Well, Day 1 was sleep, eat and find more edibles. Curry withdrawal syndrome has led to a voracious appetite for all sorts of contraband. Seafood pancit which some gooey noodles. I made a lousy choice and ended up with something I will NEVER try again.
Day 2 was super optimistic and lived up to its promise. Met the wonderful Miss Shyl Sales who is effiencient and resourceful, administrative wonder at IPC. I will be taking her for coffee later. She was kind enough to show me a directory of all the work which has been produced by the Institute of Philippines Culture (Ateneo de Manila University). The researchers there are so prolific and do such seminal work. I managed to pick up a great book by Jeanne Frances I.Illo & Cecile C. Uy "Members But Not Leaders - Finding a Niche for Women in Cooperatives".
Met the director the amazing Dr. Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu - powerhouse of brilliance and very approachable. She was surprised to know that oil palm plantations existed in Sultan Kudrat. She observed that my project did not sound very academic, but I talked to her about the instruments I planned to use and she asked me to share what I find with her students in January 2013 at the end of my research.
She herself was working on a national project looking at returned women migrant workers from the time migration of workers started as far back as 1940s. She was collecting oral histories - 4 visits of 2 hour length interviews. I talked about how I felt these documentation was vital as I reflected on how nothing was left behind of women plantation workers during the colonial period.
Living matters
Despite my lousy luck with food, the goddess of bountiful food smiled upon me with this awesome resto. Vegetables and great coffee - prices range from Php 99 - Php 170. I have been frequenting the place and have now grown a little to accustomed that I will not venture else where. It is always noodles, mock meat and vegetables. They also have awesome coffee and bread.
'My Place' is a dormitory/accommodations set up for affluent students in Miriam College and Ateneo de Manila in Katipunan. It is located along Fabian Del Rosa Street and has plenty of eateries around. There is also a funky bookstore nearby called 'Fully Booked'. The books are a little expensive but interesting collection, nevertheless.
My room has the following facilities - heater, toilet (separate and dry), 3 beds (for one person!), an ancient TV which has horrible colour, good lighting, fridge and huge sink.
Dinner with Isa, Kuntum, Makiko and Wiley
Dinner was at a restaurant, it served interesting local cuisine. I am not going to rave about the food because I did not take note of the names. Isa was very kind to order me great fish dishes. I realized I love sour stuff. I like vinegar. The discussion at dinner was very interesting, Wiley who works with Asia Foundation now talked about his work in 2002 among the Bajau in Semporna, Sabah. He was looking at leadership and conflict resolution. He really enjoyed his stay in Malaysia and loved his community. He is an anthropologist by training. He did talk about interesting experiences which I can't divulge here. He has also written some books on Mindanao clan culture. He mentioned a gruesome incident where in a certain municipal area religious officer splashed acid on Muslim women. The clans retaliated by beheading these men and leaving their heads at the municipal administrative office grounds. Well...I was speechless. Then he explained how clan culture was all pervasive in Mindanao.
He was very kind to provide some excellent leads on who to contact regarding Mindanao history. He is an authority named Rudu Rodil "Ompong" in Davao. I suddenly find I am very intrigued by the context of conflict in this area. He also provide me with Fadmawathy Salapuddin's number. I met her during the SEAHRN training session last year. a lead I can follow up on.
The other two API fellows in Philippines are doing some exciting work on the following - Makiko has been filming the life of a woman born in Philippines who married and settled in Japan. She is studying the kinship and family relations of this multicultural family. Kuntum used to work with Mangrove Network and plans to analyze of the impact of changes in coastal areas on women. She will also be traveling to Mindanao for her work. She gave me some very good advice on the Indonesian leg of my research. She commented that Bogor is too limited to study for 2 months and she suggested that I look at Medan instead. As far as the stipulation is concerned I agreed to visit Bogor and include it in my work. I can always include Medan later. I will have to write to Nippon Foundation for this.
(Insert: Kuntum, Isa and Makiko)
This is overlooking Manila Bay area, it is a popular 'santai' spot for city folk who want to take in the breeze. Super view of skyline and some old colonial buildings from the American colonial period.
Day 2 was super optimistic and lived up to its promise. Met the wonderful Miss Shyl Sales who is effiencient and resourceful, administrative wonder at IPC. I will be taking her for coffee later. She was kind enough to show me a directory of all the work which has been produced by the Institute of Philippines Culture (Ateneo de Manila University). The researchers there are so prolific and do such seminal work. I managed to pick up a great book by Jeanne Frances I.Illo & Cecile C. Uy "Members But Not Leaders - Finding a Niche for Women in Cooperatives".
Met the director the amazing Dr. Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu - powerhouse of brilliance and very approachable. She was surprised to know that oil palm plantations existed in Sultan Kudrat. She observed that my project did not sound very academic, but I talked to her about the instruments I planned to use and she asked me to share what I find with her students in January 2013 at the end of my research.
She herself was working on a national project looking at returned women migrant workers from the time migration of workers started as far back as 1940s. She was collecting oral histories - 4 visits of 2 hour length interviews. I talked about how I felt these documentation was vital as I reflected on how nothing was left behind of women plantation workers during the colonial period.
Living matters
My room has the following facilities - heater, toilet (separate and dry), 3 beds (for one person!), an ancient TV which has horrible colour, good lighting, fridge and huge sink.
Dinner with Isa, Kuntum, Makiko and Wiley
Dinner was at a restaurant, it served interesting local cuisine. I am not going to rave about the food because I did not take note of the names. Isa was very kind to order me great fish dishes. I realized I love sour stuff. I like vinegar. The discussion at dinner was very interesting, Wiley who works with Asia Foundation now talked about his work in 2002 among the Bajau in Semporna, Sabah. He was looking at leadership and conflict resolution. He really enjoyed his stay in Malaysia and loved his community. He is an anthropologist by training. He did talk about interesting experiences which I can't divulge here. He has also written some books on Mindanao clan culture. He mentioned a gruesome incident where in a certain municipal area religious officer splashed acid on Muslim women. The clans retaliated by beheading these men and leaving their heads at the municipal administrative office grounds. Well...I was speechless. Then he explained how clan culture was all pervasive in Mindanao.
He was very kind to provide some excellent leads on who to contact regarding Mindanao history. He is an authority named Rudu Rodil "Ompong" in Davao. I suddenly find I am very intrigued by the context of conflict in this area. He also provide me with Fadmawathy Salapuddin's number. I met her during the SEAHRN training session last year. a lead I can follow up on.
The other two API fellows in Philippines are doing some exciting work on the following - Makiko has been filming the life of a woman born in Philippines who married and settled in Japan. She is studying the kinship and family relations of this multicultural family. Kuntum used to work with Mangrove Network and plans to analyze of the impact of changes in coastal areas on women. She will also be traveling to Mindanao for her work. She gave me some very good advice on the Indonesian leg of my research. She commented that Bogor is too limited to study for 2 months and she suggested that I look at Medan instead. As far as the stipulation is concerned I agreed to visit Bogor and include it in my work. I can always include Medan later. I will have to write to Nippon Foundation for this.
This is overlooking Manila Bay area, it is a popular 'santai' spot for city folk who want to take in the breeze. Super view of skyline and some old colonial buildings from the American colonial period.
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