“Maong kanunay mi maulahi o kaha dili na lang adtoan tungod sa kalayo sa among lugar” (That is why we are always the last or they forego reaching our community because of the long distance), Limonda Barangay Chairperson Mikel Sambulay said. Like neighboring Brgy. Cauyunan, Limonda is also in the most hinterland part of Opol, Misamis Oriental, accessible via Manticao Municipality, Misamis Oriental. The Municipa Local Government Unit (MLGU) have to pass thru several municipalities before it reaches the village.
Brgy. Limonda is also part of the Dulangan Unified Ancestral Domain, and Samdhana has been working with them in the last two and a half years on a project for strengthening indigenous governance and increasing capacities, especially those of women and youth, to more actively participate in the governance and conservation.
“Pobre man mi tanan diri pero giuna namo ang mga pinakananginahanglan” (We are all poor here but we put first those who need it most among us), he also said. Entering into the third week of the community quarantine due to the COVID-19, resources and funds for emergency relief for the barangay constituents have already been depleted. The Department of Social Welfare and Development/MLGU provided 5 kilos of rice for 72 households. The beneficiaries shared this with other families who did not receive any food relief, in the spirit of bayanihan. There are 174 households in total in Brgy. Limonda.
Many family breadwinners, who are daily wage earners working in town or nearby cities, were not able to come home when the quarantine started. Their families find it hard to meet daily needs. Those who made it home have no other means to earn income in the barangay – there is no farm work, drought affected the farm produce, and everyone is competing over whatever forage food is available in the area.
Samdhana Appeal
A donation of one thousand pesos (P1000) will provide food for one family for two weeks and allow for delivery of these to isolated and predominantly indigenous communities that are already calling out to be supplemented for their basic needs, as they are unable to earn daily wage and provide for their families in the coming days of the extended community quarantine. We appeal to your kind and generous hearts at this time of crisis to provide food for survival of 174 families in Limonda. If you have the google earth app you can see the location of the community in the following links:
Our full letter of appeal can be read here: https://www.samdhana.org/stories/finding-resilience-time-crisis or https://www.facebook.com/samdhana.institute/posts/652360695329573?__tn__=K-R
Responses to frequently asked questions:
How will we get the rice and salt?
The supply of rice and salt will come from traders mainly in Cagayan de Oro City and other major cities in Mindanao. Samdhana Institute will directly secure the supply.
How will we get the food to the communities?
Samdhana Institute will arrange for transport for the goods from supply to receiving community. This will be arranged directly and coordinated with the respective local governments and other kindhearted transport owners. It is important that this reaches this far-flung barangay at the soonest possible time.
How will we ensure that these food items reach those who most need it?
Beneficiary selection and goods distribution will be managed by the partner Indigenous Communities through their leadership structure and the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR). They shall closely coordinate with the respective municipal and barangay government units. The Indigenous youth and women will be the responsible individuals in the frontline during beneficiary validation and actual distribution. They will be provided with face masks and disinfecting solutions and social distancing will be practiced during the distribution. Goods will be delivered to each household or the nearest point of convergence per purok, zone of sitio, where social distancing can be practiced during the distribution process.
Tracking and reporting?
Acknowledgement receipt per beneficiary will be filled up and signed. Photo documentation and video documentation will be assigned to the youth. We will provide donors with copies of these and a full report.
Who is Samdhana Institute?
Samdhana operates across South east Asia. In the Philippines, it has an office in Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao and in Coron in Palawan. Samdhana Institute supports indigenous peoples and local communities to secure their rights to their territories and their wellbeing. Our work is mainly supporting and facilitating Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), and civil society organizations working with them, developing their capacities; institutional mechanisms and next generation leaders, and supporting communities develop local innovations for community resilience. But the struggle for tenure security and resiliency is not a short term task. We also provide urgent support for indigenous and local communities in far flung areas during critical times such as during disasters and this current COVID 19 crisis. Samdhana Institute was registered in 2003 and 2005 as a not-for profit organization in the Philippines and Indonesia, respectively. For more information, visit our website in www.samdhana.org
Do let us know if you have any questions or concerns. You may also want to contact Erwin (erwin@samdhana.org) or Joan (joan@samdhana.org) directly for more details.
The Samdhana bank account for your information is BPI Cogon CDO Branch Acct. No. 9321-0045-36. Please send through email confirmation of sending the donation to bunny@samdhana.org. We will send you your acknowledgement receipt through email.
The following are the contact details of Joan, Erwin or Cane. SMS or WA message to Joan (09258668477) or Erwin 09175853817 or Cane 09175300255 or via messenger : Joan Auj (Joan); Er Kyu (Erwin) and Aim Sylph (Cane).
Maraming salamat po!
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