Heritage and the youth

CEBU, Philippines - Young people these days are preoccupied with things other than history and heritage. Almost always, if you talk about the past, at the back of their minds, they only hear “Yadda, yadda, yadda.”

We can’t blame them. With the advancement of technology, young people have become more preoccupied with things that would give them excitement and challenges, sans the need to go out and sweat it out. History, which is always equated with voluminous books that are accumulating dusts in the library, becomes dull and boring.

This is where Kultura, Kabataan, ug Kabilin enters.

An initiative of the Carolinian Sociological-Anthropological Society (CARSAS) of the University of San Carlos Department of Sociology-Anthropology, the KKK gathered more than 400 young people, mostly students of the university, and brought them to the different museums surrounding the historical Parian District. Aside from the museum tours, they were also treated to a tartanilla ride and a walking tour to Parian’s heritage structures.

“This is how we address the formal and informal sector of the youth,” said Joy Gerra of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. “To engage them in cultural and heritage tours, and in the process raise their level of awareness, and exposure to the heritage conservation efforts done by different groups in Cebu.”

The activity, which was held last August 8, started with the opening of Joey Velasco’s one-man show at the Casa Gorordo Museum. They were then treated to a balitaw presentation, a poetic courtship ritual, and capped by a blessing ritual by faith healers from Bojo, Aloguinsan.

The students then made their rounds to Museo Sugbo, Fort San Pedro, the Cathedral Museum and the Sto. Niño Museum. Along the way, they passed by heritage structures and markers where members of the community-based heritage tourism initiative more than willingly shared the exciting stories behind these structures and markers.

Krysteil Mae Tanato, 18, and her friends, Jeremoth Meylon, 17, and Jhuna Mae Edaño, 17, were among those who joined the tour. Although this was not their first to visit a museum, they said that the event allowed them to appreciate history in a fun and creative way.

Jeramaine Puerto, 19, said that she intentionally brought along her best friend, Nicole Salgado, 19, because she also wants her to experience Cebu’s rich heritage. “I know that they don’t have this in Velez College,” Jeramaine said. Nicole is a Nursing student from Velez.

“I don’t want her to miss this opportunity,” she added.

For Rabii Quijano, 19, a Hotel and Restaurant Management student of Mandaue City College, KKK allowed him to appreciate Cebu’s past, adding that the information that he would get from the tour would be fun to share to his friends.

“This activity will help us understand our past, our present, and even our future,” said Karen Pitogo a 17-year old Nursing student. “Especially now that young people are preoccupied with other things, this is an opportunity for us to be enlightened of our rich cultural heritage and be proud of it.”

Karen said that the advantage with the KKK is the presence of the guides who can tell them the stories behind the displays. “We would not simply be viewing the displays, but would also be engrossed in its stories,” she said. The guides are also students who underwent a series of extensive trainings.

Gera said that although the event was exclusive for CARSAS, KKK will be the platform by which other youth groups and schools can take advantage of if they would also want to have a packaged heritage tour.

This is exactly what Jeramaine had in mind. “We are planning to do a suroy-suroy this month, but due to budgetary constraints we have to reschedule that. I think this would be a better alternative, so I might just replicate this for our youths in Barangay Day-as,” she said. Jeramaine is the Sanguniang Kabataan chairperson of Barangay Day-as.