One bright and sunny morning, the HanCole family headed for their outreach activity for the month of June. It was a Friday, June 11, 2010, just in time for school opening scheduled on Tuesday of the following week. Bringing along with them 60 bags containing the basic school needs of grade school children and 60 lunch packs, the team travelled towards the mountainous province of Bataan, with the spirit of mission in their hearts.
After almost three hours and a few directional flaws, the cheerful team arrived at their mission site – the Day Care Center of Bayan-Bayanan, Dinalupihan, Bataan. They finally witnessed the shining proof that the Negritos, the aboriginal pygmy group, still exist. Revisiting our history books, they were the group of people who, thousands of years ago, walked across land bridges migrating to our country. When these land bridges submerged under the ocean, the Negritos inhabited permanently in the archipelago and became the first settlers. Today they are popularly known as the Aetas and it is amazing to learn that they have preserved their race and culture despite the many centuries that have passed.
However, their heritage is a continuous struggle in order to live and co-exist with the other Filipino people. The irony behind the beauty of the mountains is the Aetas’ hard work and the many difficulties which resulted from frequent destructions caused by typhoons, drought and other natural calamities like the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. Destruction of their local environment due to demands for urbanization as well as for farming, and other man-made calamities are also part of their struggle. They depend a lot on the assistance from the government and NGOs concerned with the survival and development of the minorities. Many of the Aetas who found their way to the cities are now living along the highways and towns of Pampanga, Zambales, Olongapo City, Bataan, Metro Manila and begging for alms.
HanCole has chosen to extend educational help to a particular Aeta tribe who lives in Mt. Malasimbu, Dinalupihan, Bataan. They are called the Ambala tribe, named after their dialect or native language. They can also speak Tagalog, Kapangpangan, and English to people belonging to another tribe. They depend in the gifts of nature for their living – hunting wild animals and planting crops. They exchange crops with the people in the lowland for rice, dried fish, sugar, salt, utensils, etc.
One of the kids, when asked what his ambition is, replied that he would like to be a “mangangahoy” (woodsman) just like his father. Everyone in the list, which was provided by the Barangay Captain of Bayan-Bayanan, received his/her school supplies package. The distribution list HanCole requested was ten “kulots” kids for every grade level in elementary, therefore, total of 60 kids.
As expected, present in the outreach site were not just the 60 kids in the list. To stretch the benefits to more children, the HanCole team distributed the lunch packs to another group of 60 kids and the biscuit/noodle packs to a different group of 60. Hence, a total of 180 kids were able to receive the blessings HanCole shared that day.
The activity was over in two-and-a-half hours. The HanCole family faithful to their mission
statement, left the place with signs of fulfillment emanating from their smiling faces. It was a great experience which inspires them to work harder to give more cheers to the poor and the needy.
