'Ang Unang Maestra,' dokumentaryo ni Sandra Aguinaldo, ngayong Sabado sa 'I-Witness'

“ANG UNANG MAESTRA”

Dokumentaryo ni Sandra Aguinaldo

AIRING DATE: OCTOBER 20, 2018

Umaasa sila sa biyaya ng kalikasan.  Sa gubat at ilog nagmumula ang kanilang lamang tiyan.  Pinipitas nila ang mga prutas at gulay mula sa kanilang bakuran.  Sariwa ang hangin at malinis ang kanilang mga ilog.

Sa isang tagong sulok sa bulubundukin ng Tanay, payapa ang buhay ng mga Dumagat.

Ngunit gaano man sila kalayo sa sibilisasyon, tila nanganganib pa rin ang kanilang pamumuhay.

Matagal na silang nakatira sa kanilang lupang ninuno, ngunit unti-unti silang tinutulak paalis rito. Ayon sa mga Dumagat, nalilinlang sila ng ilang mga taga kapatagan dahil sa kanilang kakulangan sa kaalaman.

Ngayon, mayroon na silang sandata para maprotektahan ang kanilang tribo: ang edukasyon.

Si Teacher Diday ang kauna-unahang Dumagat mula sa Tanay na nakapagtapos ng kolehiyo.  Kursong edukasyon ang tinapos niya sa tulong ng isang scholarship.  No-read, no-write ang kaniyang mga magulang pero desidido silang makapagtapos ang kanilang anak sa pamamagitan ng pagbebenta ng aning bigas at luya.  Ngayon, si Teacher Diday ang tanging maestra ng kanilang nayon.   Ang isang multi-purpose hall sa barangay Sta. Ines ang naging kanlungan ng kaalaman ng mahigit limampung estudyanteng Dumagat.

Ilan sa mga estudyante ni Teacher Diday, kailangan pang maglakbay ng mahigit isang oras para makapasok.  Marami sa mga batang Dumagat ang hindi nakapagtapos ng elementarya.  Habang ang mga nakatatanda, hindi alam kung paano isulat ang kanilang mga pangalan.  Hindi rin sila marunong magkuwenta ng kanilang naibentang ani.  Madalas rin silang kinakantiyawan sa eskuwelahan, kaya ang mga batang Dumagat, mahiyain at pinipili nalang umupo sa likuran.

Ngunit sa loob ng klasrum ni Teacher Diday, nakangiti ang mga estudyanteng Dumagat, kahit pa tila nakikipagbuno sa hawak na mga bolpen para isulat ang kanilang mga pangalan.  Suot nila ang kanilang tradisyunal na damit.  Hindi sila nahihiyang magsalita sa klase dahil ang guro nila, kapuwa Duamagat.

Pinili ni Teacher Diday na bumalik sa kaniyang komunidad para tulungan ang mga Dumagat na tuparin ang kanilang mga pangarap.  Katuwang niya sa pagtuturo ang kaniyang nakababatang kapatid na si Irene, isa namang graduate ng Information Technology.  Batid nilang mas kikita sila kung makahahanap ng trabaho sa labas ng Sta. Ines, ngunit mas gusto nilang ihandog ang kanilang mga natutunan sa lupang tinubuan.

Ngayong Sabado sa I-Witness, kikilalanin ni Sandra Aguinaldo ang isang natatanging guro sa “Ang Unang Maestra”, pagkatapos ng Kapuso Movie Night sa GMA.

English version

They hunt in the forest and fish in the river for food. They harvest fruits and vegetables in their backyard. They breathe fresh mountain air and bathe in clean river water.

In a remote area of Tanay, life is peaceful and quiet for the Dumagat tribe.

But no matter how detached from civilisation they are, their land and their lives are under threat.

In the many years that they have lived there, the Dumagat are slowly being pushed farther up in the mountains, their ancestral lands being taken away from them.  The elder Dumagat say, people from the lowlands would come and using their thumbmark, make them sign a piece of paper not knowing they are giving up their land by doing so.

They now know, education is the key to preserving their way of life.

Now, a Dumagat is paving the way for the others being the first one in her tribe to graduate from college. Diday finished an education degree through a scholarship.  Both her parents can’t read nor write but were determined to see their daughter graduate, helping by selling ginger for her allowance. Now, a makeshift school in barangay Sta. Ines in Tanay has become a haven for learning for more than 50 Dumagat men, women and children.

Although some of the young ones are able to attend school an hour away by foot, many from the tribe do not get to finish elementary. Most of the elder Dumagat cannot write their names. They cannot compute their harvest. Stories of bullying in school abound, that is why they say, most of them tend to sit at the back of the class, pretending to be invisible.

In teacher Diday’s classroom, they smile as together they make fun of themselves struggling with a pen to write their names or count the excess of a kilo of chilli sitting on a scale. They wear their traditional clothes to class. They are free to speak out and be heard. They do not need to be afraid nor ashamed because the teacher is one of them.

Teacher Diday chose to come back to her community after college determined to nurture dreams of those who will come after her. Her sister Irene, an Information Technology graduate is assisting her in running the school.  They both know they can earn more elsewhere but they never entertained the thought because it has always been about giving back to the community what they have learned in the outside world.

This Saturday on I-Witness, Sandra Aguinaldo gets to know the inspirational story of an indefatigable teacher in “Ang Unang Maestra”, after Kapuso Movie Night on GMA.