell you "What it was like for me".
WHAT WE CAN'T DO is coddle or pamper you (or give you a free ride!). You need to be self-starting, self-reliant, resourceful and self-supporting. And reasonably fit. You will need a budget of around $5 daily to support yourself native-style and likely a minimum of additional $10 daily for the extras you will find you need. For getting around you will need up to $10 a day for transport and escort. WE CANNOT SUPPORT ANYONE who wishes to roam around unescorted (see Health & Safety). Adequate medical insurance is essential, as is Exit Money for should you decide you need to leave at short notice.
Getting here without going through Manila
Singapore Airlines have daily fights direct from Changi Singapore to Davao Airport (touch-down at Cebu). If you need help from us about flight times and costs, sorry, you don't belong out here!
We can arrange an escort to meet you. Best to spend a night in Davao after that long flight: BS INN or several others at $5/night, hot shower+aircon+cable TV
Then it's a six-hour $5 bus trip 200km over the mountain [el. 500m]. Taxi from the Airport or Hotel to ECOLAND BUS TERMINAL (around $2) and ask for the Mangagoy bus, get down at Shell Highway if you are unescorted.. We don't recommend the "L300" minibus - last trip for me it started with with four wheels but arrived with only three. If you are a hardened cyclist buying a bike in Davao and doing it by bike is feasible, but 30% of the road is unmetalled.
Health & Safety, and Security. Or what they call Risk Management
Climbing mountains is a dangerous pastime: people die like that. Maybe that's some of the appeal. Sensible mountain-climbers have normal lifespans.
Travel, likewise, especially to foreign places. Here it is very very foreign. But it can be safer than roaming around Amsterdam- or drinking in Weshpool on a Saturday night (and I am not joking - what you will NOT see here is queues of people in Casualty/ER waiting for attention after having a broken glass thrust into their face).
So if you do the right things (see also Dos & Don'ts) you'll be fine. Foreign visitors are rare here. There are around eighty foreign retirees in the Province, many old and frail and living in quite remote places. They are fine, as you can be.
Unsurprisingly given the absence of sanitation, hygiene and clean water there is a lot of Diarrhoea (LBM- Loose Bowel Movement) about. As in most of Europe you have to be resigned to suffering a bit until your internal bio adjusts to these foreign germs, even if you are carefu about routine hygiene. Proprietory treatments for that are widely available.
Very rarely, visitors go down with the more serious (possibly Amoebic) Dysentery which is a few days of misery until the treatment takes effect.
Outbreaks of Typhoid are relatively common (as in parts of Spain) and it is essential to stick to reliable drinking water.
There is Rabies around (as in parts of France, Germany and Czeckoslovakia) but protection is ony needed if you want to work with colonies of Bats. Well-equipped Animal Bite Centres abound should you have any worries after being bitten. And anti-rabies shots are not distressing as they used to be. Just don't kick excited dogs.
Dengue fever (which is very nasty and difficult to treat) occurs every now and then - in the poorer quarters of town, and Malaria is a fairly frequent visitor in the Province as a whole. Both being mosquito-borne, avoiding them is fairly easy if you are meticulous about the "The 4 O'clock Drill". there are usually well-publicised warning about malaria and we do NOT reccommend antimalarials as routine precaution.
Shots against HEPATITUS are essential, as is up-to-date TETANUS booster. As for the rest, myself I wouldn't pay any mind to medics who (to cover themselves) recommend shots against Japanese Encephalitus, Green Monkey Virus or Yellow/Nile fever, Cholera and the like. But that's between you, your own good sense and judgement and your physician!
Medical attention varies from the excellent to the atrocious. Philippines medicine is excellent for treatment but poor in diagnosis - it is still largely a pre-scientific culture even amongst the educated classes. We strongly recommend that you get clued up enough to be your own physician as far as diagnosis is concerned and temper what the doc prescribes with your own diagnosis for treatment. (As in "Thank you doctor, but I don't require your screening for diabetes [although your kit I am sure is excellent] - just please give me a scrip ("RX)" for antibiotic for my infected leg")
And if you need regular medication, enquire of us as to local reliable availabilty.
Security
Read the FCO advisories, but take them with a pinch of salt. They don't say "Warrington bombed - don't visit Straford-upon-Avon" (as they might well have done).
Yes, it has happened that crafty villiams have offered drugged food/drink in order to rob the unwary foreigner. Myself, I wouldn't hesitate to accept a bite or sip from the same plate or bottle they drinking from. FCO lacks a sense of proportion.
Do accept the reality that this is a very different place and culture. Come prepared for culture shock.
Don't expect this place to be like US or England. That's why people like to come, for a different lifestyle
Don't expect to be easily understood. English is widely (but wildly) spoken, and "crooked English" takes some thought and/or intuition to understand.
Do remember that in language here, the Engagement is at the fore, the Transaction is way behind. You ae more likely to hear wha they think you'd like to rather than a true description of the state of affairs relevant to your question.
Don't get infected with Gold/Treasure Fever. It is not easily curable. And only half a percent of the stories are true.
Do understand that precision is an alien element
Don't spend your Exit Money. Just don't, OK?
Do slow down. You can't expect to achieve things in this climate and setting like you would at home. Siesta!
Do be careful with your things - bag, purse, wallet
Do avoid ostentatious displays of wealth. Dress down, keep your Rolex in the safe.
Do be aware that filipinos share whatever they happen to have, freely, with those around, and expect you to. They also believe all foreigners have unlimited wealth.
Do be prepared for endless intrusive personal questions. It's best to field them with a joke. Q. Fifty? Your sex life is still active? A. I gave up sex when I took up gambling, har har!
Do sharpen your joking skills. It will not take you far - it will take you everywhere.
Do be aware that opportunites for sex tourism are limited and fraught with peril. Don't do any drugs other than nicotine and alcohol.
Don't be offended by requests for money. Just smile and say either, "Sorry, I have no money for that" (or "Sure here you go")
DO be understanding and unostentatious in your giving to beggars (mostly street children). The Koranic injunction to give alms to the poor is shared by Christians and animists too.
Do understand that body language has a different syntax and grammer- don't wave, raise your eyebrows sharply; never beckon upwards- it is offensive, beckon downwards; pointing with your finger is unacceptable, point with your LIPS like they do; don't cross someone's line of sight or speech without bowing down; avoid touching anyone's foot; keep your own feet on the ground.
Do be aware that many have succumbed to the temptations of cheap drink. (Returned empty)
Do avoid noisy brash displays of any kind.
Do be prepared to explain what you want much more than just once.
Don't expect your wishes to be carried out if you are not around - something completely different will happen.
Do keep smiling. The more you are frustrated the more you must smile. You can get away with sayings things like "If this one doesn't work I'm going to burn your house down- Joke!" ONLY if smiling.
Don't, whatever you do, demonstrate your frustrated condition with angry retorts or insults.
Do disengage from unwelcome attentions with speed and tact
Take every opportunity to show your RESPECT for the country and it's people & culture. If you can't do that, stay at home.
Do enjoy the difference. Don't be offended by the cultural differences - like their attitude to women shared by male and female alike.
Don't expect to make drastic cultural attitude changes quickly
If you have money to spread around, you can make a lot of friends by sponsoring a deserving but penniless group: sponsor a basketball/netball team buy spending $125 on a team uniform, for example. Say Hello to the Muslims - they are a discriminated-against group. $20 on notebooks and pencils for their Saturday school will go down well- just don't expect to be believed when you tell them"There are none " in response to their question" "What are the conditions?"
Don't think you will get on by throwing money at dubious people who claim they can "fix" things for you.
When you get really upset (you will: nothing works, nobody can fix anything even when they know how, noone knows nor cares, noone knows how to work, the sun is so high in the sky you can't tell North from South [no-one knows where North is anyway]) do .... something completely different. Zen. Jump in the sea or on a bus and come back tomorrow. It's only a crisis if you can't say "OK, let's forget the whole thing. Snack?"
When you can't do this, be handsome and longwinded in your apology, with just the biggest grin nailed to your face.
(INCOMPLETE AT MARCH 2005: TEAM GONE SWIMMING)