Ati tribe gets skills training from Brother

MANILA, Philippines - More than a world-famous tourist destination, Boracay is home, since the beginning of time, to the Ati, Aklan’s indigenous people. The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples support the claim that the Atis were the earliest settlers of Boracay but were driven away,  especially in the 1970s, when tourists and investors started to descend on the island. Some 200 Atis now live in a one-hectare lot in one of the island’s three barangays but are continuously threatened with eviction. Rediscovering the Ati identity so they could be integrated into mainstream society, Brother International Philippines Corporation recently joined forces with the Philippine Business for Social Progress and Project Dimension Boracay, a multi-sectoral initiative to help the Atis of Boracay island. Brother shared its expertise in skills (sewing) and life skills (financial literacy) training and provided sewing machines and related equipment. Brother started with the sewing machine business more than 100 years ago before diversifying into communications and printing equipment. Brother Philippines country manager Glenn P. Hocson (extreme left) led some 60 Brother employee-volunteers in the livelihood training program, underscoring Brother’s motto “At your side.”