Eugine "Euge" Paul Rubin was a very worried young man at the start of the activities for the Bentela daw Sayuda, a Pulangiyen practice of visiting and sharing information. Six of his colleagues backed out of this scheduled activity for various reasons - the remoteness of the area, the rumors about armed groups.

Euge is a 19-year old college student at Bukidnon State University pursuing a BS degree in Secondary Education. He is also the chairperson of the Mindanaw Tripartite Youth Core (MTYC) [1]-Bukidnon chapter. Euge was primarily responsible for ensuring participation of their 15-member team and was preoccupied with the logistics and administrative matters prior to the visit.

Arriving in Bendum on 14 August 2010, this feeling was soon appeased when smiles and warm faces welcomed Euge and his team. The cool breeze and the surrounding forest calmed him down and allowed him to focus on the present. Euge grew up in the nearby province of Lantapan but it was his first time to actually see and stay in a community living within a forest. Euge looked forward to this visit to Bendum but was surprised to emerge towards the end with reflections on education, the indigenous people, and his faith.

It was an eye-opener for Euge to listen to education spoken of not just in terms of simple reading and writing, but of the education that truly matters. Staying in a community that uses mother-tongue and culture-based education reminded him of the importance and responsibility as he pursues his education degree. For the Pulangiyen, knowing how to read and write are necessary but the sustainability of their culture was equally important and taking care of their land and the surrounding forest.

Euge used to view the lumad (collective term for Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao) as generally uneducated and unable to keep up with the modern world as they were mostly isolated in the mountains. It was therefore with great humility that he listened and engaged with community's teachers who were not college degree holders but were the best persons to teach about the community's language and traditions. Euge knew then and there that if given the chance it would be a privilege to teach a lumad community and perhaps be taught by them as well.

When a young Pulangiyen shared in one of the sessions that "as knowledge increases, faith decreases," Euge felt guilty. It was if the words were speaking personally to him as there was much truth in the words in relation to his life. His faith and relationship with his God was lately focused more in explanations of faith and the non-existence of God, rather than the experience of such.

He knew he lacked faith especially during the preparations for the visit. And yet during this visit that stressed him, in the middle of Bukidnon's forest, Euge felt God speaking to him through the Pulangiyen youth. They spoke of knowledge in terms of what was necessary to learn and not just Science and Math. They spoke about traditions and ancestry, about mythical beings and about their Gods who help provide shelter and food.

The anxieties and fears that Euge felt at the start when some of his colleagues backed out from the visit were unnecessary as the number of participants did not affect the exchange at all, especially the insights he gained. "Di nasayang yung dalawang araw ko, kasi ako ang punong abala para sa pagbisita. Ramdam kong yung dalawang araw, kahit may mga pagsubok, bigay ng Diyos sa akin" (The two days were not a waste of time, especially given that I was the one who spearheaded the visit. I felt as if those two days, despite the trials and concerns, were a present from God.)

Background of the visit activity

Last 14 to 15 August 2010, nine students from Bukidnon State University visited and were warmly welcomed by the Pulangiyen community of Bendum, in Malaybalay, Bukidnon in northern Mindanao as part of the activities of ESSC's Bridging Leadership in Mindanao . During the two days, the visiting youth and the Pulangiyen youth and other community members exchanged stories and information about themselves, their activities, and experiences. The intention is to provide further learning and knowledge for participants through engaging with the host community, and vice versa.

The MTYC .partnered with ESSC to provide a deepening activity on their gift-giving initiative called Operation Shoebox, wherein a shoebox full of school supplies is given to deserving less-privileged elementary students. MTYC provided shoeboxes to the Pulangiyen, the IP tribe who reside in Bendum. The visit aimed to provide a venue for their volunteers to enrich their knowledge about the beneficiary community and give them an insight into the lives of some indigenous youth.

MTYC is a partner of ESSC in various projects, including activities with the Apu Palamguwan Cultural Education Center (APC) , a school for indigenous peoples born out of ESSC's cultural empowerment program for Bendum in the 1990s.

[1] MTYC is the youth desk of the Bishops-Ulama Conference , a dialogue forum composed of Catholic Mindanao bishops, Muslim religious leaders (Ulama and Ustadz), and Protestant bishops and pastors who in the spirit of interreligious dialogue affirm their common commitment to the peace process. Also involved in the Bishops-Ulama Conference as official observers are officers of Panagtagbo, a confederation of indigenous peoples in Mindanao and bishops of the Philippine Conference of Evangelical Churches