It's all happening

On Tuesday, April 26th, we held a storytelling session here at the PBCI office. It was in conjunction with a Transitional Justice Initiative that Peacebuilders is involved in, funded by the Office of the Presidential Advisor on Peace Process (OPAPP). We invited leaders from each of the Tri-people groups here in Mindanao--Muslim, Indigenous, and Christian Migrant--as well as historians whose research focuses on Mindanao. The people present were Honorable Datu Kharis Baraguir, a Bangsamoro from Nuling, Sultan Kudarat who is part of the lineage of the first Muslim Sultanate of the Philippines; Ate Lualhati Abreu, a historian and author; Datu Waway Saway, an Indigenous community leader of the Talaandig tribe in Bukidnon; Instructor Sharon Obsioma Bulaclac, a history professor at Mindanao State University, Marawi City; Tirmizy Abdullah, a Bangsamoro history professor at the same university; and Sir Manny Tawagon, a Maranao retired historian and professor.

One of the purposes of this session was to have the guests look over and have input on the outline of historical events that I have put together which will be the framework for the script of the theater production about the history of Mindanao that I’m working on. I was so excited to have these wonderful resources at my fingertips to see what they thought about our presentation; however, I was nervous.

As an outsider, it is scary to present a proposal of a history that is not yours. Although I have read books, articles, and scoured websites to get a broad idea of Mindanao’s (and the Philippine’s) history, I can’t claim to really know much of anything about the country because I am an outsider. To present this outline to these learned Mindanaoans was humbling. However, they received it graciously, and even seemed excited about being asked for their contribution. I think it’s a universal truth that people like to talk about what they know, and we were giving these people a platform to do just that. They conversed openly about their country and island, and provided so much useful information, much more, in fact, than I could ever hope to incorporate in a two hour production.

It was especially interesting for me to see how the “mythical” stories of the Indigenous population regarding their heritage and creation have been incorporated into the identities of the Muslim communities here. Islam was introduced in the Philippines in the 14th century, but, of course, stories of Indigenous ancestry go back much farther than that. The Indigenous people who were converted to Islam integrated these mythical stories into their religious identities, creating a new identity that was an amalgamation of the two. For example, the Talaandig Tribe, of which we welcomed Kuya Waway Saway, a visual artist, musician, and generally amazing human being, believe that four of the tribes of Mindanao originated from one father figure. Two of these Indigenous tribes are now predominantly Muslim, having been converted by Muslim missionaries. As both Tirmizy and Datu Kharis noted, they have no reason not to believe that these stories are true, and they don’t go against the Muslim belief in the Oneness of God, so they accept them into their belief system.

This reminded me very much of a book I read during my time at Goshen College: “Christianity Rediscovered,” by Vincent J. Donovan. A Jesuit priest, Donovan spent many years in Tanzania with the Masai tribe with the intention of converting them to Christianity. Through his experiences, however, he discovered that in order to allow the gospel of Christ to flourish, he needed to allow it to be adapted and adopted in a way specific to the Masai culture. Did this dilute the gospel, or even pervert it in some way? The simple answer is no; in fact, if we limit the gospel to our own Western understanding of it, we are the ones who dilute the inclusive potential of it. Hearing from the Muslims of Mindanao who adapted Islam in certain ways that were appropriate to their lives was an interesting look at the potential similarities of Christian and Muslim missionary work in Indigenous communities, which, in a small way, supports my intentional message for this project, courtesy of Professor Joe Liechty and author Byron Bland, respectively: Reconciliation recognizes that “the differences that divide us do not go to the core of our being,” and that “those who have been deeply divided in the past do indeed belong together in the future.”

Although I have put together an outline for the script that reaches up to the present, I wanted a portion of the production to focus on hopes and dreams for the future of Mindanao that are realistic and of the people. For this I was reliant on the storytelling session. Ate Kriz, who was the facilitator of the meeting, asked each of the guests to share their hopes and dreams for the future of their land. It was inspiring to hear the words of these people who have lived in conflicted land for their entire lives. How can you envision peace and reconciliation when all you’ve known is perpetual conflict? Their dreams ranged from the very practical (self determination for the Bangsamoro people) to the abstract (recognizing the beauty in each of the people groups of Mindanao and learning to respect and cherish that beauty). It was inspiring to hear these people take ownership of their country, and realize that the solution to their problems will have to found within themselves. I found this especially encouraging because of the reality of the pervasiveness of the “white savior” idea still very present in the Philippines. To hear these Mindanaoans understand and claim their own power and potential to rebuild their country was remarkable, and something that Peacebuilders really struggles to put at the forefront of their philosophy of NGO work.

And now, my work really begins. This storytelling session was to be the last big resource tap for me in finding material for the script. I’m now moving on to finalizing script elements and beginning to write. Let me be completely honest: I’ve never written a script. I didn’t take Playwriting at Goshen, opting instead for Directing, the lesser of two evils for me at the time. And now I’m being asked to write material for a two hour production. Lovely :)

That being said, I do envision many of the stories that make up the history of Mindanao to be portrayed through dance and movement, something that I have a little more experience in. I’m so excited to create pieces that express the richness of the culture here, and hopefully communicate the deep joy, perseverance, and resoluteness of the people of Mindanao. We are working with a local performance group, the Kaliwat Theatre Collective, who will be holding a weeklong workshop for our performers, teaching us traditional dance and how to use traditional musical instruments. I am so very excited for this collaboration, as Kaliwat’s mission is to bring peace and justice through the arts. We recently went to one of their performances and it was incredibly inspiring to see the way they honored the Indigenous communities that they have worked and lived with through movement and music. They also invited us up on stage to dance with them, an offer which I accepted extremely hesitantly :)

Kuya Dann has big plans for this theater production and sees it fitting into the PAR80 initiative quite clearly. We are hoping to specifically invite the elite upper class of Davao to the performance, hoping that those who have the power to change the system will do so. In the next few weeks, I am going to meet with the Mayor of Davao City, introduce the project to her, and work to garner support from the local government systems. Although I didn’t realize this initially, in all honesty, I suppose the ruling elite is my intended audience for this production. I want to push people to action through a discomfort with the unjust situation of so many in Mindanao portrayed in the performance. The oppressed population, however, needs comfort and hope, not discomfort and gritty reality. I am praying that I find this balance in the material we create; that those who are in the depths of oppression will be lifted up, and those who are apathetic and yet hold power will be inspired to act.