The Lights On The Hill

June 25th, 2008 | Dumaguete, Negros, Philippines | Sunnier than you’d believe 37c

Project Happenings:

Up at 7. Breakfast at resort restaurant. Picked up at 8:15 and checked in at BBI factory. Drove with Ceasar to wild bamboo plantation area, then hiked 15 minutes in to the unmanaged bamboo clump sites being harvested. Mark’s Personal Note: Drenched in sweat from the moment we stepped into the forest. Briefed on different types of bamboo commonly used in BBI products. Clump being harvested was Tinik, or spiny, bamboo. The base of which is surrounded by a dense underbrush of tangled branches with sharp thorns. Ceasar explained the details of the harvesting process, and Mario, the lead cutter, demonstrated various techniques and tools used in the process. Documented wage information on cutters working in various capacities and with different materials. Viewed transportation procedures.
Proceeded to the BBI Bamboo Park to view treatment facilities and managed bamboo plantation. Examined and assessed multiple techniques for bamboo pole treatment, intended to ensure resistance to bok-bok termites, as well as fungal infections. Obtained detailed information on long-soaking, hot-soaking, and vertical-soaking techniques, as well as the facilities and times necessary for each process. Discussed methods and saw example of managed and unmanaged bamboo clumps. Assessed storage methods for untreated bamboo, as well as drying/draining setups. Discussed possible options for refining hot-soaking and storage techniques to increase efficiency and minimize waste material.
Headed back to resort for lunch and some down time.
Back to work. Went back to BBI factory for indepth facility tour with Marisa and Ceasar. Viewed various production methods in order to compile list for extensive documentation the following day. Saw numerous product samples, ranging from semi-engineered products such as floor tiles and wall slats, to large scale custom work, like a two-storey, open air bamboo house. Returned to resort and discussed shooting plan and documentation approach for following day. Emailed update to faculty adviser, Sheila, to advise of status and progress.
A well deserved sleep.

Communication Designer’s Activities
Created comprehensive visual documentation of all processes shown for inclusion in Propagation & Processing Package. Organized and categorized all visual documentation.
Industrial Designer’s Activities
Created detailed written account of all demonstrated processes for adaptation to use in potential production facilities in Cordillera Region. Reviewed and analyzed material to ensure complete and thorough documentation of all pertinent processes, as well as areas in which further information would be required.

Cultural Activities:

Cultural activities? Who has time for that? Didn’t you read the first part!?
Oh wait, we had time for it.

Food Stopped for a bit while the cutters were loading the truck to take to the BBI processing facility. Ceasar went and bought everyone fresh buco (coconuts) from some folks pulling them down a few hundred metres down the path. The cutters hacked them open for us, and we all sat around and drank fresh buco juice, then used the cut parts to scrape out the meat from inside. There’s few things more refreshing than fresh coconut water after roasting in a rainforest for a couple hours.

Social Observations:

This is more factual that observational, but worth noting anyway.
Average cutter’s pay for a day’s work cutting and hauling bamboo poles: 150 pesos
Current exchange rate of Philippines Pesos to Canadian Dollars: 43.75 to 1

Consider working all day long doing hard, and often dangerous labour, with no significant safety standards or equipment in baking heat for $3.43 a day.

July 28th, 2008 | Baguio/La Trinidad, Philippines | Heavy Rains, Heavy Fog (weather report = light rains) 16 C

Project Happenings:

Sunday plus drenching rains made for little motivation, and a slow start on the day. Wrote about bamboo propagation techniques for the education package, drawing from several resources. Fatima has agreed to read the package to ensure its accuracy. Will focus on four species of Bamboos that are already growing at the higher altitude in the cooler weather.

Industrial Designer got into gear mid-afternoon, mostly because Malen was away, and we were to provide our own meals for the day. Packed up books and went into Baguio to find food and a nice place to work. Checked out Bliss Cafe, which had very nice bathrooms (Kathleen’s Personal Note), and really good vegetarian food! Worked all afternoon writing about bamboo propagation.
Communication Designer …

Cultural Activities:

Food ate at new restaurant Bliss Cafe, in the Elizabeth Hotel on Gibraltar Rd. in Baguio. Good vegetarian food, vegetarian meats included in many of the dishes. Not the best curry I have ever had, but tasted incredible to have some spice in our meal, and the Bali Salad was nothing to scoff at either! Melanie’s Personal Note: Spinach!!!!!!

Entertainment Bliss Cafe also hosts every Sunday night an art film screening. This week we managed to catch a Finish film, The Lights at Dusk. Dark, pathetic, yet strangely comedic. There were lots of long static shots, and the actors stared into the camera, giving it an older feel, though it showed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, and quite a lot of mood. Style of movie combined with numerous scenery shots of Helsinki made me wonder what it would be like to visit Finland, and if the film had captured something of the psychology of the place.

Social Observations:
Umbrella costs 150 pesos, yeah right! 150=days wage of unskilled worker in rural community, but timing is everything, a tropical downpour is not the time to bargain.
Melanie’s Personal Note: I left my umbrella in a taxi yesterday, and even with a raincoat, today’s downpour necessitated a replacement.

July 3rd, 2008 | Bayabas, La Trinidad, Philippines | Sunny with clouds 19c

Project Happenings:

In the morning we went with Norma and one of the weavers to visit the Bayabas Barangay. Where the weavers were working from their homes producing fabrics in the traditional colours and patterns. We learned about the traditional weaving including the back-strap weaving, for inclusion in the Winaca Foundation website. We also gathered more anecdotal information about their the housing, working and everyday lifestyles of people living in Baguio. In the afternoon and well into the night, we began working in earnest to sort through photos and notes to put together a solid presentation on the Buglas Bamboo Institute for the Winaca Board Members.

Industrial Designer : Learn about the work and lifestyles of the people in the Cordillera, in order to have a better understanding of how to present the educational packages. Transcribed all the research and notes taken at BBI into a comprehensive document to be used for the presentation.
Communication Designer : Gather information on traditional crafts and culture of the Cordillera Region for inclusion in the Winaca Foundation website. Organized photos taken of various processes for inclusion in presentation, and combined content and images into presentation format.

Cultural Activities:

Entertainment Sat and casually talked with the women weavers about thier homes, the killer earthquake of 1990, their families, where they came from, weddings. Soon there several women had joined our circle as we sat around Veronica and her loom. The women were eager to talk with us, and tell us stories about themselves.

Melanie sat at the loom with Jel, and was shown how to weave, jokes were made about the speed and quality of her work. Especially after Jel’s demonstration, her hands and feet fast, deftly working the loom and shuttle. Melanie also sat at the backstrap loom which was much less comfortable than the conventional looms. Veronica gave two samples of cloth, traditional weaving, both were from the Bontok tribe. Mark enjoyed himself talking with the women and taking lots of beautiful portraits and photographs of the weaving. We later happened across a group of children and made a video as they played with the pump at a well, which thrilled them to no end!!

Melanie’s Personal Note: I wonder if mornings are always so causal in Bayabas, if it is common for women to wander over to each others houses to sit and chat while they work?

Social Observations:
The conditions in Bayabas were much dirtier than in Balili, you had to be careful where you stepped to avoid the human faeces left on the path. The houses were significantly bigger, though the terrain was steep, it wasn’t as vertical as in Balili.

Each household had one or two looms worked by the mothers and grandmothers, who were taught by their mothers and relatives how to weave as girls. As daughters grow up weaving becomes a source of income. Jel was the youngest and only girl we saw weaving. Usually it is the women who weave, but we were told that in Bontok and in the lowlands boys are also taught to weave. Weaving at home allows the women to take care of the house and the children, and the extra income earned usually goes to their care or education.

The price is: 120 peso/4 yards. The women usually weave 12 yard bolts. Taking them 2-3 days to prepare, and 2-3 days to weave, working 8 hours a day with no distractions (ie. picking the kids up from school). This works out to approx. 480/week, and 1,920/month. The women at Narda’s make 6,000/month. Hermenya, working a traditional loom, can complete 12 yards in 3-4 days while taking care of the children, and 2 days uninterrupted. Not sure if this includes the preparation time or not. Every other woman was working conventional looms, so her set up time might be less.

We discovered that birthdays are not really celebrated, if there is extra money, pansit canton and spaghetti will be served. Christmas is a time for family to gather, but money is not spent on gifts or extravagant dinners. Weddings are where Philippinos pull out all the stops! Igorot women wear the traditional Tapis (wrap-around skirt w/ belt), men wear the G-strings or loin cloth. Pigs are raised and slaughtered for this occasion, as well as chickens and other meats. Hundreds of people family and community are invited. The wedding is the most important celebration here in the Cordilleras and most likely in all of the Philippines.

Mark’s Personal Note: G-strings!!!