Last boost for the Manobo Cultural Center of Kisayab in the Philippines!
The Meupia Project, launched in the Philippine, four years ago (April 1, 2013) aims at preserving the Manobo-Tigwahanon culture by promoting intergenerational exchanges.
Last February, after several years of fundraising, we launched the construction of a cultural center in the small village of Kisayab. The building work is almost finished, thanks to the help of the voluntary workers. However, today we still miss a few pesos to achieve the project. That is the reason why we are now launching a 2-weeks-crowdfunding campaign on ULULE to collect 500 euros we need to get the projet ready for opening.
We need a little help from fate (but more accurately from you) to carry out this project …
THE MANOBO TRIBE
The Manobo tribe is the biggest indigenuous population on the Mindanao island, in the south of the Philippines. They live out of their farming activities, which they practice in harmony with their vision of the world, based on the existence of a super-natural and a natural world.
CONTEXT
In 1875, the Jesuit missionaries from Spain convert hundreds of Manobo persons and other Philippinian tribes to catholicism. In the following decades, with the influence of American people, some Manobos convert to different groups of protestants. Nowadays, most of them do believe in a kind of double religion, mixing christian faith and their preserved ancestral religion.
Moreover, over the latest decades, the Manobo tribe was compelled to face massive deforestation campaigns, which left them very scarce land to allow them hunting for their living. All those factors contributed to fragilize this tribe, economically speaking as well as culturally.
Acknowledging this situation, Morgane Quiger and Louie Talents, project leaders for the « Compagnie Acte II », launched the MEUPIA project (MEUPIA is the word the Manobo people use to call for a gathering) in Kisayab, a small community located 19km from San Fernando, in the Bukidnon-Mindanao province.
AIMS of the PROJECT
For the first years, the project took the shape of an annual summer camp, which aimed at making children being aware of the crucial issue of preserving their own culture. The summer camp program provided them with diverses classes, focused on traditional arts: dancing, singing and playing traditional music, acting, performing arts, as well as making of traditional costumes, jewellery and music instruments and above all, a Master Class « Where are we from ? » taught by the village elders.
Today we want to go further!
With the help of Emilie Luangkhot (french civil engineer and architect), we then initiated the construction of a cultural center, dedicated to the preservation of their culture, through intergenerational exchanges. We were able to gather funds thanks to the support of the city of Brest (France) and many individuals through charity diners at the « Patronage Laïque du Pilier-Rouge » in Brest. Then, the building works has been launched last february and thanks to the hard work on site from Louie Talents, Sonny Montera and several Manobo voluntary workers, the cultural center is now almost finished.
However, we still miss few pesos to complete the work…
We need 500 euros extra in order to complete the building and be able to give the Manobo community a beautiful and functional building, dedicated to their culture.
The funds we are gathering will be use accordingly to the following :
Your help will be the last boost for the project and will represent a beautiful gift to the Manobo community in Kisayab. To us, it will be a great example of intercontinental solidarity, contributing to empower the Manobo to act on their own for the development of intergenerational solidarity.