Pathways to Peace

MANILA, Philippines - Tuup Elementary School sits in the middle of lush greenery and towering coconut trees in Barangay Taung, Patikul, Sulu, a few minutes’ away from some of the Philippines’ undiscovered, pristine, white-sand beaches.

The school has a total land area of 10,000 square meters and would have been the most ideal of locations for a child to study, play, and learn. However, in February 2009, bandits believed to be part of the Abu Sayyaf Group burned down one of the school buildings in the Tuup Elementary School compound, which housed two classrooms.

A photo of what was left of the burned school building shows that only the pillars were left standing, an undergrowth partially covering the cemented floor, and logs lay where desks and chairs once were.

This is, however, a thing of the past for the school community.

Tuup Elementary School now reverberates with a newfound energy, one that echoes through Patikul’s thick forests. It is an energy brought about by the schoolchildren cheering, waving their flags without any hint of getting tired.

Tuup’s schoolchildren were cheering for the two new classrooms and one new library that were built on the structure that was burned down. These classrooms and library were made possible through the efforts of the Marine Battalion Landing Team (MBLT) 11, headed by Lt. Col. Nestor Narag, Jr., in partnership with TEN Moves, the Navy Seabees, Naughty Loose Divers, and the Rotary Club, among others.

The children were also treated to new school bags, filled with pencils and notebooks, thanks to the Black Pencil Project, and an afternoon of posing for the cameras, with some children seeing themselves in a photograph for the very first time, with the Help-Portrait Philippines volunteers.

The primary school kids also sat in a storytelling session with The Storytelling Project, and storyteller Rey Bufi even got the kids to clean up the place in less than 10 minutes.

Perhaps what is most striking about Tuup Elementary School’s new classrooms is that they send a strong message to the larger community and to the rest of Sulu – that the school stands for peace. On one wall, “Kapayapaan” has been painted over senseless graffiti; on the other, the Art Attack team led by A.G. Saño painted “waves” of peace. There is also one wall with a “peace tree,” the “leaves” of which are the handprints of the children themselves.

It is a sign of resilience, almost an act of defiance.

Growing up amid much conflict, the children of Tuup cheer for peace, make the peace sign when having their photos taken, and sing for peace loudly and clearly. The battlecry among these youngsters is a song called “Sana’y Pag-ibig na Lang,” the lyrics of which call on the world to love and share with one another.

 â€œThe building may have burned down, but hope was never lost. Bad things happen when good people, Muslims or Christians, do nothing,” says Angelo Valencia, a TEN Moves volunteer, when he addressed the community. “We may not be related by blood, but we are brothers at heart. If we don’t stand up to what is right and just, we won’t get anywhere. The hope of Patikul lies in you, but we will continue helping you, as long as you want us to.”

Tuup Elementary School principal Sonny Samlani is already seeing the immediate impacts of the new classrooms, which will be used by primary school and Grade 6 students. “The enrollment has already increased by 23 percent,” he announced.

Principal Samlani has seen the school expand since its beginnings in 1990, and he is grateful for the assistance that has been extended for the community to overcome its challenges since that fateful day in 2009.

The classrooms in Tuup Elementary School are more than just structures. As the community has shown, these are hallmarks of resilience and pathways to peace. Together with MBLT 11 and various volunteer groups, the community of Tuup is taking a stand to ensure that their children will know a future beyond the conflict that has torn most of Sulu.