Smart facilitates new livelihood opportunity for Dumagat communities

MANILA, Philippines - Several members of the Dumagat ethnic group from the Ipo and Upper Marikina Watershed communities are exploring an alternative livelihood that respects nature, and does not involve cutting down trees.

The group recently learned how to create sculptures from forest debris and driftwood, in a workshop sponsored by wireless services leader Smart Communications Inc. (Smart). The training was led by prominent Filipino sculptor Rey Paz Contreras, assisted by members of the Daambakal Sculptors of Tondo, Manila.

Smart earlier tapped Contreras and the Daambakal Sculptors to provide driftwood sculpture training to the Banglos community, a fishing barangay from Gen. Nakar, Quezon that had been displaced by four consecutive typhoons in 2004.

The Banglos sculptors have since sold more than P2 million worth of sculpture, and have mounted exhibits at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Cebu, and Bacolod.

Seeing how the project has improved the Banglos residents’ lives, Smart decided to replicate it and involve the Dumagat living in watershed communities.

“This project is important for two reasons. First, it introduces skill sets that can serve as a source of income and a source of pride for the communities. Second, it complements our efforts to help preserve the Ipo watershed, a critical source of water supply for Metro Manila, as well as our flood control efforts for the Marikina watershed,” said Darwin Flores, head of Smart’s community partnerships department.

The training was held over four days at the workshop of Contreras’ friend, architect Armando Cruz, in Angono, Rizal. Cruz allowed the group, which also included members of the Banglos community and carpenters from Zambales, to use his facilities for free.

Smart gave each participant a bayong containing all the tools and materials they would need.  The only thing that Smart and the trainers asked of the participants was for them to sign a commitment form stating that they would share whatever they would learn with other members of their community.

After just four days, the participants were able to come up with their own sculptures. Evident in their creations was the “listening” philosophy Contreras had taught them – the artist must “listen” to what the material wants itself to look like.

“This philosophy of working with nature, not against it, is something we hope they would carry into their daily lives,” Flores said.